June 2025 Strategic-Leadership Seminar: Understanding the Higher-Ed Business Model

Friday, June 6 - 2:00 p.m. ET As colleges explore different strategies to achieve a sustainable future, it’s essential for chairs to understand their institution’s financial context. Where does most of a college’s revenue come from? What is its greatest expense? For many faculty members, the financial realities of their campus – and the sustainability of its operations -- are not often on their radar. And for chairs, understanding the mounting financial pressures facing campuses, whether falling enrollment or the current threats to federal funding, is increasingly important. Join this session to learn: The financial fundamentals of different kinds of institutions How external pressures are reshaping colleges’ finances The most common financial strategies colleges pursue and how they affect academic departments Panelist: Robert Kelchen, Professor and Department Head, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, University of Tennessee, Knoxville Moderator: Liz McMillen,