On a broader note, just over half of these specialists (56%) agree that “media reports suggesting that higher education is in the midst of a financial crisis accurately reflect the general financial landscape of higher education in this country”, while nearly half disagree.

Similarly, almost one half think their campus hasn’t changed its business model lately, while almost another half… “Forty-five percent of business officers say their institution has significantly changed its budget model in the past four years. Another 16 percent plan to significantly change their model in the near future.”

Another split shows up in views of how much fat remains to be cut after a near-decade of recession. “Half of business officers do not believe their institution can make additional and significant spending cuts without hurting quality.” The other half apparently see a juicy fat layer remaining alongside muscle and bone.

A slightly more uneven split occurs when CFOs think about where new spending dollars will come from. A majority, “61 percent agree that new spending at their institution in the coming years will come from reallocated dollars rather than an increase in net revenue.” The other 39% apparently expect fresh monies.

Things look fairly bright for inter-campus collaboration. 62% of CFOs are “exploring collaboration opportunities for academic programs with other institutions”. Interest in shared services is on the rise, especially among state institutions: “Those working at public institutions report using a shared services model more frequently (54 percent) than do those employed by private nonprofit”. Almost half of CFOs are increasingly interested in shared services with other institutions, but again, almost half (44%) aren’t even considering it. (I’m tempted to generalize about these divisions, although the report’s presentation doesn’t really support it. I do, nonetheless, imagine two campuses. One is confident that they will grow their student body and receive new revenue to do so. If they need to cut they can, but don’t think they’ll have to. They aren’t interested in collaboration. Down the road from that happy place is a different campus, brooding about the possibility of going out of business a few presidencies from now. They have no fat to cut, and don’t see new dollars coming in. This school is eager to collaborate with others. )

In some areas the CFOs are more harmonious. For example, the leading way for campuses to raise revenue today is “employing strategies of increasing overall enrollment”, according to 82% of respondents. Next most popular is “launching new revenue-generating academic programs”, as per 70%.

In contrast, what aren’t campuses doing?

outsourcing more academic programs (4 percent), revising tenure policies (14 percent), cutting spending for intercollegiate athletic programs (15 percent) or shifting more undergraduate teaching to senior faculty members (19 percent).

Tenured and especially senior faculty and sports are safe, in other words.

Sustainability is something CFOs get darker about the further they look ahead. “More business officers are confident of the sustainability of their institution’s financial model over the next five years(64percent) than over the next 10 years (42 percent).”