Fluctuations in the financial welfare of institutions of higher education have long been tied to our country's economic well-being. For many institutions the most recent financial downturns have led to historic revenue and enrollment difficulties that have necessitated the use of cost containment strategies to conserve dwindling resources.…

A new study of endowments by the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) and the Commonfund Institute has brought good news to college and universities: While endowment returns dropped precipitously in fiscal year 2009 as a result of the financial crisis and accompanying slide in equity markets, they climbed to an…

The strategy of deep selective budget cuts for institutions is not always the soundest policy, since the choice between these and across-the-board cuts is an oversimplification. The literature on rescission shows no instance in which a university administration has cut the same percentage across-the-board. (MLW)

By terminating 26 degree programs, 3 departments, and 3 schools and colleges, the State University of New York at Albany generated a pool of resource for reallocation to programs with greater need and priority. The difficulties of accomplishing this and the lessons for other campuses are described. (Author/MLW)

The relative incidence of across-the-board cuts in higher education for all institutions that experienced decreasing revenues between 1976-1977 and 1980-1981 was studied. Factors that affect the extent to which administrators employed across-the-board cuts versus selective cuts were also assessed. Attention was focused on the effects of the…

An AGB- and NACUBO-sponsored survey showed that "wish lists" are accumulating overdue major maintenance projects because energy costs are consuming physical plant budgets. Problem areas are discussed: budget "guesstimation," preventive maintenance, deferred maintenance inventory, the APPA accounting format, resource allocation,…

A new approach to college financial self-assessment is described that focuses on changes in resources as the indicators of the institution's flexibility to respond to changes in its environment. The model is designed so that assessment results can be easily communicated within and outside the institution. (MSE)

A discussion of rationale and techniques for protecting high-quality faculty and administrators during a period of reduced resources looks at the administrator's role as leader in quality control, finding an alternative to halted growth, identifying key administrative and academic personnel, defining shared goals, and finding needed funds. (MSE)

A discussion is presented of the process of resource allocation and the use of performance indicators in public sector higher education in Britain. First, background is presented on the method of providing resources to institutions of advanced further education (AFE) and non-advanced further education (NAFE) on the basis of pooled recurrent…

Universities could increase their fiscal resources significantly through internal taxation. Internal taxation is a technique for obtaining flexibility in budgeting and making it possible for the university to support special programs, respond to special opportunities, retrieve resources from now inappropriate programs, and balance out the…

The 1990s will not be easy for public college faculty, administrators, and governing boards, who will be expected to do more with less money and fewer resources, but bear criticism for cutting back. Simultaneously, society will make greater demands for preparation of the next generation of professionals. The educational establishment must…

Zero-base budgeting is presented as the functional alternative to the community college funding crisis which may be precipitated by passage in June 1978 of the Jarvis Amendment (Proposition 13) in California. Defined as the management of scarce resources on a cost/benefit basis to achieve pre-determined goals, zero-base budgeting emphasizes…

The evolution of management information systems in higher education is traced, with contributing factors noted. Benefits are summarized and shortcomings are discussed with emphasis on their limitations as the basis for resource allocation during an era of budgetary stringency. (Author/JMD)

Responses of colleges and universities to declining revenues and enrollments were investigated, based on a 1983 survey of 334 four-year institutions. Scalogram analysis was employed to determine whether there was a hierarchy of institutional responses to enrollment/revenue decline and whether declining and nondeclining institutions can be…

This essay examines the administration of public multi-campus universities, focusing in particular on central administration and the State University of New York (SUNY) system and on responses to the need for fiscal austerity. Before treatment of the main topic begins, the essay offers a look at five reasons for the suspicion and resentment that…