Financial stewardship by college governing boards too often stops at balancing the budget. That was the message two finance experts presented last week during the annual meeting of the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges. Furthermore, the yearly budget exercise can give trustees a misperception of their institutions'…

In order to provide flexibility in mid-range financial planning in higher education institutions, a predictive modular decision-making model is prepared. Simple computational procedure and a small external information requirement will enable small institutions to utilize the model. (Author/MLW)

This paper describes resource allocation in Australian universities including the broader context of national restructuring and a case study of one university's attempt to restructure resource allocation within the university. The 1987 restructuring of the Australian system from a binary system to a unified national system and the associated…

A model of departmental support expenditures is constructed. The requirements for administrative and technical staff and for operating funds of a university's academic units were analyzed, and these were related to a number of quantitative characteristics of the units. (Author/MLW)

The ways in which ratio analysis can help in long-range planning, budgeting, and asset management to strengthen financial performance and help avoid financial difficulties are explained. Types of ratios considered include balance sheet ratios, net operating ratios, and contribution and demand ratios. (MSE)

A true adequacy model is emerging, a system of school finance that links resources and outcomes to ensure that all students receive an adequate education. Implementing true adequacy would require school districts to adopt high minimum goals, identify necessary resources, and have a long-range investment plan for deploying resources and developing…

A long-range financial planning model was developed by the staff of the Minnesota Higher Education Coordinating Board to explore the issues and problems facing the financing of Minnesota postsecondary education. The model was designed to determine the extent to which alternative general financing policies and specific funding formulas affect…

A persistent increase in student, faculty, and administrative demand for information technology has resulted in a sharp rise in the total cost of computing services to universities. In response, universities must develop long-term strategic planning processes and policies to establish priorities for information technology investments, determine…

Alfred University has developed a Management Information System intended to support decentralized management, with more decision-making responsibilities delegated to academic managers. Information systems, curriculum interaction modeling, program costs, budget preparation and planning, and a training program for academic managers are discussed.…

This book is a collection of nine papers presented at a 1996 symposium that addressed issues and models for strategic thinking about higher education, especially the economics of higher education, institutional mission as it affects positive change and accountability, and technology. The included papers are: (1) "Why Can't a College Be More Like a…

Key ingredients of long-range planning described in the literature during the last 10 years, the role of an office of institutional research, and a coordinated long-range planning process as it might occur in a public four-year college or university are described. A successful long-range planning process is characterized by centralized…

Inadequate financial support for higher education is not due to a poor economy or lack of tax dollars, but to the low priority given to higher education by state legislatures. The issue at state and institutional levels is not low or high tuition but finding a planning model that integrates tuition income, tax support, and student aid. (MSE)

This monograph summarizes the current thinking in the national literature on the subject of cost-containment and productivity in higher education and applies findings to higher education in California. It presents a framework for characterizing the major factors driving higher education costs, outlines potentially promising areas in identifying…

Seven papers from the 1988 CAUSE conference's Track III, Financial Impact and Considerations, are presented. They include: "Providing Applications Development Services in a Competitive Environment" (Donald E. Heller and Mary Ellen Bushnell); "The Cost of Not Staying Current" (Jack T. Tinsley and Betty R. Nyer); "Project…

This report describes a strategy for planning vocational education. Discussed first are areas comprising the context for planning vocational education, including the relationship between education and work, the dimensions and stages of work adjustment, and the mission and performance requirements of vocational education (with attention to desired…