Offers guidelines to help college treasury managers rebuild their treasury system by redefining goals, moving away from traditional principles, and embracing new treasury principles. Suggests a four-step process (moving away from paper, reducing focus on float management, maximizing resources, choosing effective providers) incorporating the new…

The nature of fast-track construction scheduling is described, the qualities and resources related to superior construction management performance are discussed, and the types of contract alternatives available are examined. (MSE)

A federal tax official specializing in tax-exempt organizations discusses the relatively new use of coordinated examination audits. Significant issues being raised as the use of such audits expands are examined, including employment tax, contractors, withholding on students, unrelated business income, bond financing, the audit process, corporate…

A discussion of the interrelationships between college tuition pricing, family resources, externally funded financial aid, and institutionally funded financial aid suggests that, as the range of tuition levels broadens, institutions must focus more closely on net tuition income in their forecasting or face erosion of revenues. (MSE)

This article describes the Chaminade University (Hawaii) information management system which integrates the fiscal system, the chart of accounts, the general ledger, accounts receivable, budgeting, purchasing and encumbrances, accounts payable, and faculty contracts. Briefly described are the initial system, system revision, design concepts, data…

Most colleges and universities need to reduce expenditures and downsize. Such a project is difficult and emotionally charged. Many immediate remedies can ba applied to reduce and better control expenditures, but a more thorough analysis of the institution's organizational structure, operating procedures, automated systems, strategic planning, and…

A three-step plan for colleges and universities to use in financing technology is presented: (1) establishing an effective asset management program; (2) developing a life-cycle budget process that annualizes total technology costs into streams of longer-term perpetuities; (3) identifying and matching funding sources to meet total annual costs.…

A survey of 120 top independent national liberal arts colleges ranked in "U.S. News and World Report" compared the structure of their financial reports to those of publicly held corporations. Results indicate that the colleges' forms strongly resemble those of corporations, but are not as readable as the corporate forms. (MSE)

The status of university financial reporting was surveyed as an update of a 1976 survey. Of the 100 financial reports analyzed in 1976, 87 were available in 1980, and 39 additional private college reports were assessed. In addition to comparing 16 financial reporting standards used in reports between 1976 and 1980, public and private university…

For the College of Mt. Saint Joseph (Ohio) to remain financially sound and to inform decisions about resources and academic programs, college leaders needed to understand instructional costs: costs per credit hour; how these vary by department, program; and meaningful ratios of revenues to costs. A system of differential analysis was developed to…

This article presents arguments in favor of the federal government providing loans directly to higher education students (without intermediate lenders and secondary markets). It explains loan funding, processing, fund dispersal, college responsibilities, and remaining legislative hurdles. It attempts to dispel myths, such as that direct loans…

In excerpts from alumni magazines, the treasurers of Haverford College (Pennsylvania) and Wake Forest University (North Carolina) communicate issues involved in setting tuition and offer unique approaches to explaining the value that students receive at these private institutions. (MSE)

Results of the seventh annual national comparative data study on public two-year college financial characteristics are summarized, including statistics on expenditures and revenues, staffing, and credit enrollments. (MSE)

Argues that trustees, finance officers, and other leaders of institutions of higher education must redefine and expand their traditional interactions beyond discussion of budgets and balance sheets if they are to guide change instead of being controlled by it. University leaders need to focus on their roles, share information differently, use…

Steps taken by Phillips Academy (Massachusetts) to contain costs during a serious deficit included short-term measures (increasing tuition and some fees, increasing enrollment, tightening administrative procedures, reduced personnel costs, and reducing programs) and long-term actions (early faculty retirement, increased retirement benefits,…