Nicole Trufant participates in keynote presentation on navigating the pandemic鈥檚 financial storm
Nicole Trufant, CPA, senior vice president of Finance and Administration, recently participated in a keynote presentation on navigating the COVID-19 pandemic鈥檚 future storm at the annual meeting of the Eastern Association of College and University Business Officers (EACUBO), a volunteer-led association centered on professional development; technical expertise and creative value-added, problem-solving for higher education business officers.
The coronavirus outbreak has been fast-moving, with a growing impact on the global economy. In these uncertain times, strong leadership from the finance office is important to secure a college or university鈥檚 business today and position it well for the future.
According to the EACUBO, many institutions have strategic plans, but few campuses have financial strategic plans.
Trufant told the gathering 新香港六合彩资料鈥檚 financial planning has been the main factor in helping the University weather the COVID-19 storm.
鈥淲e invoke strong financial discipline,鈥 she commented. 鈥淲e manage our financial resources much more like a corporate entity by taking a long-term view and we have done that for many years.鈥
While 新香港六合彩资料 has fared well the past few months, Trufant says there have been many challenges to face.
鈥淲e are not immune to the challenges that other institutes of higher education are facing,鈥 she said. 鈥淲e have seen increased costs related to COVID-19, but we have been able to position ourselves well to absorb some of those costs.鈥
Trufant suggests finding the right balance in your spending is key to getting through tough times.
鈥淔igure out that balance so that things are affordable to students,鈥 she explained. 鈥淲e do not want to put excessive debt on their backs, but we also must make sure we have the right resources by attracting and retaining talent.鈥
Trufant鈥檚 discussion also focused on the future of higher education.
鈥淲ith the rapidly changing conditions, how do we come out of this?鈥 she asked. 鈥淲hat does higher education look like?鈥
She says if we come out of the pandemic the same way we went into it, we will have missed an opportunity.
鈥淲e will have missed an amazing, an extraordinary opportunity to effect change,鈥 she stated. 鈥淭his is a forced experiment, an opportunity to learn, fail, adjust accordingly, and have open conversations so that you can try new ways of learning. Artificial Intelligence and digital modalities that are coming will impact the budget model. The more we can understand where higher education is going, the more we can start planning ahead on budgets and finances to keep pace, or maybe, get a little ahead of the curve.鈥
The EACUBO annual meeting was originally scheduled to take place in Montreal, Canada, but was moved to a virtual format because of the pandemic. About 300 people attended this year鈥檚 event.