December 12-13, 2013
Chief Financial Officers Conference
Comments in brainstorming sessions – CFOs/staff from all colleges and universities present
Question – What projects should we take up to advance recommendations 1-5?
Charting the Future (#1 – 5)
1. Collect data from Power of You -Analyze success paths – expand/replicate?
2. Modify culture to emphasize understanding on a pedagogical level – support and methodology
focus on success in all foundational courses – No more cut classes
3. Preparedness – students coming in not ready for college
4. Students placed in developmental courses self-realize need to redirect to success
5. Develop a Template for Master Academic planning similar to Master Facilities plans
a. Master Academic and Facilities plans to have a section addressing market
6. Determine commonalities in courses to ease transfer – Align courses/course numbers
7. Every student could have same option for transfer
8. Credentials of faculty (perception) as barrier to transfer
9. Study current and create competency standards
10. Developing coordinated student academic planning that focuses on the whole student
11. 2 yr/4 yr partnerships – goal to facilitate understanding of needs of academic and facilities
planning – skill sets matter as much as degrees – Something in faculty contracts to facilitate
movement between the two
12. Focus on skills gained through liberal arts and the workplace needs – competency based
evaluation and language needed for liberal arts skills
13. Applied research (joint projects)
a. How to better incubate work students/faculty are doing?
14. How to deliver to “captive audience”
a. Develop “College in the Factory” model
b. Cohort model outside of business hours as a pathway to 4 year
15. Develop clearer “brands” for programs so students better understand tie to marketplace –
internships, marketing, job shadowing, etc.
16. Inventory expertise across the state – share with colleagues
17. Should we pay ourselves?
18. Districts/areas/territories
Charting the Future #6
1. How to leverage information we get from the EMS (space utilization) system?
2. Understand and agree on the rewards associated with space sharing
3. Common service contracts and other back office processes shared systemwide
4. Within Allocation Framework:
a. reward institutions where students complete within a certain amount of time
b. how to reward institutions that collaborate on transfer (cc/tc prepare to transfer and
universities accept transfer)
c. Rewards for providing “work” to others
d. Activity-based costing models – Reward institutions for keeping costs down
e. Incent initial “start-up” costs in setting up and launching partnerships
5. Develop framework/platforms for accomplishing work resulting from retirement and/or
employment gaps – accelerate shared services/ shared staffing plans
6. Does it make sense to consider standardized tuition rates?
a. What could this do to encourage collaboration/reduce competition?
b. What could this do to encourage student success?
c. Shared tuition model to allow for cross registration
d. Common tuition rates would be easier within common academic planning
e. Examine base rate variance within tuitions – market impact?
7. Incentive for expanded space use – tuition compensation
8. “Cloud-based” work accomplished
9. Determine a minimum level of service allowable (reference language in statute to define)
10. Work as a team to determine the “recipe” for partnering
11. Start with HLC guidelines and articulate campus/site service level requirements
12. Reward demolition and space redirection saving and reward
13. Consolidations – study to determine value, pursue as sensible
14. How to facilitate ability for students to take classes at multiple institutions (mini – courser) to
count toward certificate/degree
15. Accreditation processes – Nursing example – How to collaborate
16. Common platform: Assessment, transfer, standardize information to students
17. Model where financial aid can be distributed across multiple campuses
18. MnSCU pay for IT services rather than take off top – campus control over breadth and scope
19. Find a way to fund CSC in a simple, transparent way
20. Match administrative policies with MMB
21. More partnering with high schools, PSEO, co-locate, college readiness, “contracts’ with schools
outside of PSEO