Running the Organization: Staying in the Black

1. Running the Organization: Staying in the Black Margaret F. Plympton EDUCAUSE Enterprise Technology Conference Lehigh University May 24, 2006

2. Introduction • Me • The topic • You

3. Purpose of the Session • “Staying in the black” requires many things • Discuss current higher ed financial issues • Then institution-specific issues

4. Purpose, con’t • Then discuss some coping strategies • First, for the institution • Then, for IT organizations in particular

5. Structure of the Session • Concepts (my part) • Major financial issues • Some coping strategies • Discussion (your part) • 3 most pressing financial issues on your campus • 3 successful coping strategies

6. Major “current” financial issues for Higher Ed (“current” = last 3-5 years, next 3-5 years)

7. Declining Revenues • Drop in state/local funding • Reduced giving, reduced endowment performance • Federal Changes • Reduced federal support for financial aid • Congressional pressure against tuition increases • Flat funding for research

8. Increasing Costs • Student expectations • Curricular • Co-curricular • Financial aid/tuition discounting • Costs of operating our institutions • Energy • Health care • Construction increases (steel) • Technology

9. Increasing Pressures • Competition • “Accountability” to multiple stakeholders • Public suspicion about our cost-structure • Our industry’s inability to identify the value of our product, or explain the price

10. Your Part • Turn to your neighbor on your left, introduce yourself and your institution • Describe 3 financial pressures your institution is currently facing..one of these, or something else entirely • We’ll report back to the group in about 10 minutes on what came up in some of the groups, so take about 5 minutes each…and remember what gets said!

11. Institutional Coping Strategies (not answers, or solutions…)

12. Institutional Coping Strategies • New Revenue Streams • Different markets • Industry partnering for research support • Multiple fee structures • For publics, more aggressive fundraising • For privates, more aggressive government lobbying

13. Institutional Coping Strategies, con’t • Cost Shifting • Health care premiums shifted more to employees • Charging students for “extras” that used to be included • Charging campus budgets for items that used to be “free”

14. Institutional Coping Strategies, con’t • Cost Reduction • Reducing personnel • Reduction/elimination of specific programs/services • Across the board budget cuts….

15. IT Coping Strategies

16. IT Coping Strategies • New Revenue Streams? • Charge for your services, to internal users • Charge for your services, to outside users • Partner with other units to generate institutional revenue, thus helping all budgets

17. IT Coping Strategies, con’t • Cost Delays • Multi-year project plans, show users their project is there, but in the future • Slow down implementations, start new projects later

18. IT Coping Strategies, con’t • Cost Reductions • Partnering/consortial agreements (internal or external) • Outsourcing that actually reduces costs (not all outsourcing does!) • Identification of institutional top priorities only • Just reduce everything x%

19. IT Coping Strategies, con’t • Critical to any of these—communication with users! • Engagement in identifying priorities • Engagement in identifying partners, internal or external • Engagement in leveraging their resources with yours

20. Your Part, Again • Turn to your neighbor on your right, introduce yourself and your institution… • Then each describe 3 coping strategies you’ve found effective… one of these, or something else entirely • We’ll report back to the group in about 10 minutes, so 5 minutes for each of you

21. Conclusion • Take-aways about strategies? • Questions about anything that came up? • It’s fine to leave this session with only one thing you feel good about— “wow, I could have it much worse at Institution X!”