New this year, NACUBO’s 2022 Planning, Budgeting, and Analytics Forum offers strategies for higher education goal setting and resource management. Focusing on institutional planning, this event provides content to help business officers and their teams use data and allocate resources—including financial, facilities and infrastructure, and human resources—to support their institutions and students.
This information-packed event will focus on innovative planning and budgeting practices, building and leveraging an analytics-enabled culture, advancing institutional mission and student success, and much more.
NACUBO’s professional development programs are designed to deliver the skills, concepts, and best practices for success to individuals in the business of higher education. After participating in this program, you will be able to—
Discuss innovative budgeting practices, including the how data support planning efforts
Formulate approaches for creating a data-informed institutional culture
Identify approaches for using planning and budgeting as an agent for institutional change
Outline ways to use data and analytics to increase efficiencies while maintaining or improving outcomes
Who Should Attend
Associate Vice Presidents of Finance, Administration, or Budget
Budget and Finance Analysts
Budget Directors and Managers
Chief Financial Officers
Controllers and Accountants
Finance Administrators
Internal Auditors
Planning Officers
Unit Business Officers
Course Information
Prerequisites: None
Level: Intermediate
Type: Group Live
Length: 15 sessions of 60 or 75 minutes
CPE Information
Estimated 14 CPE Credits
NACUBO is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit. Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be submitted to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors through its website www.nasbaregistry.org.
Welcome and General Session: Higher Education’s Top Business Issues
After conducting member focus groups and a survey, NACUBO recently released a list of the top business issues confronting colleges and universities. In this session, panelists will explore the top challenges college and university business leaders are working to navigate. Presenters will share how these business issues are evolving at their institutions as well as strategies they are developing to tackle challenges and take advantage of opportunities.
Speakers
Dennis Jones, Norfolk State University
Katie Walker, University of Virginia
Jim Hundrieser, NACUBO
10:45 AM
Attaining System Goals Through Strategic Operational Planning
Join one team on their journey from analysis to building a transformative operational plan. This session will lay out and review the goals, steps taken, analysis, the operational plan, and its outcomes. The exposition will be followed by an interview that will dive into the impact of analysis and planning on the institution-wide system.
Speakers
Lorenzo Esters, Ivy Tech Community College Indianapolis
Katie Hagan, rpk GROUP
10:45 AM
Elevating Financial Outcomes Through All Funds Budgeting
This interactive session will provide key insights and best practices for how organizations can leverage an all-funds approach to budgeting and financial management to communicate financial position, identify opportunities for resource reprioritization, and optimize investment opportunities. Join an institution in a rich discussion on why this approach leads to robust financial communication and encourages a transparent and common understanding of financial position. Learn how this approach can help you communicate critical financial information in a simple and comprehensive way for a variety of audiences.
Speakers
George Kolb, associate vice president of budgeting, University of Florida
Taylor Jantz, manager, Huron Higher Education
Kevin Lintner, higher education senior associate, Huron
10:45 AM
Improving Processes to Leverage Analytics for Decision-Making
Colleges and universities have an abundance of data, but transforming data into actionable information often involves time-consuming, manual processes. In this session, you will hear how one institution invested in modern technology, addressed the level of manual effort, and improved processes to better leverage data for decision-making. These investments and process improvements led to more automation, greater transparency, and a single source of truth for high-level actuals and budget comparison.
Speakers
John Schmidt, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Kathleen Kissam, OneStream
Joel Bittick, OneStream
12:00 PM
Networking Lunch
1:15 PM
Budget Assist: An Application of ServiceNow for Operating Budgets
Immerse yourself in the genesis, design, development, features, and uses of an application of ServiceNow (aka Budget Assist) employed by one institution in support of the university's annual operating budget creation process. This session will review Budget Assist's institutional benefits, lessons learned, examples of real requests, and provide a live demonstration.
Speakers
Michael Harrington, University of San Francisco
Jeff Hamrick, University of South Florida
1:15 PM
Strategic Financial Planning: Aligning the Strategic Plan With the Financial Plan
This session explores enabling data-informed decision-making in financial planning and management processes. Tarleton State University has been working on a transformational approach that aligns financial planning and budgeting processes with funding priorities and strategic plan goals and objectives. Their approach helps leaders across campus baseline their spending to address commitments, staffing, and operational priorities that align with the institution’s mission, goals, and objectives.
Speakers
Jo Ann Kern, Tarleton State University
1:15 PM
Utilizing Actionable Analytics to Improve Student Success and Financial Stability
Find out how one institution utilized academic, financial, student success, and course scheduling data to improve student success and financial sustainability. You will access concrete examples of how the data is being used to support academic and student success planning. Learn practical strategies institutions can implement to improve academic program financial health and remove barriers to student success.
Speakers
Jill Loveless, West Virginia Northern Community College
Lisa Hunter, Ad Astra
Caleb Tegtmeier, Ad Astra
2:30 PM
Demo Session 1
3:15 PM
Business Intelligence Overhaul: Building a Decision Support Toolkit
Learn how one university created a business intelligence platform and pushed a real shift towards a more data-informed culture. This session will review the project management, design, collaboration, technology, and data governance aspects of creating such a platform, and will talk through the wins and struggles along the way in leveraging resources and engagement/adoption. Find out how you can apply these elements via a live demonstration of the platform.
Speakers
David Doig, University of Colorado Denver
Dave Deffenbacher, University of Colorado Denver
3:15 PM
Lessons Learned Evaluating RCM
The University of Virginia implemented a responsibility center management budget model in FY2015 and conducted its second review of the model during FY2021. That review resulted in significant simplification of the model, making it more strategic, transparent, and supportive of multi-year planning. This session will give participants an overview of how the review was conducted, the parties involved at all levels through the process, and the early results of the revised of the budget model. Session presenters will discuss communication strategies, governance issues, and data integrity as they present participants with a roadmap for evaluating their own budget models.
Speakers
Bill Ashby, associate vice president for financial strategy, University of Virginia
Adam Daniel, vice provost for planning, University of Virginia
Rob Hoover, senior associate dean for administration and chief financial officer, McIntire School of Commerce, University of Virginia
Eduardo Lorente, associate vice provost for budget and financial planning, University of Virginia
Katie Walker, Executive director of financial planning and analysis, University of Virginia
3:15 PM
ROI Model: Measuring the Rate of Return on Academic Programs
Hear how one institution developed an analytical tool to measure the rate of return for academic programs at the institutional, college, department, and course levels, as well as by course number. This tool measures actual individual net tuition revenue and cost of instruction and provides staff in academic affairs with valuable insight into the financial performance of academic programs. Not only does the institutional analysis examine performance of the last six years, but the data also forecast and look forward to the next six years. Discover how this valuable tool can support the annual budget allocation model and can serve as a key input into academic master planning.
Speakers
Darrell Haydon, University of the Incarnate Word
4:30 PM
Next Generation Budgeting for Academic Programs
Institutions often make program decisions absent data on market trends or impacts on other departments. Predictive models help institutions estimate the effects of program decisions and market trends on staffing and budgets, both within the program’s department and in other departments. Participants will learn about the data and tools needed to reduce the time spent on budgeting and increase accuracy. Discover how to avoid expensive mistakes, such as reducing overall margins by cutting the wrong programs or failing to account for the effect of program growth on staffing needs in general education courses.
Speakers
Peter Holbrook, provost and chief academic officer, Tiffin University
Peter Starrett, senior partner and chief product officer, Gray Associates
4:30 PM
Using Integrated Data Analytics to Support the University’s Strategic Enrollment Goals
Discover how one university is using analytical insights and information to support broad set of institutional goals including student equity, accessibility, student diversity, student success, and enrollment growth. This presentation will discuss how a collaborative and integrated data and analytics initiative is supporting the implementation of Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM) practice to achieve these goals. Presenters will discuss the institution’s goals, process issues, collaborative data initiatives, and demonstrate the analytics platform while acknowledging the challenges in implementing change culture.
Remaining Mission-Focused While Moving Forward: A President's Perspective
In the business office, it can sometimes be easy to be focused on tasks, challenges, and the here-and-now so that staff may lose focus on their college or university’s mission and how their work fits in to the institution’s strategic goals. Working together, higher education leaders at all levels in all departments can help an institution move towards its vision. Hear perspectives from one college president on how business officers fit into these conversations. The transformational changes faced by colleges and universities will be covered as he draws upon personal experience to emphasize how to stay true to mission in turbulent times and beyond.
Speaker
Michael Baston, Cuyahoga Community College
10:15 AM
Reorganizing Analytics to Advance Student Success
As institutions continue to engage in data-driven decision making at all levels, effective analytics leadership and data management systems are essential to providing trusted, timely, high-quality data consistently to all users. This presentation describes how analytics were reorganized into a new office of centralized institutional analytics to focus on improving operational efficiencies, developing new synergies, leveraging analytics expertise, strengthening collaboration, and advancing student success and well-being. Audience members will learn the specific steps used to engage stakeholders, optimize analytics, and address a myriad student success concerns. Panelists will discuss the issue of reducing equity gaps in student performance in certain courses across the university and underscore the need to promote culturally responsive and inclusive data analytics practices that recognize the increasingly diverse student, faculty, and staff populations we serve.
Speaker
Michele Hansen, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis
Sabrina Andrews, Indiana University
10:15 AM
Tools and Frameworks to Strategically Finance Equitable Student Outcomes
As student-centered practices become more deeply integrated into all aspects of strategic planning and operational priorities, chief business officers and their teams are discovering new ways to contribute to student success and equity initiatives. This session will present current trends in business office practices and explore opportunities for business office professionals to support and facilitate positive changes in student outcomes. The presenters will also provide an update on the tools and frameworks being developed by NACUBO’s Strategically Financing Equitable Student Outcomes grants, funded by Ascendium, College Futures, and Trellis.
Speakers
Jo Ann Kern, Tarleton State University
Laura Lupei, Sonoma State University
Kelli Rainey, NACUBO
10:15 AM
Wait, the President Promised What? Commitments That Impact Budget
It is not uncommon for senior leaders to make commitments for financial resources. Things like "3 years of support for this new center" or "move this position over to a new area and move the funding with it" seem straightforward but can quickly become complex. Worse, if there is a change in leadership, how do you know what was or wasn't agreed to? This presentation will discuss a process put in place to track, monitor, and manage multi-year commitments and agreements in a way everyone can live with. Take home templates for such a commitment process that can be adapted for any institution, its priorities, and its other systems.
Speakers
Rebecca T. Barber, associate vice president, financial planning, budget, and analysis, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Susan Wynn, director of special projects, business affairs, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
11:30 AM
Answering With Data When the President Asks, “How Do We Know?”
To leverage analytics for data-informed decision-making, institutions need to focus on change management and both technical and process needs. In this session, you’ll learn how an institution built their data intelligence capabilities and dashboard solutions to support planning and budgeting efforts. Miami Dade College will share how they implemented this analytics initiative and how they utilize student, finance, HR, and facilities data to provide actionable, consistent, and integrated views of institutional information. Attendees will view example data visualizations so they can experience how the information is presented.
Speakers
Marta Mitzenmacher, Miami Dade College
Chuck Persky, Performance Architects
11:30 AM
Creating Integrated Financial Processes to Inform Decisions Across the Institution
Three years ago, the University of North Texas System embarked on a journey to completely integrate all budgeting, accounting, and strategic planning processes. The organization has since achieved the goal of establishing a cohesive financial planning structure, which ensures the budget is informed with a comprehensive perspective of strategic goals and available resources. This session will provide an overview of the system’s integrated financial planning framework and the path they followed – from coalition building to technology adoption – to create a circular flow of data to create institutional financial reports, annual budgets, and strategic plans. Panelists will share use cases detailing how they have utilized this new structure to drive data-informed financial decisions across their organization and the value they have realized as a result.
Speakers
Kerry Romine, University of North Texas System
Paige Smith, University of North Texas System
Jill Winkler, Syntellis
11:30 AM
Reimagine Success Through Partnerships
As colleges and universities reimagine program offerings, thinking outside the box can help them consider partnerships while focusing on student success and institutional financial health. In this session, you will hear how one institution, after evaluating current programs, created a new partnership with a professional theater company. This new partnership allowed the institution to focus on critical areas, including enrollment and retention efforts, supporting affinity groups, offering innovative programs and student experiences, and maintaining their commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion—all while reducing expenses and maintaining quality.
Speakers
Isabelle Martinez, Oglethorpe University
Peter Stobie, Oglethorpe University
12:45 PM
Networking Lunch
1:45 PM
Demo 2
2:30 PM
Be Proactive, Not Reactive: How Agile Planning Can Lead to Financial Stability
Higher education is undergoing momentous changes at an accelerated pace. The need for proactive, long term decision making is increasingly necessary for institutions to remain sustainable and, ideally, thrive. By analyzing alternative options around key business areas such as enrollment, new programs, capital expenditures, and funding sources, two institutions gained insight into the direction they were each headed, while senior leadership gained confidence that their decisions were supported by strategic analysis. This session will explore the stories of Texas State and Lehigh University – what their challenges were, how they tackled them, and what the outcomes were. Best practices, as well as lessons learned, will be shared, along with examples of how to communicate results to leadership.
Speakers
Christine Black, Texas State University
Alexia Pereira, Synario
Jim Quinn, Lehigh University
Michael Nicolescu, Synario
2:30 PM
Information Strategy: Begin with the End in Mind
Higher education is facing myriad challenges, and one of the resources that all institutions should use to help them navigate this environment is data. To leverage data as an institutional asset, colleges and universities need to have an information strategy that allows them to integrate and analyze data, disseminate information, and ensure data-informed decisions support institutional priorities. Presenters will share elements of their institutions’ information strategies, including linking data to mission, data governance, data access and usage, reporting, and navigating information challenges. Audience members will have the opportunity to reflect on their own institutions’ information strategies.
Speakers
Orkun Toros, University of Texas at Dallas
Karen Tumlinson, Central College
Jackie Agustin, NACUBO
2:30 PM
Scenario Planning and Calculating Academic Resiliency
Understanding the cost of instruction is key to ensuring nimble and effective responses to external pressures and threats. A scenario-based approach that emphasizes advanced planning with a focus on resiliency can be the difference between responses that are nimble and effective vs. sluggish and reactionary. This session will introduce and discuss the development of the Collegiate Academic Program Resiliency Index (CAPRI). Combining measures of instruction, faculty workload, and space utilization, the CAPRI score provides a succinct snapshot of an academic program’s resource resiliency within the larger university context while still factoring in critical elements such as enrollment mix, funding sources, and key outcomes.
Speakers
Rafael Hernandez, California State University East Bay
Jason Smith, California State University Fullerton
4:00 PM
Networking Roundtables
Choose from one of three topic-based discussion groups.
Changing Revenue Streams
Given the ever-changing environment, colleges and universities have a strong need for diversified revenue streams. Join your colleagues to discuss resource challenges, how data can help with planning, and how others are approaching the next steps.
Making the Most of People
Data
Colleges and universities have many stakeholders—students, faculty, staff, and others. In this roundtable discussion, we will discuss challenges and opportunities with leveraging data from student systems, human resources systems, and other sources.
Connecting Budget Conversations
Come ready to discuss a variety of challenges and strategies budgeting officers should be considering on their campuses. All funds budgeting, planning applications, and the connection between financial statements and budgeting will be discussed, but attendees are encouraged to bring topics of their own.
As challenging times continue for higher education, data literacy and data-informed decision-making are even more important for student and institutional success. We have a lot of data, yet well-designed data presentations that foster effective decision-making are few and far between. How do you move from simply sharing data to connecting with your audience in a meaningful way? In this session, we will explore the importance of storytelling and the effective use of visuals to communicate with data. Our goal is to provide the audience with a toolkit they can use to up their game when it comes to presenting and communicating with data.
Speakers
Jasmine Yang, Hamilton College
Kirk Kelly, Vantage Technology Consulting Group
8:15 AM
Transforming Planning and Budgeting
Hear how three institutions embarked on journeys to overhaul their existing planning processes to improve resource allocation, increase stakeholder engagement, and enhance administrative efficiencies. Each institution will discuss how they have successfully transformed planning capabilities and now spend less time reviewing data entry, inefficient consolidations, and manual reporting—and more time optimizing institutional resources by aligning them to strategic priorities. Presenters will provide attendees a practical framework to follow, including key considerations for success and common pitfalls to avoid. Join this presentation to learn how you can help your institution enable agile planning and improve data-driven decision-making.
Speakers
Rebecca Barber, associate vice president, financial planning, budget, and analysis, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Kelly Epting, associate vice president for finance and budget, University of South Carolina
Kevin Edelblute, associate vice president for finance, Mississippi State University
Accelerating Analytics for Improved Space Utilization
In the wake of the pandemic, colleges and universities are reconsidering how to best utilize their physical spaces. If all employees don’t return to their offices, what are the opportunities for these spaces? What lessons have we learned from how academic spaces and program offerings were transformed during the pandemic? What about co-curricular spaces? In this session, panelists will share a framework for how the use of data and analytics can support institutional space planning. Panelists from different institution types will share examples of how they are using data to optimize space utilization.
Speakers
Raijanel Crockem, Texas Southern University
Jason Hornberger, University of Kansas
Lindsay Wayt, NACUBO
9:45 AM
Improving Financial Processes, Aligning Strategic Plans, and Promoting Transparency
The staff at University of Montevallo knew they had a need to improve financial planning and reporting processes, link strategic plans, as well as promote more transparency into the processes. These changes facilitated updates and easier data flows for the in-year forecasting and budget reporting project as well as improving the budget development process. With the updates to data, processes, and technologies a foundation has been set for improved capabilities and transparency for the future evolution of the planning and reporting processes. Discover what has already been completed and what items remain on the roadmap for this institution.
Speakers
Susan Hayes, University of Montevallo
Alicia Smith, University of Montevallo
Curtis Gratz, Spaulding Ridge
9:45 AM
When Collaborative Budget Reduction Strategies Go Wrong: Chaos and Miscommunication
It is no surprise that many institutions are experiencing serious declines in enrollment over the past several years due to many factors, causing a corresponding decline in tuition revenue. At Sonoma State University, those challenges have resulted in a 12 percent reduction to the academic affairs budget. Examine how the provost created the first-of-its-kind advisory working group to recommend solutions to the budget crisis and balance the budget for FY23. The resulting experience was a lesson in managing crises, strategic communication, working with stakeholders, and cultural change at an institution where distrust between faculty and administration runs deep.
Speakers
Emily Acosta Lewis, Sonoma State University
Laura Lupei, Sonoma State University
Mike Ogg, Sonoma State University
11:00 AM
Traveling the Path of Data to Information to Decision-Making: Perspective From a New University Data Officer
Using data for strategic decision-making is more vital than ever for higher education institutions. Technology and approaches to transform data into information and describe it in robust and flexible ways have certainly leapt forward. But for many organizations, the processes that underpin the productive and responsible use of information remain bundled in complexity and practices of ownership rather than stewardship. Hear how promoting data as an institutional resource and establishing a practical roadmap can chip away at these challenges and move towards the goal of answering strategic questions for the right people at the right time, in an environment of trust and shared responsibility.
Located 16 miles from Harry Reid International Airport and just minutes from the Las Vegas Strip and Red Rock Canyon, the JW Marriott Las Vegas Resort & Spa is close to the action but worlds away from the hustle and bustle. Enjoy luxurious hotel rooms and suites with pillowtop bedding, jetted tubs and high-speed Wi-Fi - many with balconies as well as having access to dine on Italian, Japanese, American and International cuisine in our resort restaurants.
NACUBO's Group Rate for the 2022 Planning, Budgeting, and Analytics Forum:$229 single/double (plus applicable taxes)*
To make your hotel reservation click: Reserve Room
*Deadline to reserve a room at the group rate: August 19, 2022
NACUBO thanks the following supporters of this event:
Premier
Classic
Ensuring Your Safety
The COVID-19 situation in the United States is fluid, and we continue to monitor developments that may impact attendees for our 2022 Planning, Budgeting, and Analytics Forum. As such, we will continue to update the safety precautions outlined below as appropriate to minimize risks to conference attendees and staff. In order to stay current, check this page periodically leading up to the forum.
NACUBO is requiring all registrants to be fully vaccinated* prior to participating in the in-person program. We are working with a third-party organization, CLEAR Health Pass, regarding the process and logistics for vaccination documentation. More information will be made available shortly.
This requirement is consistent with a remaining trend for conferences and other events/activities.
*Fully vaccinated status is defined as having received all the required doses of an FDA-authorized COVID-19 vaccine primary series (2 doses of Moderna, 2 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech, or 1 dose of the Johnson & Johnson/Janssen vaccine) at least 2 weeks before the start date of the Planning, Budgeting, and Analytics Forum (September 4, 2022). While vaccine boosters are not required, NACUBO highly encourages attendees to receive recommended boosters when eligible.
We also recommend that attendees wear masks while traveling to and from the event and follow COVID-safe practices in the weeks leading up to the event. Masks will be available on-site if you need one, and if it's your preference to wear one.
If you've engaged in activities or behaviors that put you at high risk for COVID-19, we kindly ask that you join us for the online Planning, Budgeting, and Analytics Forum experience.
Upcoming
What Is the Optimal Organizational Structure for a Finance Office?
August 25, 2022 | 12:30–1 pm ET | Online
Washington Update (September 2022)
September 16, 2022 | 2–2:30pm | Online
2022 Planning, Budgeting, and Analytics Forum Online