2021 Survey of College and University Business Officers
Survey
Jul. 2021
Sample Size:
133
Demographics:
administrators
Topics:
Covid-19
Funding
Top Findings:
- ● Chief business officers (CBOs) hold generally positive perceptions of their institutions’ current and future financial shape. While most business officers are confident that their institution will be financially stable over the next 5 years (83 percent), fewer say the same about 10 years from now (74 percent). Additionally, many say that their institution is in better shape now than it was a year ago (74 percent) or even in 2019 (68 percent).
- Almost all institutions received some funding from the American Rescue Plan. CBOs who say their institutions have improved financially over the past year attribute their improvement to this funding. But most believe this only temporarily alleviated their institution’s financial difficulties (73 percent). Additionally, only 60 percent say that this financial infusion has eased the near-term pressure on their institutions to make significant, transformative changes in their operations and business models.
- Similarly to presidents in Inside Higher Ed’s March survey of campus leaders, business officers report that they believe their institutions will respond to the pandemic either by making transformative changes (39 percent) or returning to normal within 12-18 months (31 percent). A larger percentage of presidents (82 percent) than business officers (70 percent) agreed that the pandemic created opportunities for institutional change.
- A little over three-fourths of respondents report that their institutions will be reversing actions put into place during the pandemic in time for the fall 2021 semester. CBOs believe that their institutions will be reversing previous actions, particularly restructured classrooms (61 percent), dining spaces (59 percent) and student living spaces (39 percent).
- Most CBOs whose operating budget is supported by endowment revenue did not have to take out additional funds in the last 12 months and believe they will keep their current payout rate. Twelve percent of all respondents anticipate that they will need to withdraw funds from their endowment above their normal spending levels in the coming 12 months.
- ● Only 7 percent of chief business officers report that senior administrators at their college have had serious internal discussions in the last year about merging with another college or university. Business officers indicate that the pandemic has not made their institution any more or less likely to merge or acquire another institution (74 percent). But roughly half say they believe their institution should share administrative functions (54 percent) or combine academic programs (51 percent) with another college or university in the next five years.
- Only between half to two-thirds of CBOs agree that they have the data needed to make informed decisions about items related to performance within their institutions. The highest percentage of CBOs agree that they have data they need to make informed decisions about the performance of administrative technology (66 percent), individual faculty members (64 percent), and academic technology (64 percent). The smallest percentage agree that they have data to inform decisions about the performance of each administrative unit on campus (56 percent).