Academic Demand
Analysis: A Data Model
for Resource Allocation
Decisions
NACUBO Planning and Budgeting Forum
September 25, 2012
Brett Powell
Productivity
Efficiency
Opportunity Cost
Productivity
“Productivity and quality cannot be
separated; rather, realistic and sustainable
educational innovation must be designed with
both productivity and quality in mind.”
o Groccia and Miller, On Becoming a
Productive University
Efficiency
“…it is not possible to set absolute standards
for financial resources needed by American
colleges and universities. Instead, one can
only compare levels of resources which were
available to higher education in the recent
past and document where university
administrators economized when the level of
these resources diminished.”
- Joseph Froomkin, The Impact of Changing
Levels of Financial Resources on the
Structure of Colleges and Universities
Opportunity Cost
“Opportunity analysis yields essential ideas of
value to the institution’s future. It seeks to
enable faculty and staff to actualize a
fundamental reality: what was done in the
past was appropriate for the past, but the
world is different today, and we must commit
ourselves to preparing our graduates for their
future.”
- Robert C. Dickeson, Prioritizing Academic
Programs and Services
Incentive-Based Budgeting or
Responsibility Center Management
• Resources allocated based on student
credit hours
• Interdisciplinary/collaboration issues
• Central Services funding
• Duplication of services/programs
• Sacrifice quality for quantity?
• Low-demand but mission-centric programs
• Revenue focus vs. student focus
Model Development
History
•
•
•
•
Institutional fit
Defining demand
Size of programs matters
Clustering programs
Institutional Fit
• Public vs. Private
• Undergraduate vs. Graduate hours
• Research activities
Defining Demand
• Average Class Size – Internal, current demand
• Number of Majors – Internal, current demand
• Degrees awarded – Internal demand and
effectiveness
• Prospective Student Applications – External
demand
• Prospective Student Inquiries – Potential external
demand
• Demand variable overlap?
Size of Programs
Revenue/
Expense
Net
Margin Rank Revenue Rank
Program A
Program B
Program C
Program D
49.60%
47.60%
58.20%
70.60%
3
4
2
1
104,535
694,772
48,451
19,217
2
1
3
4
Clustering Programs
Definitions
• Net Revenue – Tuition, General Fees, Course-related
Fees; net of institutional aid
• Direct Salaries – Salaries and Benefits of faculty
within a department
• Direct Operating Costs – Operating Expenses for
each department, excludes external funding
• Allocated Costs – All Instruction-related activity that
is not identifiable to a specific program
o Schools, Academic administration, Library
Financial Components
Program Rankings
School Data
Comparative Data
• Trends over 3-year period
o
o
o
o
o
Program Rankings
Average class size
Credit hours generated
Number of majors
Revenue & expense margin
Rankings to Clusters
Demand and Financial Clusters
Decision
Cluster
Maintenance
Cluster
Growth
Cluster
Concentration Index
Results
• Awareness
• Efficiency emphasis
• Response to funding and enrollment
changes
• Strategic prioritization
Limitations
• It is a data model only – Qualitative factors must be
considered
o Closeness of fit to university mission
o Programs that support other programs
• Does not provide comparisons with like programs
o Delaware Study is one option
• Timing of data availability vs. Academic planning
Questions and Discussion
Contact Information
Brett Powell
Ouachita Baptist University
[email protected]
870-245-5409