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Article Type

Professional Proficiency

Article Abstract

Related Issue:

The higher education industry continues to go through changes that it has to manage in very purposeful ways. Several factors have converged to create an almost perfect storm that has taken some colleges and universities by surprise, despite the fact that there have been warning signs for years. Stagnant economic opportunities for families to afford the cost of college, the changing demographics of the nation as a whole, stretched resources, and ineffective funding models for some colleges and universities have created an interesting dynamic in the industry. Higher education institutions are resilient organizations that have weathered challenges before, but the convergence of these factors in a present day context has challenged a number of institutions to reevaluate how they continue to extend the legacies of their institutions. In the summer of 2014, the white paper, “Navigating the New Normal: Financial Imperatives for MSI Effectiveness, and Avoiding Financial Exigency” was published by the Southern Education Foundation. This article is a checkup on the themes noted in that paper to see if anything has changed. This article posits that changes are afoot, but not at a pace that would make boards of trustees and senior leaders feel any relief. The issue of race and diversity has joined the debate as well, and it can no longer be ignored. It is into this milieu that enrollment professionals have to operate, and there are perspectives they have to keep in mind. This article attempts to take the complex and break it down into the simple, to provide a context around which all campus constituents and stakeholders will have to contend in the weeks, months and years to come.

Author(s)

Gerald L. Hector currently serves as Vice President for Financial Affairs at Cornell University. Prior to taking this position in summer 2016, he was Vice President for Finance and Administration at Ithaca College. Hector is a highly sought-after speaker and educator on all things related to the finances of colleges and universities. He has addressed a wide-range of topics at AGB, NACUBO, SACUBO, EACUBO, CIC, and AACRAO. His 2014 white paper, “Navigating the New Normal: Financial Imperatives for MSI Effectiveness and Avoiding Financial Exigency,” is a must read for trustees wanting a clear understanding of some of the pressures that higher education institutions face today. He has spoken at board retreats and has advised trustees, presidents and senior leaders on the issues of finance and administration at colleges and universities. He was also a peer reviewer for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).

Hector began his career in public accounting with then big six firm Deloitte and Touche. There he specialized in independent power plants and nonprofit organizations. He then became Corporate Controller at the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), where he reformed a number of financial practices and policies, and was a key member of a team that created the initial budget for the $1 billion Gates Millennium Scholars Program. After leaving UNCF, he became the Vice President for Business and Finance at Johnson C. Smith University. Working with then-president Dorothy Cowser Yancy, he created the first-ever unrestricted cash reserve of $10 million in four years, almost doubled the size of the endowment during her tenure, and assisted with the reaccreditation of the university where it had no findings from its accrediting body.

At Ithaca College, Hector transformed the entire budgeting process to implement Zero Based Budgeting and oversaw the creation of a ten-year master facilities plan as well as the creation of the college’s first-ever strategic plan for information technology. After protests in fall 2015 around race, diversity and inclusion, he created a weekly lunchtime discussion series that is now being adopted by other institutions. For these efforts, he was selected as a panel speaker on a national webcast on the topic of race, diversity and inclusion by the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO). He appears on a number of radio talk shows, webcasts and podcasts where he speaks fluently and unashamedly about the issues facing higher education today.

References

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Center for Public Education. 2007. The United States of Education: The Changing Demographics of the United States and Their Schools. Updated May 2012. Alexandria, VA: National School Boards Association.

Despart, Z. 2016. Burlington College to close under the weight of debt. Burlington Free Press. May 17.

Hector, G. 2016. Division of Finance and Administration invites campus community to join its conversations on race, diversity and inclusion. Intercom. June 26.

Ingeno, L. 2013. Racial tensions. Inside Higher Ed. July 18.

Jaschik, S. 2015. LSU prepares financial exigency plan. Inside Higher Education. April 23.

Keeter, S., and Taylor, P. 2013. The Millennials. Washington, D.C.: Pew Research Center.

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Lipka, S. 2014. Demographic data let colleges peer into the future. The Chronicle of Higher Education. January 19.

Martin, A. 2012a. Degrees of debt: Building a showcase campus, using an I.O.U. The New York Times. December 13.

Martin, J.P. 2012b. Tuition Discounting Through Unfunded Institutional Aid at Private Baccalaureate Colleges (doctoral dissertation). Williamsburg, VA: College of William and Mary.

NACUBO. See National Association of College and University Business Officers.

National Association of College and University Business Officers. 2015. 2014 Tuition Discounting Study. Washington, D.C.: NACUBO.

Prager & Co. 2014. Strategic Financial Analysis for Higher Education. San Francisco.

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. 2015.

Stolberg, S.G. 2015. Sweet Briar College is saved but is not in the clear. The New York Times. June 23.

Stuart, R. 2013. HBCU looking beyond Black students to stay competitive. Diverse: Issues in Higher Education. December 8.

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