This paper compares and contrasts different strategies to balance academic institutions' operating budgets. Some strategies use economic theory to recommend a budgeting technique, others use management methods to cut cost, and some strategies use a management accounting approach to reach a balanced budget. Through the use of a simplified numerical…

Managing liquidity--a college or university's ability to access cash quickly or to easily convert assets to cash--is an increasingly crucial component of enterprise risk management. Liquidity risks lurk around nearly every corner--in the endowment portfolio, the debt portfolio, and in working-capital management. It also influences students'…

This study uses a regression model to determine if a significant difference exists between the actual budget allocation that an academic department received and the model's predicted budget allocation for that same department. Budget data from a Southeastern Master's/Comprehensive state university were used as the dependent variable, and the…

"Trends in College Spending, 1998-2008: Where does the money come from? Where does it go? What does it buy?" is the third in a series of reports on college and university spending from the Delta Cost Project. The findings presented in this report concentrate on the 1998 to 2008 time period--the last academic year for which spending data are…

How do colleges and universities spend their money? To most, it's a black box. The public looks at tuitions, states look at appropriations, trustees look at the endowment, and department managers look at their budgets. How colleges actually spend their money is barely understood by the general public and even many policy makers. In the current…

An approach to institutional budgeting designed to alleviate accumulated deficits is described. The proposal introduces flexibility into the salary component, alleviating cash flow difficulties in the short to medium term and encouraging more proactive budgeting, by allowing employees to contract for reduced annual salary in exchange for reduced…

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

To many faculty and to some administrators the budget and its preparation are a mystery, conjured up and released by the chief business officer and president as a straight-jacket to aspirations and expectation. This document attempts to demonstrate that the budget is a straight-forward presentation to a college's constituents of the itemized plan…

University administrators are increasingly required to manage budget cuts. California officials have considerable experience with one form of cut known as forced savings - a state-imposed requirement to underspend appropriated measures. (Editor/PG)

Describes development of the National Association of College and University Business Officers' (NACUBO's) methodology for identifying the costs of delivering undergraduate education. The tool was developed to help institutions explain their costs to students, parents, and the general public. (EV)

Recommends that budget planning for college libraries be based on performance and unit costs rather than on budget formulas. Consideration should be given to the program of library services, the kind of services performed and the adequacy of this performance. Presents eight basic requirements as a standard for planning individual library budgets.…

Asserts that the complexity of interrelated energy management factors means that business officers have to be more closely involved in assessing and communicating the effects of energy on campus maintenance and operations and utility budgets. Discusses identifying appropriate energy initiatives, developing realistic utility infrastructure plans…

Principal budgetary approaches underlying the allocation of instructional resources to an institution of higher education to maintain its continuing programs are briefly considered from several standpoints, and an alternative approach is developed. The constrained ratio approach is conducive to innovation but maintains resource control. (LBH)

In college and university administration, overhead costs are often charged to programs indiscriminately, whereas the support activities that underlie those costs remain unanalyzed. It is time for institutions to decrease ineffective use of resources. Activity-based management attributes costs more accurately and can improve efficiency. (MSE)