Financial Vitality

 
CORE STRATEGY I  
 

To manage its resources strategically and responsibly, the college will assess and communicate its financial health. The college will use tools and processes to assist the college's leaders in guiding, managing, and leading those efforts that positively impact the college, and develop and implement a strategic operational and capital budget.

Priority Initiatives

  1. Create, approve, and implement a transparent, Strategic Budgeting model to align operating budget with focused strategies. 


  2. Conduct program and unit reviews to determine strengths, priorities, and needed economies and investments to create quality and excellence, assuring that reviews are conducted for all student learning areas (Academic Affairs, Athletics, Student Affairs) and aligned with the college's Student Learning Outcomes. Assure that all program and unit reviews are reviewed and vetted by the college's Institutional Effectiveness process with recommendations feeding into the college's budget decision making progress. 


  3. Increase Online and Distance Learning program quality (undergraduate and graduate; other), enrollments, and net revenue production, including the development of a 5-year plan for program development and implementation. 


  4. Develop and implement a differential financial aid framework, thereby lowering aggregate discount rate and capturing greater net tuition revenue, including the provision of professional development to deepen institutional understanding of the importance of differential financial aid to the college's financial vitality.


  5. Develop, expand, and implement summer and interterm program, monetizing these in order to develop new revenue stream for the college.


  6. Develop and implement a step-wise student housing plan for 2030 that lays out a vision for housing 1,000 students, including maximizing current South Campus space, return of Historic Commons housing, and the new master plan revision.
Financial Vitality KPI

Central to the success of the strategic plan is regular and recursive assessment, evaluation of the Priority Initiatives and their contributions to the Core Strategies, and the continued transparency of sharing this key information via the college's Factbook. To ensure accountability and optimization, each Priority Initiative will be measured against Key Performance Indicators (KPI) and analyzed for progress towards defined targets. 

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    Financial Metrics

    • Composite Financial Index (CFI) – all variables as well as aggregate index
    • Total Operating Expenditures per FTE Student
    • Percent Expenditures Instruction per FTE Student
    • Net tuition revenue/per FTE student
    • Total additional revenue
    • Total debt (debt/operating percent)
    • Total contingency budget
    • Tuition costs
    • Room and Board costs
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    Enrollment Metrics

    • Number of applicants
    • Number of accepted students
    • Percent Yield (Accepted/Applicants)
    • Number deposited
    • Number enrolled after census
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    Facilities Metrics

    • Average age of buildings
    • Classroom utilization rate
    • Residence Hall utilization
    • Percent students living in campus housing
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    Advancement Metrics

    • Alumni outreach
    • Percent alumni giving
    • Total grant money
    • Total endowment
    • Total annual fund giving