‘Business Officer Magazine’ asks Nicole Trufant to pen article on UNE’s financial success
An article by Nicole Trufant, vice president of Finance and Administration, was published in the July/August issue of Business Officer Magazine, a publication of the National Association of College and University Business Officers.
In “Revenue Regeneration,” Trufant describes the transformation of the University of New England over the past decade from a school with “considerable deferred maintenance issues, a negligible endowment, and no cash reserves” into a “vibrant, financially healthy university,” with three campuses, six colleges, a national reputation for excellence in the health sciences and a doubled student headcount.
She credits the transformation to President Danielle Ripich’s 10-year strategic plan, “Vision 2017,” as well as to University leaders who remained flexible and adaptive and who welcomed a “new culture of data-driven decision making to support the strategic plan.”
Specifically, Trufant notes the University’s swift creation of an online niche that has been instrumental in UNE’s growth and development. A Revenue Data Review table included in the article outlines the growth of tuition revenue over the past six years from the Online Graduate Programs in Public Health (a 733 percent increase) and the Online Master of Social Work program (a 1,741 percent increase). The data shows an overall tuition revenue increase over the past ten years of 181 percent.
“Because we knew we had to accomplish our online expansion without making budget cuts to existing programs or incurring additional debt,” Trufant explained, “it was essential that we develop financially self-sustaining programs. We implemented the basic concepts of performance-based budgeting, using a model focused on mission, goals, and objectives.”
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