Chief financial officers will join chief academic officers this fall at CIC’s 35th annual Institute for Chief Academic Officers to explore institutional investments that improve the curriculum and co-curriculum, add capabilities to the faculty and staff, and build financial strength. The meeting will be held November 3–6 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania under the theme “Vital Investments: Programs, Personnel, and the Purse.”

The conference will provide numerous opportunities for CAOs and CFOs to work together on aligning institutional resources to advance the mission of the institution. Several clusters of sessions will be included:

Investing in Academic and Co-Curricular Programs—CFOs and CAOs will explore topics such as developing new academic programs, strategic budgeting, program review, prioritizing academic program costs, merging computing and library services, assessment, and retention.

Investing in Personnel—CFOs and CAOs collaborate in determining the effective development and deployment of faculty and staff members. Sessions will include diversification of the faculty, post-tenure review, legal issues, the information flow from CFOs and CAOs to faculty members, using technology to foster learning, and faculty development.

Investment and Management of Financial Resources—The prudent investment and use of the financial resources of the institution will be considered through topics such as long-term financial forecasting, tuition discounting, campus planning for learning, tools for balancing the academic mission and finance, and emerging issues in data-informed decision-making.

The keynote address will be delivered by Herbert M. Allison, Jr., chairman, president, and chief executive officer of TIAA-CREF since 2002. TIAA-CREF is the largest pension fund in the world and plays a unique role in investment and retirement planning for American colleges and universities. His career includes 28 years at Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., where he last served as president and chief operating officer. This occasion will be the first time that Allison has addressed CFOs or CAOs from private colleges and universities.

Other plenary speakers include:

Peter T. Ewell, vice president of the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS), a research and development center founded to improve the management effectiveness of colleges and universities. Ewell has been a member of NCHEMS staff since 1981. His work focuses on assessing institutional effectiveness and the outcomes of college, and involves both research and direct consulting with institutions and state systems on collecting and using assessment information in planning, evaluation, and budgeting. Ewell has authored six books and numerous articles on the topic of improving undergraduate instruction through the assessment of student outcomes, including The Self-Regarding Institution: Information for Excellence and Assessing Educational Outcomes, both of which have been widely cited in the development of campus-based assessment programs.

Carol A. Twigg, president and chief executive officer of the National Center for Academic Transformation, is an internationally recognized expert in using information technology to transform teaching and learning in higher education. The Center serves as a resource for colleges and universities, providing leadership in how the effective use of information technology can improve student learning while reducing instructional costs. From 1993 to 1998, Twigg served as vice president of Educom (now EDUCAUSE), a national association of higher education institutions dedicated to the effective use of information technology. A widely published writer and a sought-after speaker, she is seen as an authority on a range of topics including the impact of information and communications technology on restructuring higher education, the need to improve productivity in higher education, and the process of engaging college faculty in using instructional technology effectively.

Blenda J. Wilson served as the first president and chief executive officer of the Nellie Mae Education Foundation, one of the largest foundations in New England and the largest focused exclusively on education. The Foundation’s mission is to promote accessibility, quality, and effectiveness of education, especially for underserved populations in New England, via grant making, research, and policy development. Her career includes service as president of California State University, Northridge; chancellor of the University of Michigan, Dearborn; executive director of the Colorado Commission on Higher Education; vice president of effective sector management at Independent Sector; and senior associate dean at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. A nationally known speaker on higher education policy, she writes about issues of access, student preparation, and cost and affordability.

A workshop on strategic budgeting will be led by Kent John Chabotar, president and professor of political science at Guilford College (NC) and author of Strategic Finance: Planning and Budgeting for Boards, Chief Executives, and Finance Officers. During the workshop, participants will explore major strategic issues confronting higher education with a focus on the academic program, including demographics, costs and prices, and revenue streams. Leading strategic indicators of financial health will be presented, and participants will discuss how to link strategic plans and budgets in an era of continuing retrenchment
and reallocation.

In addition to plenary and concurrent sessions on “Vital Investments: Programs, Personnel, and the Purse,” the Institute, as is customary, will provide numerous opportunities for CAOs and CFOs to share ideas and discuss problems with colleagues in formal and informal settings.