Jairdin Engen | Assistant News Editor
Over the next year, Buena Vista University (BVU) will begin a “Prioritization Plan” intended to allow more efficient allocation of the university’s funds. The plan involves looking at the way BVU’s resources are distributed and is designed to see if they are being used to their full effectiveness.
“The ultimate goal is for us to do a comprehensive self-evaluation of the institution, how we operate, how we expend our funds, and how we generate our revenues,” Vice President of Enrollment Management Mike Frantz said.
The plan will be partially carried out by the firm Academic Strategy Partners run by Robert C. Dickeson, who was on campus recently. with the assistance of members of the BVU community, who will form a steering committee and two task forces to look at what the school is doing and what it might do differently.
“The planning process is currently underway, and the work involved will likely extend through the greatest portion of the next academic year,” Frantz said.
Data will be collected through reports from the campus organizations, surveys, and other types of inquiries before being analyzed in order to make determinations about the school’s finances.
“I think it’s always really healthy to be quite introspective,” Frantz said. “To stop on occasion and take measure about how you’re doing things, and are they as effective as they could be.”
The main purpose of the plan is to evaluate whether BVU is allocating its resources to their fullest potential.
“It’s a way that the university takes a look at resources, and ascertains whether or not they are being used most effectively,” Interim Dean of Students Dale Scully said.
The information will be used to figure out the best way to utilize BVU’s funds. Depending on where the funds are found and what they are working towards, they may be reassigned to other areas. Areas that are receiving more money but are deemed to have less effect may have money taken out of them, and sections that don’t seem to have enough money may have more money given to them.
“Through prioritization processes there is a discovery of what may be underfunded and what may be overfunded,” Scully said. “There is always a possibility that alterations will be made in how certain things are funded, both for and against.”
The hope for the plan is that it will allow BVU to become more effective and give students the most for their investment.
“We respect the fact that our students pay a good amount of money to come to BVU, and we know that the expectations of students are that they get the best bang for their buck,” Scully said.
Photo by Kevin Coriolan
