The BC Ministry of Education announcement about 2012-13 operating grants estimates includes "new" funding to districts of $11.2 million for vulnerable students, $10.7 million for districts to implement elements of the Education Plan, and $21.8 million to address "districts' differing geographic circumstances." This makes for a…

How formulas for physical plant management have helped Florida improve equity among its seven state institutions. (Editor)

The National Association of College and University Business Officers has taken major strides toward meeting the responsibility for establishing accounting and public reporting standards within the field of higher education. The need for improvement in the reporting procedures has been generally agreed on. It is imperative that revision of the…

Zero-base budgeting as it is used at Allegany College is described. Zero-based budgeting is defined as a budgeting and planning approach that requires the examination of every item in a budget request as if the request were being proposed for the first time. Budgets (decision packages) are first made up for decision units (i.e., a course for the…

This paper reconceptualizes the purposes of education's budget envelope. Citing numerous examples of how policymakers consider resource allocations apart from the main concerns of individual programs, the people reallocations affect, and education's most important programs, it suggests that policymakers and finance officers reemphasize program and…

Information was sought from all states and the District of Columbia regarding the experience of unanticipated revenue shortfalls resulting in executive or legislative actions to modify postsecondary education appropriations and/or budgets for 1981-1982, 1982-1983; and the actions being taken in the postsecondary education community in response to…

The basics of academic economics are examined in this faculty guide. The modern management movement has reached American higher education and has created new expectations concerning the faculty's role. An earlier preoccupation with management methods has been replaced by concentration on evaluation. Faculty should share in the preparation of their…

Results are presented that were obtained from application of the defined methodology to the 1972-73 operating budget of McMaster University. Programs were defined as instructional (degree) programs, research programs, and professional activities/public service programs. The calculation of program costs requires that crossovers be made from the…

The feasibility of awarding a single annual appropriation for the operating budget to the University of Alaska was investigated in 1982. Study methods included a literature review and a survey of practitioners concerning the advantages and disadvantages of a single appropriation versus several appropriations. In addition to surveying directors of…

The responsibilities and functioning of college trustee committees on finance are described. It is noted that the role of the finance committee is to recommend policy for board approval, interpret it to the administration, and to monitor the results. The following responsibilities of the finance committee are discussed: overseeing current…

A supplement to a slide presentation on financial responsibilities of governing boards, suitable for use at a trustee workshop, is presented. A flow of funds model which depicts the five major financial zones (acquisition, allocation, current fund, plant fund, and endowment and similar funds) is the visual devise used through the presentation.…

Areas in which program evaluation is available and the manner in which it is carried out are examined. They include: (1) the use of professional analysts for technical needs and requirements; (2) the use of market price to measure efficiency of business services; (3) the use of management evaluation programs prepared by outside agencies; (4) the…

The methodology employed in an analysis of expenditures on academic programs at McMaster University is presented. The general procedure was to provide expenditure data for instruction programs, research programs, and professional activities/public service programs. The results are aggregated to give expenditures per student by program and year…

Computerized formula-driven budget models are used by the Washington community college system to define resource needs for legislative budget requests and to distribute legislative appropriations among 22 community college districts. This manual outlines the sources of information needed to operate the model and illustrates the principles on which…

The development of a cost allocation model at Ohio State University is discussed. The model was designed to measure the direct, indirect, and total operating costs of university operations and to recover general fund overhead costs associated with unrestricted general fund support of auxiliary enterprises and revenue-generating activities. The…