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An illustration of a person holding a large magnifying glass to inspect data icons including an orange coin and a graduation cap. WEBINAR SERIES 

Sustain Through Anything: Navigating Cost Containment in Higher Ed

Proposing structural changes to academic budgets and administrative staffing can meet cultural resistance on campus. For finance leaders navigating the challenging higher ed landscape, a nuanced approach is required to avoid damaging institutional brand and morale.

Join our upcoming webinar series to learn how to neutralize difficult cost containment conversations, optimize resources, and build a defensible financial roadmap with labor and academic cost data.

Take a look at our episode lineup below!

An illustration of a black four-column rising bar graph sitting next to a circular icon containing a dollar sign.EPISODE 1: Mitigating Operational Risk: How Activity-Based Costing Can Right-Size Higher Ed Staffing

9/30 @ 2pm ET | 11am PT

Icon of a human head profile merged with a gear, symbolizing the integration of thought, strategy, and mechanical or operational efficiency.

EPISODE 2: Linking Staffing & Service Quality to Outcomes feat. UC Davis, UW-Madison, & Univ of Idaho

10/21 @ 2pm ET | 11am PT

An illustration of a grey monitor featuring a vertical bar graph with an orange trend line, situated next to three stacked server units.EPISODE 3: New Research: Exploring the Economics of Academic Administrative Resources feat. Dr. Robert Kelchen

11/12 @ 2pm ET | 11am PT   

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Register once. Attend all three sessions or watch on demand.

Register for the Series

EPISODE 1:
Mitigating Operational Risk: How Activity-Based Costing Can Right-Size Higher Ed Staffing

Weds, 9/30 @ 2pm ET | 11am PT

With labor costs comprising the vast majority of institutional budgets, relying on traditional budgeting presents an existential risk to institutional viability. As enrollment pressures squeeze net tuition revenue, finance leaders must pivot from across-the-board cuts to strategic resource allocation.

This session explores how activity-based costing can shift workforce planning from historical assumptions to a more agile fiscal framework. Plus, we’ll highlight new trends emerging across the Labor Cost Analytics consortium benchmarks in 2026.

Join to learn how to:

  • Standardize your view of labor costs using activity-based costing to enable peer-to-peer and cross-departmental comparison
  • Investigate staffing anomalies and deploy strategies to dig into decentralized
  • Interpret newly emerging consortium benchmarks to evaluate your institution’s relative performance and efficiency

 

EPISODE 2:
Linking Staffing & Service Quality to Outcomes

Weds, 10/21 @ 2pm ET | 11am PT

Finance leaders need more than budget reports—they need meaningful context. Learn how institutions are using staffing, payroll, and service benchmarking to improve transparency, evaluate administrative spending, and make more confident resource allocation decisions. How public universities are leveraging benchmark data to align investments with institutional priorities and strengthen financial planning.

Speakers:

  • Govind Acharya, Supervisor, Academic Planning, Reporting and Operations Analytics, Budget & Institutional Analysis, University of California Davis

  • Haley Bergsten, Strategic Initiatives Consultant, University of Wisconsin–Madison

  • Kim Salisbury, Senior Associate Vice President for Finance and Planning, University of Idaho

  • Paul Seitz, Director, Strategic Initiatives, Finance & Administration, University of Wisconsin–Madison

EPISODE 3:
New Research: Exploring the Economics of Academic Administrative Resources

Thurs, 11/12 @ 2pm ET | 11am PT

Institutions are increasingly turning to their academic schools, such as colleges and their constituent departments within larger universities, to increase revenues and reduce expenditures in a challenging financial environment. Join Dr. Robert Kelchen, nationally recognized scholar from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, as he shares new research on the relationship between academic schools and administrative personnel spending, brought to
light with the help of HelioCampus Labor Cost Analytics consortium data.

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