It may have been twenty years ago when the idea of “branding” became an obsession of higher education.  We studied it, engaged consultants to refine it, created roving teams of artistic police to protect it and acted as if a new and highly rigorous discipline had...

When I was in private industry a couple of decades ago, most of our sales came from existing customers.  If, for any reason, one of our long-term relationships was in trouble, we dispatched whatever resources needed to reattach that customer to the hive. Entering...

I normally write about higher education but today I meander into an area of avocation - cars.  Bear with me. It was a big gamble.  Pickups had been made of steel since, well, the Model T. But steel is heavy and a tendency toward rust makes for an...

Most of us file taxes, providing reams of personal financial information to federal and state governments. A few years ago, the IRS created a Data Retrieval tool or DRT where our personal information can be accessed by third parties, like mortgage bankers, to support...

Every mission statement includes a common theme – students.  Though some appear to concentrate on fundraising, athletics, endowment, service to society or faculty scholarship, the primary reason for our institutions to exist is the transformation of students. So,...

Traveling from one place to another, a common theme has arisen in the quest to garner more students; “Let’s add a sport or two.” The rationale is that coaches are pretty good at delivering a roster of athletes and if the sport is brand new to the institution, it...

I recall a conversation with a retired Kodak exec some twenty odd years ago.  His former company had decided to shed off all non-core assets and focus on “imaging” or, more specifically, the production of film.  His thought on digital photography was that it...

Having visited over fifty institutions during my tenure with CFO Colleague, certain themes recur enough that it makes sense to chat about them.  Pricing seems to be the most common issue, particularly when increased discounts are supposed to generate higher net...

As a young auditor, I was admonished to avoid merely following the workpapers of the previous year.  A fresh approach or perspective often provided new insight and reflected improvements within the industry.  This was in the days before personal computers so...