Postcard from NACUBO Higher Education Accounting Forum

Greetings from sunny Orlando, Florida, the location of the 2016 National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) Higher Education Accounting Forum.  This year’s conference includes more than 550 attendees from all across the country, ranging from small public and private institutions to large institutions. This year’s conference once again focuses on hot topics and trends in higher education.

The opening keynote address, given by Kent Chabotar of Guilford College, focused on the current state of higher education. Mr. Chabotar is a professor of political science, author, former chief business officer, and was president of Guilford College until 2014. The message from day one this year was more focused on the management of change, in particular, how to manage your finances as all colleges and universities seek ways to grow and thrive.

One theme was taking a hard look at your current enrollment and making sure that your faculty and staff structure match those needs. Over the past few years, most institutions have been challenged by lower enrollment due to changing demographics and prospective students being more focused on costs.  Mr. Chabotar stressed that institution need to balance student, faculty and staff ratios to ensure that they are appropriate based upon enrollment.  Challenges in managing these ratios have translated to an uneven recovery for institutions. Mr. Chabotar challenged schools to find an appropriate balance between investing and managing costs, as prolonged lack of investment can cause other consequences or challenges in maintaining an institution’s long-term viability.

Another theme was the requirement that all colleges and universities continue to focus on value proposition.  An institution’s value proposition should focus particularly on marketing, technology and demonstrating value.  Each of these areas needs to work together for institutions to maximize the value that they are providing and manage costs appropriately. Each institution must answer the basic questions on what are they known for; what value does their degree provide; and how their internal resources are managed to efficiently and appropriately balance costs and investments in programs.

Mr. Chabotar also noted that Moody’s outlook of the sector is more favorable, and while Moody’s remains cautious, it believes that there will be modest revenue growth for most institutions.  For institutions that have revenue growth of 5%, the outlook is positive, which is welcome news to this sector.

Visit the Schneider Downs "Our Thoughts On" blog for similar Higher Education articlesand visit our industry group page to learn about services that we offer to colleges and universities.

You’ve heard our thoughts… We’d like to hear yours

The Schneider Downs Our Thoughts On blog exists to create a dialogue on issues that are important to organizations and individuals. While we enjoy sharing our ideas and insights, we’re especially interested in what you may have to say. If you have a question or a comment about this article – or any article from the Our Thoughts On blog – we hope you’ll share it with us. After all, a dialogue is an exchange of ideas, and we’d like to hear from you. Email us at [email protected].

Material discussed is meant for informational purposes only, and it is not to be construed as investment, tax, or legal advice. Please note that individual situations can vary. Therefore, this information should be relied upon when coordinated with individual professional advice.

© 2024 Schneider Downs. All rights-reserved. All content on this site is property of Schneider Downs unless otherwise noted and should not be used without written permission.

our thoughts on
Pell Grant Program Facing Shortfall
2024 Policy Shifts: Essential Updates Every College Should Know
Gainful Employment Disclosures in Higher Education
Protect Your Students, Faculty and Staff: 3 Common Cyber Attack Methods to Watch Out for in 2023
Key Takeaways from the 2023 CUPA-HR Higher Education Employee Retention Survey
The Latest on the NCAA's National NIL Proposal
Register to receive our weekly newsletter with our most recent columns and insights.
Have a question? Ask us!

We’d love to hear from you. Drop us a note, and we’ll respond to you as quickly as possible.

Ask us
contact us
Pittsburgh

This site uses cookies to ensure that we give you the best user experience. Cookies assist in navigation, analyzing traffic and in our marketing efforts as described in our Privacy Policy.

×