Webinar #1 - Pre-release briefing of the new Delta Cost “Trends” report, and a preview of the web-tool TCS-online
When: Late June
What: The Delta Cost Project will be releasing a new report on trends in college and university spending, containing a ten-year retrospective of major patterns in college and university finance over the 1998 – 2008 period. We will host a national webinar for state-level higher education officers, chief academic officers and state higher education finance officers, to review the data, and to preview the new web tool, “Trends in College Spending On-Line,” where institution-level data on major cost trends will be available.
Who should participate?
- State Higher Education Executive Officers
- State chief academic officers
- State finance officers.
Specific content:
- National patterns in major sources of revenue
- Ten year trends in college revenues and expenditures
- National data on cost/price/subsidy patterns
- Comparisons between publics and private institutions
- Measures of spending per degree and certificates
- Institutional-level measures of revenues, spending, and performance
- Metrics for improving accountability
Speakers:
- Jane Wellman, Executive Director, Delta Cost Project
- Donna Desrochers, Delta Cost Project
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Webinar #2: Metrics for improving accountability for college and university spending
When: Mid-july
What: State and local appropriations for higher education are under great pressure, and will likely remain so in the future. Colleges and universities need to be doing more to control costs and increase performance, by reducing tuition increases and improving transparency for how resources are spent. This webinar will concentrate on ways that legislators can encourage better cost management and improved productivity, with an emphasis on metrics for measuring spending and strengthened legislative oversight.
Who should participate?
- Members and staff of legislative fiscal committees
- Members and staff of policy committees
- Legislative advisors and consultants
Specific content:
- Benchmarking college spending: where the money comes from, where it goes, what it buys, and benchmarks for putting college spending into a context
- Understanding cost drivers: factors driving college prices and college spending
- Strengthening state oversight of higher education spending: questions to ask, benchmarks to use
- Examples of successful state-level efforts to contain higher education costs
Speakers:
- Jane Wellman, Executive Director, Delta Cost Project
- Representative from the Ohio Board of Regents “Efficiency and Effectiveness”
- Representative from the University of Nebraska:
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Webinar #3: State financing strategies to support the attainment agenda
When: Mid-October
What: The “Great recession” has put more fiscal stress on higher education than at any time in our history. State resources for higher education have been reduced, dramatically in some states, and may not rebound for the better part of the next decade. At the same time, public needs for increased college access and degree attainment are building. States need new approaches to financing higher education, including more attention to managing costs and improving performance, ways to target public subsidies to meet future goals, and ways to use the budget to build attention to degree attainment and productivity.
Who should participate?
- Governors’ fiscal advisors
- State budget directors
- State fiscal and control agency personnel with responsibility for higher education budgets
Specific Content:
- State funding trends for higher education
- Metrics for evaluating subsidies and performance
- Addressing mandatory cost increases for benefits
- Building cost management into future financing strategies
- Incentive funding and college performance
Speakers:
- Jane Wellman, Executive Director, Delta Cost Project
- Dennis Jones, National Center for Higher Education Management Systems
- Brenda Albright, Consultant on higher education performance funding
- Scott Pattison, Executive Director, National Association of State Budget Officers