Business Officer Archive - 2006

December

• Open Lines
  You’ve got students calling in with urgent financial questions, parents already on hold, and messages of your own to get out. To unclog communications, consider a call center.
• Katharine Lyall Looks at Funding Trends
• What's a Central Bank?
  And what can it do for your institution? Find out about this holistic approach to building financial strength.
• Don't Put Off Til Tomorrow...
  When a small college realized that deferred maintenance projects had piled up to the point that they totaled half the annual budget, it was time for a new system.

November

• What's Ahead? You Decide
  Take a proactive stance in shaping your institution’s tomorrows by engaging in structured futures thinking today.
• Tapping Partnership Potential
  When you have the need for speed or specialized expertise, consider an approach that adds private-sector players to your team.
• The One-Card Draw
  Buy groceries, wash clothes, watch movies, dine out, open doors—all with a single card backed by a well-conceived system.
• Talk About Talent
  Insights from an EACUBO roundtable suggest how to hire smart, limit turnover, and incorporate new generations into the workplace.

October

• Heads Up
  Take a good look around. Future endowment performance success depends in part on out-there thinking and anticipating opportunities before they knock.
• Count on Olsen
  Leading the NACUBO board for 2006-07 is a chief business officer who volunteers, gets the job done, and puts his hand right back up in the air: Morgan Olsen.
• SOX Assignment
  Ohio University students are getting a real-life lesson in internal controls by testing the accounting procedures of the OU Foundation. This unique approach to an institutional checkup is improving efficiency for the foundation and giving students a professional boost.
• Go Beyond the Data
  Examine and articulate your institution’s systems and culture to improve administrative processes, lower costs, and enhance educational outcomes.

September

• A Professional Sharp Turn
  Steering from the corporate sector toward higher education represents an unconventional career path. Several trailblazers tell what they’ve learned from the work culture differences they’ve encountered.
• Candace Corvey on Human Capital
• Meaningful Measures
  Performance measurement can be an effective internal tool and may help meet increasing external expectations for accountability.
• The Future Makes History
  For the first time, NACUBO, APPA, and SCUP joined forces in hosting a major educational conference, doing so to envision the future of higher education from multiple campus perspectives. It was a tall order—and the results were nothing short of outstanding. 

July/August

• A Whole New U
  Blogs, podcasts, courseware…Teaching and learning in the 21st century will rely more than ever on these tools. Several institutions discuss how educational technology is changing the classroom experience.
• Sweat Equity
  The payback on fitness-related facilities investments is value for students plus added vigor to recruitment and retention.
• Battling Health Care Costs Round Two
  A consortium of Florida colleges and universities had a great idea to save on medical insurance expenses. But when expenses spun out of control, the institutions needed a new strategy.
• Come Together
  Northern Nevada’s multi-institution Redfield campus creates a single footprint and a seamless system of higher education.
• The Value-Added University
  What’s the financial value of a public institution to its community? Conduct an economic impact study to make your case.
• Future Forces
  Six industry experts offer their take on the trends shaping the campus of tomorrow.
• In the Know
  For alternative investments, ultimate responsibility for determining fund value rests with the institution.
• Partnerships for the Public Good
  To address the state’s need for quality scientific crime laboratories, California State University–Los Angeles formed partnerships with the city, the county, and the state to build a facility on its campus.
• Up and Running Again
  Develop a plan for continuing the business of your institution no matter what unexpected scenario may arise.

June

• Students With Staying Power
  Personal coaches can boost each student’s academic experience—and your retention rate.
• A Prudent Green Purchase
  In an excerpt from the new book The Business Case for Renewable Energy: A Guide for Colleges and Universities, the authors describe how renewable energy certificates can be used as a price hedge.
• Cultivating Your Career
  Even if you’re at the top of your game, you likely can benefit from some professional development. New study results identifying key business officer competencies can help you play to your strengths, pinpoint areas for improvement, and enhance your job performance.
• A Turn of Events
  When a reliable revenue-generating conference operation started showing signs of decline, Wheaton College developed a new business plan.
• Competency Survey Results for Professional Development Planning

May

• Arthur Levine's Call for Clarity
• Grit and Soul
  Institutions caught in Hurricane Katrina’s path are rebuilding with resolve.
• Giving Technology Traction
  To gain ground with technology spending, institutions must first create an environment that can capitalize on technology investments.
• Gearing Up for a Techno Transformation
  EDUCAUSE’s Diana Oblinger and Richard Katz speculate on the changes that await campuses in the next 10 years and beyond.
• Risks and Rewards
  When executed under the right circumstances, swaps can help institutions achieve financial goals.
• The Beat Goes On
  NACUBO’s 2006 Student Financial Services conference highlighted trends in services, including ways to keep technology on campus in tune with students’ needs.

April

• Will Sustainability Take Root?
  Campus initiatives show growth potential, but first they must grab hold.
• Campus Futures
  There's more than one way to put up a residence hall, deliver a calculus course, and fund a research initiative. When leaders and stakeholders band together to envision and invent a preferred future for their institution, they readily spot alternatives to the status quo.
• Learning Through Collaboration
  Let this preview help you prepare for The Campus of the Future: A Meeting of the Minds. Get into the team-learning spirit at this unprecedented event—July 8-11, at the Hawaii Convention Center in Honolulu—to be cohosted by NACUBO, APPA, and SCUP.
• All You Need Is Like
  Tim Sanders wants to transform your workplace by showing that nice people finish first. He briefs Business Officer on the likeability theories that he’ll present at the Hawaii conference.
• Resize the Right Way
  If you must reduce your workforce, tread gently. Follow a carefully crafted plan. And make sure you prepare for the worst.

March

• Lew Temares Talks HR for Techies
• On the Progress Path
  The University of Cincinnati's business staff is key in implementing an ambitious academic master plan and tracking achievements.
• When Two Do the Math
  Enrollment and financial goals aren't at odds when business officers and enrollment managers work from the same equation.
• All Talk No Communication
  You said, you meant, she heard. Do you speak the same language as faculty?
• Debt Rules
  What’s a smart way to manage debt? Develop a policy that’s in sync with your institution’s strategic plan.
• Think Timber
  Inflation hedges such as timber, real estate, and TIPS can produce a big bang for your buck—if you invest wisely and understand the risks.

February

• Set in Your Ways?
  Change management champion Brent Ruben advises on how to steer your institution in a new direction.
• Pace Yourself
  The 2005 NACUBO Endowment Study shows healthy gains in all investment pool categories. Individually, institutions are focusing on several growth strategies.
• Spread the Plan
  Follow these tips for developing dynamic spreadsheet-based models and integrating them into your strategic planning process.
• A Flexible Financial System
  You've heard about community source. Now find out how the Kuali system operates to make financial processes more efficient and user friendly.

January

• Getting Their Best
  Yale’s campuswide initiative to engage employees is paying off in efficiencies and job satisfaction.
• Virtual Budgeting
  Iowa State University's central budgeting model emphasizes people and process rather than place.
• Minding Your Loan Business
  Out of sight, perhaps. But while outsourcing student loan administration can free up staff to focus on customer service and counseling, relationships with outsource partners need to stay top of mind as loan programs grow increasingly complex.
• The More You Know
  Several of NACUBO’s 2005 award recipients ruminate on leadership, changes on today’s campuses, and why soaking up knowledge is just as vital for business officers as it is for students.