University Business - October 2009 - (Page 50)

INDEPENDENT OUTLOOK How to help ensure strong, positive relationships between academic and ﬁnancial leaders By MaryAnn Baenninger T SEEMS SO OBVIOUS TO ME from the vantage point of an experienced president. e partnership (or lack thereof) between the chief academic oﬃcer and chief ﬁnancial oﬃcer sets the collegial tone for the institution, whether the focus is on the academic program, and whether the administration and faculty are friends or foes. is is particularly true in small independent colleges where the CFO interacts directly with faculty. As a new president I began with independent relationships with the CAO and the CFO. I soon realized that I had to cultivate their relationship to each other, encourage them to get into each other’s heads, and expect their enduring goals to be identical. Even with highly talented individuals in these roles, the CFO and CAO can take on orthogonal or adversarial roles. I found an experienced and gifted CFO when I arrived at the College of Saint Benedict (Minn.), and after a short period of transition I was lucky to ﬁnd a similarly gifted provost from within our faculty ranks. But they had both spent considerable time in an environment where resources were tight and where budgeting decisions were competitive, not collaborative. e faculty didn’t really trust the CFO, and she was struggling to understand the reason for the mistrust and why the faculty didn’t understand that she was dedicated to protecting and preserving the institution she loves. Perhaps my own relative ﬁnancial naiveté as a new president was helpful. I needed to depend on the CFO and trust her to 50 | October 2009 Institutional Strength from CAO/CFO Partnerships I If a CFO fails to think like a CAO, the institution can develop a “living off your muscle” mentality. quickly understand our ﬁnances. She was generous, gracious, and completely open with me. She patiently explained budget and ﬁnancial technicalities and asked for my input even on large and small ﬁnancial decisions in order to build my conﬁdence. Could this be the person whom the faculty believed was secretive and who held her cards close to her vest? In my unseasoned state, the only thing I could oﬀer in return was my view on the centrality of the academic program—the need to grow the budget by ﬁnding additional revenues, not to shrink it to (seemingly) protect the institution, and to invest in the academic program. I convinced her that it was OK to take calculated and measured risks. is was intuition on my part, and I suppose it could have been disastrous. Instead it has been the secret of our success. BALANCE THE FINANCIAL AND ACADEMIC SCALES What I understand as an experienced president is that the scale must be balanced: If a CFO fails to think like a CAO, the institution can develop what I call a “living oﬀ your muscle” mentality. is is where the institution makes seemingly responsible cuts when budgets are tight, before examining revenue opportunities outside of tuition. Before long, programs and services are starved, not enhanced, all of the institution’s “fat” is gone, and it starts cutting “muscle” to survive. A corollary to this in a heavily tuition-dependent institution is that student numbers can become dollar signs in the CFO’s eyes, and the focus shifts away from net revenue, the real bottom line. Simply put, net revenue can be increased by making investments in key programs, thereby raising the perceptions of institutional value on the part of students and parents. Too many institutions ignore this important fact, focus only on “bodies,” and neglect to invest to enhance value. On the other hand, if a CAO fails to think like a CFO, collegiality between the faculty and administration can disintegrate rapidly, as the CAO uses the CFO as a convenient excuse for why there is no money to invest in the academic program. is scenario is all too familiar: Faculty members question expenditures or the MaryAnn Baenninger has been president of the College of Saint Benedict in St. Joseph, Minn., since 2004. She serves on the board of directors of the Council of Independent Colleges, www.cic.org. universitybusiness.com http://www.cic.org http://www.universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - October 2009

University Business - October 2009
Contents
Editor's Note
College Index
Company Index
Advisory Board
Behind the News
Viewpoint
Financial Aid
Lessons in Video
Dining Halls of Distinction
Lost in Space
Independent Outlook
Internet Tech
End Note

University Business - October 2009