Upcoming Events

Transformation at Scale

October 13, 2021

Time: 2-3pm ET

Location: Online

Register here

We’re excited for our next Webinar Wednesday installment on October 13. We’ll be discussing Transformation at Scale and will be joined by two great leaders in the field:

– Dr. Barbara Bichelmeyer, Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor, University of Kansas
– Dr. Yasmine Ziesler, Chief Academic Officer, Vermont State Colleges System

Barbara and Yasmine will be sharing their stories of transformation across institutions and systems. There are great lessons for all of higher education in their initiatives – especially given that they were achieved in the midst of a pandemic.

Save your spot to learn more about:

– Reallocating existing resources toward new shared future vision.
– Moving toward change at scale.
– Securing faculty and staff buy in for bold change.
– Adopting an ROI approach at your own institution, with an emphasis on moving successfully from post-pandemic survival to recovery to sustainability.

Recent Webinars

Pandemic Relief Funding: Using HEERF for Strategic Investments

July 14, 2021

Time: 2 - 3 pm ET

Location: Online

Register here

The rpk team is excited to announce a new webinar on Pandemic Relief Funding: Using HEERF for Strategic Investments. rpk GROUP has engaged with more than 80 institutions as they explore ways to strategically utilize their institutional Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) allocations. This webinar will be led by Rick Staisloff, Donna Desrochers and Katie Hagan.

Sign up to learn more about:

  • The three funding Acts and student & institutional funding streams
  • Appropriate and disallowable uses of institutional funds and spending timelines
  • A framework for strategically investing in academic and student success within HEERF parameters
  • Examples surfaced from the field around best practice for strategic investing of institutional funds.
  • Adopting an ROI approach at your own institution, with an emphasis on moving successfully from survival to recovery to sustainability post-pandemic.

Learn more and sign up here. 

From Framework to Practice: SUNY’s Approach for Sustained Success

May 25, 2021

Time: 1 - 1:50 pm

Location: Online

Register here (It's free!)

rpk GROUP’s Donna Desrochers joins fellow presenters Michael Daly, Carrie Fishner, Michell eBeechey and Cori Wilhelm for a 50-minute virtual session. You’ll hear insights from a large-scale, multi-year, multi-campus sustainability effort in SUNY.

Presenters will share from their experiences creating and supporting adoption of the SUNY OER Sustainability Framework, including the facilitation of peer support cohorts, where campuses guide each other in the adoption of sustainability policies and practices.

This session is part of the fourth annual Northeast Regional OER Summit, running virtually through University of Massachusetts Amherst from May 24-26. A multi-state collaborative virtual event for new and experienced OER advocates, the summit offers the opportunity to learn and share effective practices in awareness building, implementation, collaboration, strategy, and research.

Streamlining Academic Portfolios to Improve ROI

May 13, 2021

Time: 1-1:30 pm ET

Location: Online

Register here

Prior to the pandemic, most academic institutions were wrestling with a disconnect between their program offerings and student/employer demand, as well a lack of understand around academic portfolio ROI. As a result, academic portfolios were often financially unsustainable.

In 2020, rpk completed a full academic portfolio and efficiency analysis, plus capacity building workshops for academic leadership and faculty at Howard Community College.

In this upcoming AACC Digital session, our senior partner Rick Staisloff and Howard Community College president Dr. Kate Hetherington will share the approach, analysis and results from their 2020 academic portfolio review.

What’s involved in a full academic portfolio and efficiency analysis? How can capacity building workshops help faculty?

If you’re curious about these services and how related challenges get resolved, you’ll want to join in this ‘bite-sized’ session.

 

Creating Sustainable Business Models for the Post-Pandemic Campus—Session 4

April 27, 2021

Time: 1-2:30 pm ET

Location: Online

Register here

This workshop series is part of our continuing partnership with ACE, it will be led by Rick Staisloff, Donna Desrochers and Katie Hagan, and will be offered on the ACE Engage®​ peer-to-peer learning platform.

The workshop series supports a new Strategic Finance microcredential issued as an open digital badge⁠, which can be added to your CV, LinkedIn profile, and Credly Acclaim platform.

​​​Sign up for the series if you need to:

  • Understand the shift from traditional approaches to resource allocation to a return-on-investment (ROI) lens
  • Be able to identify the components of ROI
  • Be familiar with best practices in the field for creating sustainable business models
  • Get peer and expert feedback on action plans for adopting an ROI approach at your own institution, with an emphasis on moving successfully from survival to recovery to sustainability post-pandemic

This session will provide general feedback on the action plan creation and allow participants to engage with practitioners in the field.

Special guests: Members of a strategic finance leadership group convened by rpk GROUP and ACE to map an agenda for the field.

Session Activity​

  • Participants will capture key best practice for implementing an ROI lens.

Creating Sustainable Business Models for the Post-Pandemic Campus—Session 3

April 13, 2021

Time: 1-2:30 pm ET

Location: Online

Register here

This workshop series is part of our continuing partnership with ACE, it will be led by Rick Staisloff, Donna Desrochers and Katie Hagan, and will be offered on the ACE Engage®​ peer-to-peer learning platform.

The workshop series supports a new Strategic Finance microcredential issued as an open digital badge⁠, which can be added to your CV, LinkedIn profile, and Credly Acclaim platform.

​​​Sign up for the series if you need to:

  • Understand the shift from traditional approaches to resource allocation to a return-on-investment (ROI) lens
  • Be able to identify the components of ROI
  • Be familiar with best practices in the field for creating sustainable business models
  • Get peer and expert feedback on action plans for adopting an ROI approach at your own institution, with an emphasis on moving successfully from survival to recovery to sustainability post-pandemic

Session 3: Creating an ROI Action Plan

Participants will build on the skills from Sessions 1 and 2 to consider an action plan for applying an ROI lens. Facilitators will share pitfalls to avoid and strategies for implementing change management approaches.Session Activity

  • Participants will identify the components necessary to create an action plan for implementing an ROI lens at their own institution.

Creating Sustainable Business Models for the Post-Pandemic Campus—Session 2

April 6, 2021

Time: 1-2:30 pm ET

Location: Online

Register here

This workshop series is part of our continuing partnership with ACE, it will be led by Rick Staisloff, Donna Desrochers and Katie Hagan, and will be offered on the ACE Engage®​ peer-to-peer learning platform.

The workshop series supports a new Strategic Finance microcredential issued as an open digital badge⁠, which can be added to your CV, LinkedIn profile, and Credly Acclaim platform.

​​​Sign up for the series if you need to:

  • Understand the shift from traditional approaches to resource allocation to a return-on-investment (ROI) lens
  • Be able to identify the components of ROI
  • Be familiar with best practices in the field for creating sustainable business models
  • Get peer and expert feedback on action plans for adopting an ROI approach at your own institution, with an emphasis on moving successfully from survival to recovery to sustainability post-pandemic

In session two, we’ll take a deeper dive into the application of an ROI lens. Case studies will be used, examining academic portfolios, student success initiatives, and administrative services.

Session Activity

  • What challenges would you likely face in applying an ROI lens at your institution, and how might those challenges be addressed?
  • In what ways does the application of an ROI lens differ when used for academic, student, and administrative services?

Creating Sustainable Business Models for the Post-Pandemic Campus—Session 1

March 30, 2021

Time: 1-2:30 pm ET

Location: Online

Register here

This workshop series is part of our continuing partnership with ACE, it will be led by Rick Staisloff, Donna Desrochers and Katie Hagan, and will be offered on the ACE Engage®​ peer-to-peer learning platform.

The workshop series supports a new Strategic Finance microcredential issued as an open digital badge⁠, which can be added to your CV, LinkedIn profile, and Credly Acclaim platform.

​​​Sign up for the series if you need to:

  • Understand the shift from traditional approaches to resource allocation to a return-on-investment (ROI) lens
  • Be able to identify the components of ROI
  • Be familiar with best practices in the field for creating sustainable business models
  • Get peer and expert feedback on action plans for adopting an ROI approach at your own institution, with an emphasis on moving successfully from survival to recovery to sustainability post-pandemic

In this session, we introduce the shift from traditional budget models focused on spending to a new approach based on return on investment (ROI). Participants will explore how the ROI approach better responds to changes in the external environment.

Special guest: Jon Turk, director of research at ACE, will share new Pulse Point survey findings on the biggest financial pressures colleges and universities are facing.

Session Activity

  • Participants will debate the following: 1) Is higher education ready to adopt an ROI lens?; 2) How different is the ROI approach?; 3) What would change at your institution as the result of a shift to an ROI approach?
  • Participants will also capture what they consider to be the top three best practices when shifting to an ROI lens. ​

EACUBO – Reallocating Resources Toward a Post Pandemic College

March 25, 2021

Time: 12-1 pm ET

Location: Online

Register here

During this virtual session at EACUBO’s spring workshop, Rick Staisloff will be joined by Melissa Beardmore, CFO at our long-time partner Anne Arundel Community College. Melissa will share from AACC’s experience conducting a full administrative services review with rpk. That work resulted in the capture of savings equal to 5% of AACC’s annual operating budget—allowing for reinvestment in the college’s post-pandemic transformation efforts.

Budgeting at higher education institutions is largely based on historical allocations, with little connection to strategy. As a result, many institutions find themselves with unsustainable business models. This session will share how institutions can shift to a return-on-investment framework, allowing them to reallocate toward a new shared future vision and create a business model that is sustainable in the long run. The session will feature recent case study examples of academic portfolio and administrative services restructurings that positioned institutions to emerge strongly from the pandemic.

Strategic Finance Learning Studio: Virtual Happy Hour

December 3, 2020

Time: 6-7 pm ET

Location: Online

Register here

Join Rick Staisloff and friends at 6 p.m. on selected Thursdays for friendly, freewheeling conversations about using resources strategically to fulfill your mission. Ask questions, share your best practices, or take a break from your quarantine by interacting with colleagues virtually. This series is presented in partnership with the American Council on Education and is brought to you via their ACE Engage platform.

Today’s topic: Mergers and Acquisitions

Faculty Well-Being: Business Planning to Support a Stronger Workforce

December 1, 2020

Time: 2 pm ET

Location: Online

Register here

Join Rick Staisloff during this event presented by The Chronicle of Higher Education with support from Fidelity Investments.

College faculty are stressed — and it’s had a negative effect on their job satisfaction. In fact, a recent Chronicle survey of more than 1,100 professors and instructors around the country found that more than two-thirds of respondents felt “very” or “extremely” stressed. As the pandemic continues to change the way faculty live and work, it is also changing the way they feel about their jobs.

How can colleges better support their faculty to help them combat the stress and exhaustion they are experiencing as a result of the pandemic? Our panel of experts will examine the October survey findings and discuss how higher ed institutions can respond.

-What do faculty attitudes about teaching and retirement suggest about the future of the academic workforce?
-How can campus business officers support faculty needs during this difficult moment?
-How can leaders better involve faculty in decision making?

Past Events

Virtual Roundtable for Higher Education Leaders

May 28, 2020

Rick Staisloff

Microsoft Campus Connections Summit (CCS)

February 5, 2020

Rick Staisloff presented on Sustainable Innovation in Higher Education

Learn more here

2019 Integrating Analytics Forum, Navigating Challenges and Moving to Data-Informed Action

November 10, 2019

Findings from NACUBO’s Analytics Survey

Presenters: Lindsay Wayt, NACUBO, Richard Staisloff, rpk GROUP, and David Raney, Nuventive

OpenEd Conference 2019 — Phoenix, AZ

October 30, 2019 - November 1, 2019

Impacts and Lessons Learned from Achieving The Dream’s OER Degree Initiative
Building Sustainability Cross-Institutionally: SUNY’s Approach

Donna Derochers presented two sessions

Grantmakers for Education 2019 Annual Conference — New Orleans, LA

October 22, 2019

Investing for Impact:  Determining the ROI of Cross-Sector Partnerships for Student Success

Rick Staisloff was part of a panel presenting on Investing for Impact:  Determining the ROI of Cross-Sector Partnerships for Student Success

Learn more here       Check out our presentation

Educause Annual Conference — Chicago, IL

October 16, 2019

Open Education Resources on Supporting OER Programs at Scale at Your Institution

Donna Desrochers of rpk GROUP

Tennessee Higher Education Commission on Innovative Governance — Memphis, TN

August 15, 2019 - August 16, 2019

Positioning Tennessee Higher Education for the Future

Rick Staisloff of rpk GROUP

SHEEO State Agency Workshop on Evaluating and Promoting the Financial Viability and Success of Our Postsecondary Institutions — Boston, MA

August 6, 2019

Rick Staisloff, Donna Desrochers, Lysa Teal and Tammy Kolbe

Learn more here

NACUBO Annual Meeting — Austin, TX

July 14, 2019

Rick Staisloff of rpk GROUP, Dave Rainey of Nuventive, and Nichol Lumoma, Arizona State University on Creating Data Informed Culture