The management of resources is a central duty for school and college leaders, but one for which they are often under-prepared. Good, contextual information and guidance are vital, especially as increased marketisation, international comparison and decentralised governance put additional pressure on leaders to manage their resources astutely. This…

Developing return-oriented green revolving funds (GRFs) is a rapidly growing trend at colleges and universities. A green revolving fund (GRF) is a special account designated for investment in on-campus projects that improve energy efficiency or decrease material use. GRFs invest in a variety of cost-saving initiatives, resulting in significant…

This paper was created for executive directors, directors of finance and administration, and program managers of small youth-serving non-profit organizations. This guide supports and enhances the systems they use to manage grants and contracts. This guide is organized to use as a quick self-assessment of their fund management practices: (1) seven…

Governing public schools is one of the most important responsibilities a citizen can undertake. School board members work on behalf of all the families in their community, with fellow board members and with other community partners, to ensure that each student has equal and ample opportunities to reach his or her greatest potential. This guide…

This book offers practical guidance on management of financial and real resources in schools and college, and critically evaluates current tensions involved in the area of educational resource management. It is essential reading for educational leaders who wish to improve the effectiveness, efficiency and equity of their resource utilisation…

In "Resourceful Leadership", Elizabeth A. City examines decisions about the use of three key resources--time, money, and staff--and how tradeoffs among them are integrated into school leaders' improvement strategies. She undertakes a detailed study of two small urban high schools in their first year of conversion from a large, comprehensive high…

Ideas for managing the college or university fund-raising budget include evaluating the current budget for effectiveness and adding to the budget through such means as billing for services, borrowing from current funds, using early interest on gifts, "taxing" incoming gifts, raiding a discretionary account, using a windfall, using early gifts, and…

Strategic planning enables colleges to direct discretionary dollars into high-impact areas that can enhance critical core activities, improving output. When the institution can disinvest financial resources in weak or noncritical core areas and redirect them through careful budgeting, it improves its chances for success. (MSE)

Medical Research conducted in the patient care setting is facing a new financial barrier, the prospective payment system. Both university and hospitals must rethink clinical research resource use. This may result in better accountability for research costs and affect the hospitals' willingness to conduct experimental or innovative treatments. (MSE)

To meet demand for increased funding, in a period of probable declining investment returns, colleges and universities must fine-tune their asset suballocations to enhance returns. While the institution should adhere to major asset allocation classes, there can be much flexibility, and enhanced return, in shifting suballocations within the major…

Campus activities programmers are offered suggestions to make the budgeting process clearer. They include knowing funding sources, understanding distribution of funds, monitoring encumbered funds, developing a system to keep track of how funds are spent, avoiding overspending and handling re-appropriations, setting aside reserves, and asking for…

School district budgeting is a daunting process. To help administrators, board members, and teachers who are not as knowledgeable on the subject as they feel they need to be, a practical manual on the budget-development process is offered here. Three themes are established early in the book: "budgeting is planning"; "administration in budgeting is…

In order to develop a financial plan for and identify constraints on the production of distance learning materials, a total human resources development (HRD) plan must be produced, and endorsed by the highest level of management. The HRD plan sets out the human resources needed to secure the organization's future in terms of people and their…

This description of the role of budgets in nonprofit organizations uses libraries as an example. Four types of budgets--legislative, management, cash, and capital--are critiqued in terms of cost effectiveness, implementation, and facilitation of organizational control and objectives. (CLB)

Five strategies for realistic deficit management in the college or university during fiscal stress are examined: (1) comprehensive strategic and operational budget planning; (2) examination of tenure-stream faculty positions; (3) program review and evaluation; (4) self-supporting auxiliary and service units; and (5) increased flexibility in use of…