Category: Academic Resource Management

Cost of Instruction at the University of Maryland

The following is an extract from this article in NACUBO Business Officer Magazine September 2019 by Margo Vanover Porter and discusses the Pilbara model at the University of Maryland. The model was implemented in 2017 with our US consulting partner, Grant Thornton and is updated on an annual basis.   After attending a NACUBO conference […]

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Pilbara in Saskatoon

Saskatoon, in the heart of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan sits further north than Hobart is south, by about 10° in latitude, (for the navigators amongst you). As the crow flies, it is 14,612 kilometers from Adelaide by the shortest route across the Pacific. Winter temperatures in Saskatoon get serious, with the thermometer hovering around of -19° […]

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Pilbara Higher Ed Conference 2019

The Pilbara Higher Ed conference was held September 3-4 in Brisbane at the Rydges Hotel in Southbank. It was a great crowd and generated a lot of interesting discussions over the two day event. The focus of the conference was Data Driven Decision Making and in particular how cost and predictive models can be used […]

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New Academic Programs – Five Year Financial Forecasts in Minutes

A significant amount of time and effort goes into the development of a new program for a college. Unfortunately, the financial aspects of the new program tend not to get as much attention. In today’s environment it is becoming more and more important to ensure any new programs not only break-even but contribute positively to […]

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Upcoming Pilbara Conference: Keynotes Announced

This September 3-4, we will be hosting our Pilbara Users’ Conference entitled “Preparing for Change: Data Driven Decision Making.” The two-day event was created in response to the changes taking place in Higher Education with multiple external factors putting pressure on existing business models, not just in Australia but internationally as well. We are now […]

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Why is Traditional Accounting Failing Higher Education?

With Gary Cokins Traditional or Financial Accounting is essential for statutory and regulatory reporting for government agencies and the investor community. It is guided by Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). It is best referred to as “external” financial accounting. But here is the problem: Colleges know in detail how much they spend; however, the vast […]

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The Alternative to Closing/Merging – Networking!

In my last post I identified that 14% of presidents think their college will close or merge in the next five years. With over 4,000 degree-granting institutions in the US, this could potentially mean that more than 400 colleges are at risk of closure or merging. In this post, Andrew Faulkner and I dig into […]

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Hundreds of colleges fear closing or merging

In the latest Inside Higher Ed 2019 Survey of College and University Presidents it was no surprise to see that the majority of presidents are confident that their institutions will be financially stable over the next five years. What I was quite surprised to read was that 14% of college presidents say they could see […]

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Seven Weeks to Data Analysis Nirvana

Skip the Rapid Prototype and go straight to the Rapid Fully Functioning Model It’s a common situation around the globe for financial analysts working for Higher Education institutions. Some type of looming crisis, major project or big decision requires detailed financial analysis… or as has happened here in Australia, the Government now requires universities to […]

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The Great Higher Ed Financial Disconnect

The Critical Course Metric you probably don’t know about  Affordability and Financial Sustainability are primary concerns cited by Boards of Trustees of higher education institutions as stated in the latest AGB 2018 Trustee Index.    Unfortunately at most institutions there can often be a huge disconnect between affordability (price/revenue) and sustainability (cost/margins).    To determine if this is an issue at your institution, just ask this very simple […]

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