Milestone 1

HEA 620 Milestone One Guidelines and Rubric

Overview: For this milestone, you will write a 4- to 6-page document that analyzes the current economic landscape that affects higher education and how the challenges of the landscape relate to the scenario in the Final Project Guidelines and Rubric (and below) and its appropriate facts provided. Prompt: Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:

a. Describe current economic challenges that impact higher education. What are the financial pressures on institutions of higher education from areas such as changes in demographics, politics, and other external socioeconomic factors? What financial trends or patterns have an influence? Have different types of higher educational institutions been impacted differently? What other relevant details will give a full picture of the economic challenges?

b. Describe how these challenges relate to the institution, using the data from the assumptive facts. See the appropriate facts and figures below for the scenario institution.

• How might the factors that you described previously have influenced your functional area’s operating budget? • How are current enrollment and projected enrollment crucial factors in your budget, and what influence(s) does enrollment have on

your functional area’s operating budget? • Given the current economic challenges, what changes in revenue stream are likely for the institution? • What other relevant details about the institution’s financial landscape will help give a full picture of the institution’s budget

challenges?

Institution Scenario and Initial Budget Assumptive Facts

In preparing your initial budget, you will work with your instructor to build and justify an annual operating budget for the Office of Student Leadership and Engagement within Student Affairs at a public university. Your instructor will serve as your budget-approving authority, the vice president of Student Affairs. Certain assumptive facts are provided to bring contextual relevance to the given scenario. You will also be asked to reforecast your budget based on a 10% decline in fall enrollment. To be successful, you need to acknowledge current challenges in the higher education financial landscape, examine enterprise frameworks governing the allocation of revenue streams, demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the basic concepts that comprise the annual budgeting process (including re-forecasting activities), evaluate and interpret financial statements specific to the higher education environment, and then reflect on the budget process and how it addresses college priorities. For your initial annual budget, utilize the following assumptive facts (you may also identify and introduce additional assumptive facts into your planning as you deem appropriate):

• You are the director of the Office of Student Leadership and Engagement within the Division of Student Affairs at a large, public university. • You have four full-time staff members, one part-time (10-hours per week, non-benefited) staff member for social media, 10 student workers on Federal

Work-Study, two part-time graduate student educators, and your position as director. • Consider fringe benefits to be 32% of each annual salary.

• Your current budget (including staff) is $1,628,000. • The college created its original budget based on 16,280 full-time enrollments (FTEs). • The fall enrollment was down 10% from the budget, only 14,652 FTEs. • Your facility and technology expenses are paid from a budget outside of your area. • Your department receives all funds based on enrollment at $100 per FTE. • Line items in your budget include many individual items and activities.

o Office supplies o Student staff training o Staff professional development—two staff to attend NACA, one staff to attend ACPA or NASPA o New student orientation o Marketing materials o Institutional membership to American College Personnel Association (ACPA), National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA),

and National Association for Campus Activities (NACA) o Two students to attend Social Justice Training Institute (STJI) o Travel o Meals and entertainment o Staff salaries

 Director: $75,000 x 32% (fringe benefits, such as medical, dental, etc.) = $24,000 + $75,000 (base salary) = $99,000 total  Assistant director: $65,000 x 32% = $20,800 + 65,000 = $85,800 total  Two entry-level coordinators: $55,000 x 32% = $17,600 + $55,000 = $72,600 x 2 (coordinators) = $145,200 total  One part-time social media position: 10 hours per week x $20 an hour for 32 weeks = $6,400 total  Two part-time graduate student staff: 10 hours per week x $15 an hour for 32 weeks = $4,800 x 2 (staff) = $9,600 total

o Salaries and benefits are $1,113,400. o The 10 work-study staff salaries are paid via their Pell Grants; therefore, there is no cost to the department.

Note: Based upon our classroom discussions, certain assumptive facts may be identified that have not been provided here. Consequently, your instructor may ask you to incorporate new facts at any time prior to the submission of your initial budget or reforecasted budget milestones. These possible last-minute changes to your budget are reflective of the real-world higher education environment, and budget managers must be able to demonstrate fiscal flexibility in light of new changes in the financial landscape.

Rubric

Guidelines for Submission: Your paper must be submitted as a 4- to 6-page Microsoft Word document with double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, one-inch margins, and at least three sources cited in APA format.

Critical Elements Proficient (100%) Needs Improvement (70%) Not Evident (0%) Value Current Economic

Challenges Describes current economic challenges that impact higher education, providing an accurate and comprehensive overview

Describes current economic challenges that impact higher education, but description is inaccurate or is not comprehensive

Does not describe current economic challenges that impact higher education

45

Institution Describes how the economic challenges relate to the institution, integrating the data from the assumptive facts

Describes economic challenges that relate to the institution but integration of data is cursory or inaccurate

Does not describe economic challenges that relate to the institution

45

Articulation of Response

Submission has no major errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization

Submission has major errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization that negatively impact readability and articulation of main ideas

Submission has critical errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization that prevent understanding of ideas

10

Total 100%