Learning Lab | Higher Education Budgeting: How to Plan for Sustainability and Change – September 2024

Part 1: September 10, 2024 | 12:00–1:30 p.m. ET
Part 2: September 16, 2024 | 12:00–1:30 p.m. ET
Part 3: September 19, 2024 | 12:00–1:30 p.m. ET
Part 4: September 24, 2024 | 12:00–1:30 p.m. ET

Overview

Leaders and managers in higher education are confronted with escalating demands to achieve more with fewer resources, underscoring the need for a comprehensive understanding of financial management and budgeting. Beyond keeping individual projects on course, budget managers must actively champion the allocation of necessary funds to propel key initiatives of their departments or units, while adeptly navigating budgetary constraints. Simultaneously, they also need to ensure the financial sustainability of their organization, with a watchful eye on expenditures. In this Lab, participants will learn about the origins and applications of various funds within their departments and organizations and how to leverage budgeting processes to support strategic objectives, while practicing how to navigate and adapt to shifts and cuts within their departments.

Learning Outcomes:

NOTE: You will be asked to complete assignments in between the Learning Lab live sessions that support the learning outcomes stated below. You will receive feedback and constructive critique from facilitators.

• Understand various higher education budget models, as well as funding sources and expenses at your institution.
• Identify and use institutional peers and benchmarking data to inform budget development.
• Analyze your institutional budget and consider how to manage and strategically address budget cuts/reductions, including communications mitigation, and negotiation.
• Practice presenting a business case to support a change to technology and/or business processes that impact budget (i.e., managing a campus governance committee).
• Create a narrative to support funding requests, such as communicating the return on an investment via storytelling (i.e., communicating the value of investment–connected to your institution’s strategy).
• Explore frameworks to create a strategic technology roadmap, laying out the potential for 3-5 years and related budgets (current, short-term, long-term).