Blogs:

There is a greater demand for funds and ironically very few resources in the field of higher education. Universities are facing huge challenges and are struggling to manage with dwindling state appropriations, declining giving and shrinking endowments. This has created a situation where public and private universities and colleges around the nation struggle to sustain their application pool’s quality and volume. They are also at a loss as to how they can utilize highly limited resources to fulfil missions of the institution.

Families struggle with no finances and are increasingly on the lookout for less expensive options in view of the rising tuition fee in many institutions. This further puts pressure on the financial aid programs and enrolment. Universities and colleges in America are essentially required to deal with fewer resources and more competition. Their efforts at repositioning their credibility and improve education quality is severely hampered by aging faculty and a shrinking pool of applicants.

Campuses all over America have resorted to severe spending cuts and have frozen construction and hiring. There has been severe limitation on organizational development and growth. As colleges try to globalize curriculum, they are often at a loss as to which initiatives and programs to continue with and which to drop.

With board funding drying up, institutions struggle to find a way to build research capacities. The budget today is just enough to support an adjunct workforce. Institutes are finding it increasingly difficult affording tenured faculty. With no question of offering attractive financial aids for students, colleges find it difficult filling their student pipeline. Efforts at fund raising in this situation become more and more difficult.

Where autonomy has been a way of life, it is obviously difficult trying to centralize resources in order to reduce costs and gain efficiency. Universities struggle to conserve resources even as they locate vital opportunities. On the brighter side, the entire educational system reeling under the financial crunch learns how to stand up to adversity and sharpen focus. They also learn valuable lessons on building efficiency and recalibrating priorities within available funds. 

Organizations like the CFAR or the Centre for Applied Research play a major role in guiding educational institutions in making strategic choices. They help colleges build a shared understanding of commitment by engaging key stakeholders in order to further the future of the institution. CFAR helps institutions improve collaboration with schools and departments and reorganize their governance. They help universities with significant improvements in engaging stakeholders in the community and supporting internal relationships that are important.

According to CFAR, leaders must preserve cultural values and core assets effectively. They must be able to make use of the crisis to gain knowledge on how to further chances of stabilizing the higher education institutions.

For instance, leaders in various education institutions are offered effective strategies by the CFAR in order to initiate potent results in three major areas namely collaboration, strategy and change. They also teach leaders how to make smart choices in building a strong future even while resolving short term needs in the interest of the educational institution.