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Business Affairs

Overall goal: to manage, leverage and build the financial resources of the college to support the operational and capital needs of the institution through the strategic plan, striving to build an endowment comparable to that of our financially strongest competitors, with the desired outcome of securing an "A" rating from Moody's Investor Services.

Goal 1
Balance financial operations.

Actions steps include:

• Balance the annual operating and capital budgets.
• Provide timely, accurate, relevant financial information to all stakeholders (board, administration, budget directors) on a regular basis.
• Utilize the strategic plan and ongoing planning initiatives to drive the priorities of the annual budgeting and resource-allocation process.
• Utilize five-year budgeting software to model operational budgets on a five-year rolling basis.
• Initiate business-process reviews of key administrative areas (admissions, registration, bill-paying, payroll, accounts payable, student loan, financial aid, etc.) to maximize efficiency, to enhance services to students, and to lower costs.
• Enhance utilization of the campus-based web system to support more efficient and effective services to students.
• Continue efforts to reach target goals for faculty and staff compensation and benefits programs.
• Implement a graduated schedule of funding depreciation so that within 10 years the college is fully funding its annual depreciation expense.

Benchmarks:

• Balance annual budgets.
• Equal the mean of per student expenditures for various cost categories of our 30 peer-institutions and/or our regional competitors.
• Reach targets in salary and benefit comparisons with appropriate national, regional, and local salary and benefit data.
• Compile 30 peer-institutions' statement of activities data.

Goal 2
Leverage the balance sheet.

Actions steps include:

• Based upon the growth objectives and facilities needs of the plan, develop a comprehensive capital budget and financing plan for the next 10 years that will support the facilities needs of the campus.
• Review existing debt issues to determine if refinancing or restructuring of existing debt will benefit the overall capital structure.
• Utilize outside financial consultants to take advantage of the latest financing techniques to maximize the value of additional financial leveraging.
• Consider the addition of variable-rate debt to lower overall borrowing costs.
• Consider the possibility of equipment leasing to spread equipment-acquisition cash flows over time.

Benchmarks:

• Reach Moody's and/or Standard & Poor's annual benchmarks for like rated and aspirant institutions.
• Reach underwriter and/or financial advisory benchmarks established by the underwriting and advisory community.
• Meet criteria established by our bank and/or by the bond-insuring companies.

Goal 3
Build unrestricted financial assets.

Action steps include:

• Work with Institutional Advancement to encourage unrestricted giving.
• Manage the endowment spending rate in order to build the unrestricted endowment-fund balance over time.
• Coordinate with The Whitworth Foundation to secure and grow unrestricted deferred assets for the eventual benefit of the college.

Benchmarks:

• Compare with peer-institutions using NACUBO endowment study.
• Compare with peer-institutions using Common Fund endowment study.
• Compare with peer-institutions using Kaspick & Co. client data.
• Compare 30 peer-institution balance sheet data.

Goal 4
Optimize net tuition revenue.

Actions steps include:

• Set annual tuition based upon the relative positioning of the college considering selectivity, affordability and perception of quality.
• Use econometric modeling of institutional financial aid to maximize net tuition revenue while meeting profile objectives of the freshman class.
• Use annual NACUBO tuition discounting data to assist in positioning the college's tuition pricing and discounting percentages.
• Conduct periodic focus groups with students and families to gain insight regarding perceptions of tuition and cost of attendance.

Benchmarks:

• Compare with data provided by Chronicle of Higher Education annual tuition charges.
• Compare with NACUBO tuition discounting survey.
• Compare with data provided by financial-aid consultants.
• Compare with U.S. News and World Report peer-institutions in annual survey of colleges and universities.

Facilities

Summary statement:
Whitworth College values physical facilities that embody and reflect our values of community and identity, and that aid us in successfully executing our mission. Our facilities make a first and lasting impression and are central to the college's recruitment and retention of students, in addition to providing a welcoming, professional environment for employees and visitors. We consider the relationship between facilities and academic quality to be critical, because physical facilities play a vital role in creating an educational environment by encouraging appreciation of the past, promoting appreciation of visual art and architecture, and providing functional academic spaces. We desire to be intentional, thoughtful and forward-thinking in all of our planning and implementation of facilities improvements.

Definitions: For the purposes of this document, "facilities" at Whitworth College include academic, administrative, student-life, recreational and residential buildings, developed landscaping, unimproved (natural) grounds, roads, sidewalks, parking lots, underground utilities and all other physical infrastructure necessary to operate campus programs.

Principles and values for facilities planning:

• We will maintain a professionally developed and published campus master plan with input from all college stakeholders, including trustees, alumni, administration, faculty, staff and students. The campus master plan will be reviewed and updated regularly, will be consistent with the mission and strategic plan of Whitworth College, will guide the planning of facilities expansion and improvements and will be made available to architects, designers and engineers for use in project design.
• We value Whitworth's history and traditions, including the historic character of buildings such as McMillan Hall, Ballard Hall and Dixon Hall, and we desire to incorporate new facilities that respect and complement our existing buildings while achieving the functionality required by our programs and meeting the technological needs of the future.
• We value a cohesive learning environment bringing curricular and co-curricular programs together in a primarily residential setting. These programs should guide our thinking in facilities planning (the aesthetic of a space should be guided by its function).
• We value using campus facilities efficiently and effectively to maximize their utility in fulfilling the college's mission.
• We value the campus as a "park for the mind," where green spaces are to be cherished and natural beauty maintained, and we value the protected green space and pedestrian nature of the campus Loop.
• We value accessibility for pedestrians over that for automobiles, and we therefore place a higher value on safety, community, and aesthetics than on parking convenience.
• We value community gathering spaces, both inside and outside of buildings, e.g., courtyards, intersecting paths, student/faculty/staff seating areas, and recreation and activity facilities.
• We value the arts as an authentic part of our spiritual nature and believe that an environment enriched by the visual arts is central to the liberal-arts tradition as well as representative of an authentic element of our Christian heritage. Therefore, we seek to enhance the visual richness of the buildings and lawns of the campus through the acquisition and installation of paintings, photographs, sculptures and other works of art.
• We desire to be responsible stewards of God's creation and to protect our local and global environment, including but not limited to the use and development of the campus grounds, energy allocations, materials-selection and purchasing procedures, building design, recycling and waste management. We value a "sustainability" mindset, not only for decisions regarding Whitworth physical facilities and activities, but as an important value to pass on to Whitworth students.
• We desire to be responsible stewards of our financial resources and at the same time to maximize the quality, maintainability and life expectancy of all of our facilities. The life cycle-cost will be considered along with the first cost of any capital investment. Major capital investments will include an endowment for future major maintenance, repairs and replacement, in accordance with Board policy.
• We will promote and provide a safe, healthy and sanitary environment in and around all of our facilities, and we desire to be accessible to all people, regardless of disability.
• We are dedicated to ensuring that Whitworth's facilities are inviting to the Spokane community and other external groups who are related to our mission.

Specific goals and actions recommended for 2005 to 2010:

• Major projects
  • Visual arts facility
  • Performing arts facility
  • Science building addition
  • Two residence halls or equivalent
  • Administration building (McEachran) expansion
  • Athletics and recreation complex plan
  • Chapel plan
• Pursue and complete, as funding becomes available, deferred maintenance projects identified by the Facilities Planning Committee.
• Re-evaluate and update the campus master plan with an eye to establishing building sites for new facilities and incorporating the latest strategic-planning efforts.
• Require that design consultants include at least one LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified architect in its planning for every new building project, and that design and construction firms follow sustainable principles in their design decisions and construction practices.

Technology

The new benchmarks suggested here are not quantified. Once a new benchmark is accepted for tracking it is expected that the first year will create a baseline that will be used to set specific numerical goals for the duration of the plan.

Goal 1
Producing accurate data: We will raise the accuracy and completeness of the fundamental element of any information system.

Actions steps include:

• Refine data-accuracy policies and procedures used at any position involved with data entry.
• Automate data collection to decrease data entry by college staff. The majority of forms, applications, and surveys should be moved to an electronic form or web-based system instead of paper.
• Validate data fields or provide drop-down lists for data wherever possible.
• Fully implement systems such as the U.S. Postal Service CASS (Coding Accuracy Support System certification to check the validity of data currently stored in our systems.
• Write and regularly run exception reports at the departmental level to verify data accuracy and completeness.

Benchmarks:

• USPS-CASS certification percentages
• Data Warehouse import exception file counts
• Number of duplicate entries corrected
• Departmental exception-report counts

Goal 2
Producing timely data. We will reduce the amount of time between receipt of data and availability of data and between receipt of communications and response to communications. This applies to data internal to departments as well as data shared across departmental boundaries.

Actions steps include:

• Refine data-latency policies and procedures used at any position involved with data entry. Define acceptable latency.
• Automate data collection to eliminate the delay caused by re-entering data by hand. The majority of forms, applications, and surveys should be moved to an electronic form or web-based system instead of paper.

Benchmarks:

• Delta between predefined acceptable latency and measured latency
• Average and maximum departmental turnaround times between receipt of data and availability of data for a selected example set representative of essential departmental operations
• Average and maximum departmental turnaround times between receipt of communication and response to the communication for a selected example set representative of essential departmental operations

Goal 3
Information security. We will protect institutional data from loss or unauthorized disclosure by implementing defense in depth.

Action steps include:

• Review security and regulatory compliance policies and procedures on an annual basis or in response to new threats or new regulations. The review process should no longer be internal to Information Systems but should be conducted at the cabinet level
• Instill an attitude that security is everyone's responsibility
• Maintain defense in depth by implementing and updating systems at the following levels: individual awareness and training, authentication, digital signatures, core routers, edge switches, intrusion detection systems, firewalls, packet shaping, logging, servers, applications, desktop, systems management services, operating systems, anti-virus, anti-spam, and anti-malware.

Benchmarks:

• Number, type, and duration of successful attacks
• Cost of successful attacks
• Downtime
  a) System
  b) Count
  c) Duration

Goal 4
Up time. We will decrease unscheduled down time for critical systems.

Actions steps include:

• Review any new systems for mean time between failure, redundancy, and automated state reporting to insure any new system is more reliable than its predecessor.
• Automatically monitor current systems for overall health instead of just fail status.
• Review backup power for critical systems to insure adequate battery life and generator reliability.
• Review any unscheduled outage and accompany with recommendations to mitigate against reoccurrence.
• Review constantly security and upgrade to defend against the full range of cyber attacks.

Benchmarks:

• Number of unscheduled outages
• Duration of unscheduled outages

Goal 5
Data-driven decisions. Management decisions should be based on factual information whenever possible.

Actions steps include:

• Complete the implementation of the data warehouse.
• Run all non-real-time reports against the Data Warehouse by the end user and not against the administrative-transaction processing systems.
• Convert static reports to active reports and train upper management on the use of the new tools.
• Make reports accessible on the web for those administrators who are on the road.
• Implement a consistent survey system that allows for the design, use, storage, and reporting of all institutional surveys.

Benchmarks:

• The number of Datatel tables available in the data warehouse
• The number of reporting views available in the data warehouse
  • The number of non-real-time reports being run against the Datatel systems
  • Survey of administrators to determine acceptance of the new tools

Goal 6
Efficient use of technology:

Actions steps include:

• Departmental review of business processes to eliminate or simplify current processes. Question why the process is still needed, and if it is needed, ask how it can be streamlined. Document the business processes in each office. This helps in understanding the process and in training new staff. Require documentation for all new business processes.
• Eliminate exceptions wherever possible. The cost, complexity, and reliability of any information flow are primarily a function of the exceptions allowed and not of the basic process. Standardization builds quality and reliability of service.
• Review work flows to ensure that the best tool is used for a specific purpose. Is a word processor being used when a spreadsheet is better suited; is a spreadsheet used when a database is more flexible?
• Provide training. When appropriate, training should be mandatory. Training may be the number-one issue affecting the ability of the college to provide the highest quality of service.

Benchmarks:

• Business processes should be tracked, and the number of undocumented business processes should approach zero over time.
• Departmental business-process reviews should be tracked, and the number of departments that have not undergone internal review should approach zero.
• All staff/faculty training should be tracked. Training expectations should be set for each employment category.