Announcement coming soon!

In this session, you will learn actionable strategies for leveraging online reputation to drive enrollment, philanthropic revenue, and financial resilience. The presenters—senior university leaders, faculty, and an endowment manager—will share data-backed insights into reputation’s impact on tuition and philanthropy. You will explore collaborative management strategies for integrating reputation metrics with financial planning, fostering cross-functional support, and setting KPIs. This interactive session will include a scenario-based workshop where you will brainstorm reputation-focused strategies and get feedback from the presenters.

College athletics is characterized by loyal fandom, significant revenue generation, substantial expenses, and evolving opportunities and challenges. Name, Image, and Likeness rights and the transfer portal have added new dimensions to the landscape, in addition to continued movement among schools between conferences, creating both opportunities and complexities. Chief financial officers and treasurers must stay informed as they navigate how these matters may affect budgeting and cash flow. This session will delve into the key drivers of college athletics today, the rapidly evolving landscape, and the potential implications for schools going forward.

Explore the evolving higher education landscape, focusing on significant trends and challenges that are driving mergers and acquisitions (M&A), strategic partnerships, and joint ventures within the sector. The presenters will discuss the rising costs of education, explore the increasing number of campus closures, examine the growing enrollment of non-traditional and adult learners, and share effective approaches to address institutional sustainability. You’ll also hear the impact of digital transformation, the benefits of shared services, and the role of strategic partnerships in enhancing college and university resilience.

The Institutional Viability Metric (IVM) is a strong predictor of financial risk that incorporates measures of financial position, market demand, and student outcomes to create a dynamic and timely view of an institution’s health. During this session, the presenters will speak to why it’s important to conduct this kind of assessment, when it is most valuable, and how it differs from and intersects with the annual budgeting process. They will also discuss changes they’re making to resource allocation because of this assessment work and the impact on their institutions.

Announcement coming soon!

In this session, you will learn how one institution conducted an interactive financial risk assessment with senior leadership using a widely accepted risk matrix. The presenters will guide you through the process of generating a risk heat map for review with key internal and board stakeholders, using the heat map to develop an internal audit plan, and determining whether to outsource the audit plan to outside consultants. You’ll walk away with a real-world example of how this approach has been used in response to the departure of internal audit staff.

In an era of increasing complexity in higher education, institutions committed to student success must leverage financial strategies to build sustainable, scalable capacity for improved student outcomes. This interactive session will introduce strategies for embedding student-centered strategies into institutional planning processes. Through real-world case studies and practical exercises, you will learn how to build integrated plans that connect strategic priorities, financial practices, and student success efforts.

The looming demographic cliff—driven by declining numbers of college-aged students, shifting enrollment trends, and evolving workforce demands—poses significant challenges for higher education institutions. This interactive session will explore strategies for navigating these population shifts. You will engage with a panel of peers to discuss innovative approaches to sustaining enrollment, adapting business operations, and fostering institutional resilience. With insights from past and present trends, this session will equip you with practical strategies to collaborate with institutional leadership and mitigate the impact of demographic changes on your campus.

This session will follow one land-grant university’s journey through evolving budget models—from centralized, to Responsibility Centered Management (RCM), and back, but with RCM elements retained. Panelists will share lessons learned, highlight the benefits and challenges of each model, showcase data tools used for strategic financial decision-making, and explore key issues identified, including governance and resource allocation challenges. You’ll leave with practical steps to refine or redesign your own budget models.