Dive Brief:
- Institutions located in areas marked by extreme climate patterns typically have to consider and incorporate into their budgets weather-related damage costs, reports Inside Higher Ed. Several East Coast schools — now dealing with a wave of snowfall and more frequent storms— have had to increase their contingency funds in the wake of the most recent Nor'easter. Endicott College in Massachusetts, for one, has increased theirs four-fold over a five-year period to over $1 million.
- Schools like Endicott, with a small but relatively significant $2.5 million campus maintenance allocation in a total $180 million expense budget, would face additional budgetary pressures if it had not planned for contingency resources, President Richard Wylie told Inside Higher Ed. Similarly, the College of New Jersey, had to consider supplemental funds for emergency personnel to clean up the campus or remove snow and ice there as well.
- To avoid extra budgetary constraints, many leaders have started to consider reserving funds for "eventualities," that can help pay for things like building damage, temporary school closure and emergency worker fees, particularly as severe weather is projected to increase.
Dive Insight:
When it comes to handling emergencies, campus leaders have to juggle dual responsibilities of addressing student needs and considering the best business option for the institution. Borough of Manhattan Community College president President Antonio Pérez described this responsibility well, as he recounted to Education Dive his experience dealing with a campus building collapse in the aftermath of 9/11. He recalled that while other schools in the area of the incident couldn't open again until the next year, BMCC maximized resources to open in three weeks and avoid the costs of being shutdown. The emphasis, he says, is on a recognition that strategizing on ways to keep the business operating smoothly goes hand in hand with delivering a product to students.
"We try to determine who are our customers, what do they want, and what are they like, so that we can respond and find a way to reach them," said Pérez. "I think its critical businesses are projecting, and forecasting with regard to their customer and delivery of their products..."
From having dealt with 9/11, he notes that he learned how to initiate disaster management when Hurricane Sandy hit by, for example, moving major computer systems from basements and bottom floors to higher floor levels so they wouldn't get flooded and subsequently damaged. Being able to consider the budget and costs of disasters ahead of time provides more opportunity for institution leaders to think more effectively through emergencies and avoid significant financial blows.