Finance Edition
Foundations of Confidence Webinar Series
Join us on the third Thursday of each month as we explore practical strategies for managing financial drivers with creative data sources.
Don't miss our next session on Wed, 6/18!
Unveiling academic program costs: A strategic imperative for Finance Leadership
Where data leads, confidence follows.
Join us for a new monthly webinar series designed to help you meet today's high stakes moment in higher education and inspire new approaches to data that power your institution's performance, sustainability, and achievement of its mission. These discussions will focus on actionable strategies to build a foundation for continuous improvement anchored in three core pillars.
Trusted
data
A community
of practice
A proven
framework
Check out our upcoming topics
Designed for finance leaders and their essential partners who need to ensure their institution is on a financially sustainable path, especially given today's economic and regulatory landscape. This series will focus on actionable data practices you can employ to more proactively manage major financial drivers within your institution, like staffing and academic program efficiencies.
Unveiling Academic Program Costs: A Strategic Imperative for Finance Leadership
6/18 @ 2pm ET | 11am PT*
A recent Science article highlighted a critical paradox in higher education: institutions are data rich yet "data blind" due to lack of infrastructure thinking. Does this resonate with your university? For Finance Officers this "data friction" directly impacts the ability to accurately assess academic program costs and optimize financial performance.
This webinar, led by Dr. Celena Kusch, Executive Director of Academic Innovation & Faculty Support at the University of South Carolina Upstate, addresses the systemic challenges that obscure the true financial picture of academic programs. Dr. Kusch spearheaded the academic performance review at USC Upstate, confronting data friction stemming from siloed systems and departmental boundaries, as well as the inherent social friction that can arise when critical insights are brought to light.
Finance leaders will gain valuable insights from Dr. Kusch's pragmatic strategies, and this discussion will equip you with a proven framework to transform data into strategic intelligence for enhanced financial stewardship and academic efficiency.
*Note: this session will take place on Wednesday in recognition of Juneteenth on Thursday this week.
Maximizing Academic ROI: How understanding program economics can drive smarter investments
7/17 @ 2pm ET | 11am PT
In today's higher ed landscape, the pressure to demonstrate ROI and improve student outcomes has never been greater, but few institutions truly understand the financial inputs of their academic programs. Do you understand your cost of instruction, or are hidden inefficiencies costing you more than you realize?
This discussion offers a compelling fireside chat between Rick Staisloff, Senior Partner at rpk GROUP, and Darren Catalano, CEO at HelioCampus. They'll share actionable insights from their numerous experiences with leading institutions, and explore:
- Why many institutions avoid confronting program economics
- The critical data needed to calculate and assess contribution margins
- Effective change management strategies to unite Finance and Academic leadership
Access the series archive
Series participants get access to all of our past recordings, slide decks, exclusive resources, & more on-demand. Register above and we'll send you everything you need to catch up! You can read about our past sessions below.
Untapped Financial Levers to Meet the Moment Without Sacrificing Your Mission
As institutions struggle with new financial pressures, it's critical to explore all levers to determine a path forward. Looking at often untapped areas like course capacity & instructional utilization or reviewing your development staffing can offer a more holistic look at your financial picture. Having the data to make decisions with confidence is key to assuring your institution is well positioned for the future. We’ll review exclusive data from our benchmarking consortium to highlight labor cost opportunities, as well as share how to assess contribution margin and course & instructional capacity. Join us for a creative dialogue as we review multiple financial levers you can put in practice today during these unprecedented times of financial uncertainty.
