NACUBO 2023 Annual Meeting On-Demand

Rohit Bhargava is the bestselling author of nine books on marketing, trends, innovation, and how to create a more diverse and inclusive world. He is on a mission to inspire more non-obvious thinking in the world and to help you learn to see the opportunities others don’t, be more resilient, and lead the future. He previously spent 15 years leading brand strategy and teaches marketing and storytelling as an adjunct professor.

This recording is available for a limited time, through August 15, 2023.

During his time in the military, Admiral William McRaven commanded special operations forces at every level, eventually taking charge of the U.S. Special Operations Command. As the Chancellor of the UT System, he led one of the nation’s largest and most respected systems of higher education. The author of four books, his latest is a tribute to everyday heroes—from battlefields to hospitals to college campuses.

Melissa Marshall helps technical and business professionals talk about complex ideas in ways that inspire stakeholders to act. Sharing proven strategies that she's used to help the world's top researchers and thinkers convey their work, Melissa will challenge what you've always known and thought about presenting—and share exciting new ways to transform your next presentation.

Employee recruitment and retention continue to be tremendous challenges in a very competitive job market, and for some institutions, essential student services and core campus operations are in jeopardy. This session will highlight current and emerging U.S. and higher education workforce challenges and offer examples of ways higher ed leaders can recruit, retain, and engage the talent needed now and into the future. Explore strategies chief business officers and chief human resource officers are using to recruit and retain employees.

Speakers

• Lynne Adams, chief human resources officer, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
• Kathy Dettloff, vice president for administration and finance, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
• Ed Kania, vice president for business and finance and treasurer, Rollins College
• David Zajchowski, director, human resources, Rollins College
• Andy Brantley, president and CEO, College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR)

Learning Objectives

• Outline national and higher education recruitment and retention data
• Discuss recruitment and retention strategies and solutions being used by both higher education and private sector organizations
• Describe the importance of the chief business officer and chief human resources officer relationship and identify ways to strengthen that partnership

In 2021, NACUBO was awarded $3.8 million in grants to create tools and resources that will produce financially sustainable and equitable student outcomes. In this session, panelists from participating institutions will share insights into how they are leveraging the tools and resources they helped to design, and how those tools and resources are linked to the improved student outcomes they expect to achieve. Panelists will discuss their experiences related to one of the following areas of focus: data to inform decisions; financial resource optimization; and student-centered planning, processes, and budgeting. 

Speakers

• Christopher Calvert, vice president for finance, chief financial officer, Cincinnati State Technical and Community College
• Leslie Jamison, chief financial officer, Atlantic Cape Community College
• Amber Randolph, senior vice chancellor for administration, economic development and chief financial officer, Rutgers University – Newark
• Scott Stenmark, vice president for finance and administration, chief financial officer, North Park University
• Kelli Rainey, senior director of grants management, NACUBO

Learning Objectives

• Discuss approaches that peers are using to strengthen the role of the business office to strategically support student outcomes
• Identify opportunities to generate and support data analysis, data usage, and institution-wide awareness of budget outcomes and impacts
• List inputs and outputs that support planning, budgeting, prioritization, and allocation

During the pandemic, institutions were able to quickly leverage technology to adapt to new conditions and challenges. How can CBOs and CIOs use the same agility and innovation to address higher education’s business challenges? EDUCAUSE’s Top 10 IT Issues revealed themes that may help leaders see opportunities for leveraging technology: leading with wisdom, the ultra-intelligent institution, and everything is anywhere. Panelists will share how CBOs and CIOs are partnering to use technology to navigate NACUBO’s Top 5 Business Issues: workforce, student needs, technology infrastructure, economic climate, and resource constraints.

Speakers

• Sharon Blanton, vice president for operations, The College of New Jersey
• Dwayne Pinkney, executive vice president for finance and administration, Indiana University
• Jack Suess, vice president of IT, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
• Cole Clark, managing director, higher education, Deloitte

Learning Objectives

• Recognize opportunities for using technology to address business challenges
• Develop strategies for leveraging technology to support institutional priorities
• Evaluate digital and technology strategies and approaches

Following the pursuit of increased wages, employees cited opportunities for remote work and more flexible hours as the most common reasons for seeking new employment in a 2022 survey by the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources. Shaped by an institution’s unique cultural position and strategic goals, these increasingly nuanced policies can make political, social, and economic statements. This session will discuss the framework for developing a remote policy within the continuum of external implications. Attendees will learn how to engage leadership in constructive discussions to better address internal, external, and regulatory demands.

Speakers

• Robert Caret, vice president of executive search, Greenwood Asher and Associates
• Joel Levenson, assistant vice president for tax, payables and procurement, University of Central Florida
• Michael Plater, vice president and higher education practice lead, Kelly Education
• Jeremy Van Kley, higher education sales consultant, Kelly Educatio

Learning Objectives

• Illustrate the definitive statements an institution's remote work policy can make
• Examine external factors that influence your institution's remote work policy
• Lead constructive conversations with leadership regarding your institution's remote work policy

This session will explore ways to create a framework for how leaders from facilities, business and finance, and campus planning can collaborate to move an institution from a siloed approach to an integrated model of planning. This model seeks to integrate with other key planning activities occurring on the campus that, when activated and realized, will transform how an institution reaches its potential.

Speakers

• Russ Hannah, chief financial officer, Arkansas State University  
• Laura Hubbard, vice president for finance and administration, The University at Buffalo 
• E. Lander Medlin, president and CEO, APPA-Leadership in Educational Facilities 
• Mike Moss, president, Society for College and University Planning 
• Pete Zuraw, vice president market strategy and development, Gordian 
• Jim Hundrieser, vice president, consulting and business development, NACUBO

Learning Objectives

• Use the framework's guidelines to stimulate engaged and collaborative discussion to prioritize campus programs/facilities and decision-making
• Assess how your institution collectively manages facilities, finance, and planning actions as either a lagging response or a leading planning element
• Discuss your campus facilities infrastructure in terms of embodied debt, risk exposure, future program compatibility, and adaptability

As inflation hits record levels, higher education business model challenges will be significant. Developing capital planning, opportunities for revenue enhancement and reallocation, and debt strategies are needed to address rising building costs, wages, and interest rates. This session will explore expected and potential areas of unexpected inflation; how to communicate the effects of inflation to various stakeholders, including the Board, academic units, and students; and actions that can mitigate the impact of more significant inflation going forward.

Speakers

• Eric Bymaster, associate vice chancellor for finance and treasury, Vanderbilt University
• Chris Cowen, executive vice president and chief financial officer, Cornell University
• Jim Costello, managing director, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC

Learning Objectives

• Prepare for the future by understanding the changing expectations in higher education risk management
• Discuss some ways to navigate the demands of a changing global community
• Consider the potential impact of flexible work arrangements, hiring methods, long-term financial concerns, and talent decline

Are you concerned about the current and future financial vitality of your institution? Do your board and leadership talk meaningfully about their concerns, but take little action to address those concerns? This session provides insights key administrators can use to strategically assess the strength of their institution’s business model, recognize whether they are approaching an inflection point, and consider timely alternatives or specific actions they can take to move forward with a process that will maintain or return to financial sustainability.

Speakers

• Stephen Golding, board chair, Washington College; senior consultant, AGB
• Rebecca Skillings, vice president for finance and administration, Oberlin College
• Art Snyder, president emeritus, Indiana Tech, senior fellow, NACUBO
• Henry Stoever, president and CEO, Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB)
• Dave Capitano, higher education practice leader, Baker Tilly
• Jim Hundrieser, vice president, consulting and business development, NACUBO 

Learning Objectives

• Discuss key questions and actions institutional leaders should take when assessing the need, building the case, and designing the strategy for transformational change to meet financial needs to ensure institutional sustainability
• List ways to anticipate and overcome barriers institutions may experience while planning, designing and implementing a significant shift in strategy, differentiation focus and/or operation model
• Highlight specific action steps your institution can take to remain (or return to) financially sustainable

Higher education financials will likely continue to face headwinds in the years ahead, causing institutions to dig deep and determine a path to sustainability. It is critical that CFOs and their teams understand the various non-tuition revenue streams, particularly within auxiliaries, that are available to higher education institutions and how to optimize them. What should be insourced versus outsourced? What auxiliary functions have adequate scale? Is there an opportunity to explore auxiliary functions as well as administrative areas? Is UBIT something to be avoided or positively embraced? This session will address these questions and others around the use of auxiliaries as an opportunity to deliver financial sustainability.

Speakers

• Bill Dracos, deputy chief operating officer, Georgia Tech Research Institute
• William Guerrero, vice president of finance and chief financial officer, University of Bridgeport
• Matt Unterman, practice leader and principal, Higher Education Advisory Services, Grant Thornton LLP

Learning Objectives

• Identify ways in which non-tuition revenue can support financial sustainability
• Describe the factors to successfully identify, enhance, and roll out improvements to non-tuition revenue
• Understand UBIT rules from a business and mission perspective

While data and analytics are improving reporting and compliance, they have largely failed to provide a significant return on investment for student success, organizational change, or institutional resiliency. To remain resilient in the face of those challenges, higher education institutions need to develop analytics strategies that go far beyond current solutions that help institutions meet reporting requirements and explain problems that have already happened. Learn how Notre Dame is using analytics to build institutional resilience with modern data and analytics approaches.  

Speakers

• Linda Kroll, Associate Vice President for Finance, The University of Notre Dame 
• Jean Vock, Senior Vice President, Business Affairs and Chief Finance Officer, University of Nevada Las Vegas 
• Mark Hampton, Executive Education Advisor, Amazon Web Services

Learning Objectives

• Define modern data and analytics approaches (terms, techniques, tools) your institution can apply to its key challenges 
• Chart the steps of your own analytics journey using real world examples and best practices gleaned from across higher education 
• Apply self-paced training materials and hands-on workshops to explore effective practices and tools in a higher education context

Higher education debt and treasury professionals must build resilient balance sheets with enough flexibility to pursue strategic initiatives—all during a time of rising interest rates and market volatility. During this session, speakers will discuss the advantages of scale and how using an internal central bank can foster budget predictability, optimize liquidity, and insulate capital plans from rising interest rates. They will also address age old questions of whether to pay off debt, private placement versus capital markets, and how to allocate capital costs across a campus to promote budget accountability and predictability.

Speakers

• Wayne Magdziarz, senior vice president, chief financial officer and chief business officer, Loyola University Chicago
• Drew Smith, treasurer, University of Michigan
• Michael Osborn, vice president, senior credit officer, Moody's Investors Service

Learning Objectives

• Articulate varying strategies to help optimize your institution's balance sheet in a time of rising interest rates and market volatility
• Demonstrate an acumen for varying debt and treasury strategies and assess if they are appropriate for your institution
• Refine your debt and treasury operation to aid investment for tomorrow while preserving strength and resiliency today

Hear ways to best convey your institution’s financial story. Panelists will provide observations, insights, and recommendations for effectively communicating financial information via audited financial statements for both public and private institutions. Topics will include institutional aid, accounting policies, restrictions, governing board designations, disclosures and/or MD&A, operating performance, programmatic expenses, and endowment information. 

Speakers

• Chris Leach, accounting policy analyst, NACUBO
• Sue Menditto, senior director, accounting policy, NACUBO

Learning Objectives

• Define allowable reporting flexibility
• Differentiate between functions and programmatic activities
• Explain how readers may digest financial information

We in higher education often like to decouple student enrollment from tuition dollars. Unfortunately for small private institutions without robust endowments, the reality is that revenue is tuition driven. So how do you tie student enrollment to tuition goals to make sound financial decisions in real time? Hear how one institution was able to rework their tuition model from one based on discounts to one based on credit hour generation. The presenters will show how this model can be tied directly to student enrollment through dashboards. They will also explore common challenges facing institutions and how this modeling can help address those challenges to move toward financial stability.

Speaker

• Dr. Melik Peter Khoury, president and chief executive officer, Unity College

Learning Objectives

• Implement credit hours as a basis for your revenue budget
• Directly tie budgets to an institution’s census numbers, growth heuristics, and key performance indicators
• Obtain the necessary data to make informed decisions on areas of budget allocations