You’ve most likely heard the news that Sweet Briar College in Virginia, decided to close its doors last month. The current state of Sweet Briar’s existence, at the moment, is “up in the air”. The leaders of Sweet Briar College are finding it difficult to put some order
Economic equilibrium is a state of long-term financial sustainability for an institution of higher education. Richard Cyert, who developed the concept, set these conditions for a state of economic equilibrium: There is sufficient quality and quantity of resources to fulfill the mission of an
Inside Higher Ed’s recently published survey of Chief Financial Officers contains several findings suggesting CFOs are deeply concerned about the financial future of their institutions. Their concerns should be taken seriously by presidents and boards of trustees as they develop strategies for
Every year, the Department of Education (DOE) scores the financial health of colleges and universities that issue financial aid under the auspices of Title IV funds. The problem is that tests are computed differently across regions, within regions, and by the same person within a region. Why
Presidents and chief administrative officers need to develop a fine hand at delegating authority. My recent blog on Scarce Resources speaks to the limited amount of time and energy that the top level administrators have. If the president tries to do everything for everyone else, then nothing
Every college president faces the same challenge of figuring out what to do with the limited resources they have available. Scarce resources are usually defined in terms of money. In 1974, James G. March and Michael Cohen proposed that in higher education, scarce resources should also include