Business Continuity

Doing more with less has become the new normal in public universities. Preached by a select few in academe who saw the recession approach like a speeding freight train, the do-more-with-less philosophy is finally gaining traction and critical leadership support in higher ed both nationally and abroad.

As we come to the close of the year, and of budgets for many, University Business’ Winter 2012 Models of Efficiency honorees offer up excellent examples of ways in which colleges and universities can save money and reduce their bottom line. From automation to consolidation to going digital, these nine winners provide a series of successful ideas that can help with evaluating, planning, and squeezing more out of next year’s budgets.

From sources of funding to student engagement models, from the use of mobile technology to social media, multiple disruptive forces create surprises for administrators, frustrations for academics and bewilderment for students. Uncertainty threatens to incapacitate institutions as they choose for change to be thrust upon them, or attempt to avoid or ignore the strategic importance of the changes taking place around them.

More than eight in 10 administrators surveyed—mainly controllers/budget officers and CFOs—say they’re very or somewhat concerned about their institutions’ ability to fund future capital investments.

It’s no secret that costs are a major concern for most colleges and universities. In fact, costs in higher education are exceeding the rate of inflation—while operating budgets are shrinking.

In 2009, I was called upon to help Greensboro College, a small, 174-year-old private liberal arts college in North Carolina, which was experiencing a whole range of problems typical of many institutions of higher education in recent years. In the booming economy of the early 2000s, the college had made some big real-estate purchases. It had started a football program, graduate programs and a marching band. But as the economy started to sour in 2008, its bankers got worried, and the college found itself placed in the Special Assets department.