Great PACE webinar today on "Principles of Profitability in Higher Education." Great presentation by Ron, Susan, etc. The time ran out before my question could work its way to top of list. I'd love response from anyone who's experienced the work of applying profitability analysis in this space.
What insights can be shared about the scale/scope of a project in this area (ABC assessment of a higher ed institution)? What are the basic steps, costs, expected timeline?
I was part of a steering committee that developed program review metrics for the university. It was a difficult task because many at the university, including administration are numbers phobic. We were unable to drill down in the ABC space. They hardly even wanted to acknowledge revenues were part of a university. Consequently, the metrics were extremely aggregated. Cost allocation was impossible. Programs were afraid they would be found unprofitable and thus fought any profitability metric. It is hard in the non-profit space to balance profit and mission priorities. I'm interested in this topic and wish you well. AS