CFOTT

The Chief Financial Officers Think Tank goes far beyond a focus on the bottom line. The group considers the critical issues facing higher education and the processes for working collaboratively with colleagues on instituting change.

Individuals considering membership in the Chief Financial Officers Think Tank have found it useful to review sample materials from previous meetings. Below you will find an agenda and readings from a Think Tank session held during the 2007-08 academic year:

Sample Agenda: “Public Scrutiny of Financial Aid Practices: Opportunities and Challenges,” February 20, 2008
Sample Readings:

Ashburn, E. (June 22, 2007). “CFO's jobs will get more complex.” Chronicle of Higher Education, 53 (42), A29.
Hess, F.M. & Squire, J. (September 21, 2007). “The student loan system needs a major overhaul.” Chronicle of Higher Education,
54 (4), B18.
Ladd, L. (2007), “The student loan scandal: protecting the integrity of your institution’s relationship with students and parents.” On Course, 2(1).
Lederman, D. (June 6, 2007). “Higher ed’s conflict of interest problem.” Inside Higher Ed.
Schemo, D.J. (June 10, 2007). “Private loans deepen a crisis in student debt.” New York Times, Section 1, Column 1.

Additional Resources

Basken, P. & Field, K. (April 20, 2007). “Student loan investigation sweeps up more colleges.” Chronicle of Higher Education, 53
(33), A1.
Outlines recent ramifications of financial aid investigation on the financial aid staff, advisory boards of loan companies, and quid pro quo practices of financial aid loan companies and college administrators.
Basken, P. & Keller, P. (April 27, 2007). “Colleges begin to feel political fallout from student-loan scandal.” Chronicle of Higher Education, 53 (34), A39.
Outlines details of student-loan scandal and the ways various colleges have begun to adjust to the intensified scrutiny of governmental intervention.
Kim, D. (Spring 2007). “The effect of loans on students' degree attainment: Differences by student and institutional characteristics.” Harvard Educational Review, 77 (1), 64-102.
Outlines the effect that loans have on degree attainment; discusses the value of private loans, college access for traditionally marginalized communities and what the future may bring.
Strauss, V. (April 13, 2007). “Area colleges scrutinizing financial aid practices.” Washington Post, B01.
Examples of the ways that colleges are looking at practices so not to be caught in sketchy loan practices.

Discussion Topics for the 2007-08 CFO Think Tanks:

“The Chief Financial Officer and the President”
“Civic Engagement and Social Capital: Does One Size Fit All? Implications for Higher Education”
“Public Scrutiny of Financial Aid Practices: Opportunities and Challenges”
“CFOs and Faculty Culture: Creating Synergy for Institutional Renewal”
“Ethical Action, Strategic Decision-making: The Role of the CFO in Sustaining Institutional and Personal Ethics”

Current Chief Financial Officers Think Tank Members (2007-2008)

Past Chief Financial Officers Think Tank Members:

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