Kathleen Haynes: Budgeting and Strategic Planning (Week Three).

This weeks discussion question asks for an analysis of Omega College, a private liberal arts college located in the Midwest. Omega College is competing with a community college in the next town, and the state university that has become the choice for most of the transferring students at the community college. Omegas enrollment has become unstable in recent years, dropping from a once average enrollment of 850 undergraduates to about 800 full time students. There are students from different areas of the country, as well as international students, the bulk of students, however come from neighboring states from Omega (Barr & McClellan, 2011). In a quick analysis, questions that I have asked myself, are what is it about Omega college are what is causing Omega Colleges unstable enrollment? Why do international students only persist for one semester and then return to their home countries? Why even with national exposure through U-Can, does Omega face dropping enrollments, fail to attract students from either the community college or the military? The discussion prompt asks what actions I might recommend for the short term for Omega College to use to attract students and achieve financial equilibrium. What additional sources of revenue might I identify that would be available for Omega, how would determine what options are available that are viable and cost-effective for Omega based on data provided, and how can I support my recommendations. My first task is to study the data provided, and then in light of the lack of any financial statements, mission statement, vision, goals, or strategic plan, develop a strategy that I believe is viable based on prior case studies, class resources, and research (Walden University, Budgeting and Strategic Planning, 2010, Discussion Topic). The first recommendation is for Omega to develop along with the five-year financial plan, a strategic plan that sets the priorities for the college reflecting its intentions, its competencies, and the behaviors Omega wishes to pursue (Jones,1999,). The case study states that Omegas strategic planning committee is to plan for several different initiatives for the college. As Jones (1999) states, planning must result in decisions. Omega may indeed have a strategic plan, however based on the difficulties Omega is experiencing it cannot be very effective, and developing a new one that reflects what Omega sees as its priorities would be a step in the right direction. The colleges budget when developed should also reflect these priorities, which the reading describes as a development of an academic plan to increase the options and opportunities for students who come to Omega College

at the undergraduate and graduate levels (Barr & McClellan, 2011, p.186). This should be reflected in the budget with adequate revenues for educational and program expenses. The college must also ask itself questions such as how will staff levels change, will material acquisitions be affected? How will our stock of equipment change (Jones, 1999)? Short-term solutions may also include streamlining courses to meet the educational mission and values. Raising additional revenue could include securing government contracts to provide specific educational opportunities for military personnel and their dependents from the nearby military base. A comparative study to see what the community college and state university are offering that Omega might incorporate that is giving the community college a differential advantage over Omega College would be useful (Dooris, Kelley, & Trainer, 2002). This would help especially in determining if there are course sections that could be opened to students outside their majors that would provide a broader educational experience, and help in the retention of international students. Changes in policy or practice may result in freeing up resources, such as human capita, that will allow for additional course sections without necessitating additional expenditures of cash (Laureate Education, Inc.). Holding information sessions for students who attend the community college, with Omega students as group leaders, to highlight the aspects of the college that students alone can target, such as residential life and student activities; spreading the word personally, not just on a web-site could be more effective. The funds for these activities would have to be budgeted, perhaps from a specific donation, so that it carried over from year-to-year, rather than on a one time basis, since improving enrollment trends and giving exposure outside of the local area where Omega is located could become a goal for the college. The development of performance indicators by departments, and developing agreements between the provost and each department, so that the departments can differentiate between what they would like to see budgeted for and what is actually needed and fiscally possible for the institution (Hearn, Lewis, Kallsen, Holdsworth, & Jones, 2006).This would advance the strategic plan and goals of the college, while also encouraging incentives for budgeting. Revenues could be earmarked to remain at unit level at the end of fiscal year, rather than spending down remaining revenues so the department does not have less allocated in future budgets due to an occasional surplus at the end of the fiscal year (Hearn, et al, 2006). After the implementation of any of these recommendations, looking at the data for revenues to see if net assets have increased, which would be a reflection of increased enrollment; Looking at the FTE, would be useful data, as an increase might signal either donations for faculty positions or if additional faculty positions are budgeted to accommodate increased enrollment. If the number of FTE decreased, signaling a decrease in enrollment, this would be a reflection of the inability of Omega to sustain its initiatives. These are generalizations, and given no data were available, only assumptions are possible.

References: Barr, M.J. & McClellan, G.S. (2011. Budgets and financial management in higher education. San Franscisco, CA. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Dooris, M. J., Kelley, J. M., & Trainer, J. F. (2004). Strategic planning in higher education. New Directions for Institutional Research, (123), 511. Retrieved from the Walden Library using the Education Research Complete database Hearn, J. C., Lewis, D. R., Kallsen, L., Holdsworth, J. M., & Jones, L. M. (2006). "Incentives for Managed Growth": A case study of incentives-based planning and budgeting in a large public research university. Journal of Higher Education, 77(2), 286316. Retrieved from the Walden Library using the Education Research Complete database. Jones, D. P. (1999, March 30). Linking strategic planning and budgeting. National Center for Higher Management Systems. Presented to SACUBO, Dallas, TX. Retrieved from http://www.nchems.org/pubs/docs/sacubo%203%2030%2099.pdf Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer) (2010). Strategic Planning and Implementation. (Webcast). Baltimore, MD. (Author). Walden University (2010) EDUC 6261 Budgeting and Strategic Planning. Retrieved from: http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=5693168&Survey=1&47=7412308&Client NodeID=984650&coursenav=1&bhcp=1