Project work for independent school financial operations

 

@PalmerBall

With over 25 years experience in independent school and college finance operations, I have truly "seen it all and done it all."  I have seen schools experience all time enrollment highs and enrollment lows.  I have participated in record setting capital campaigns, endowment growth and construction growth, but have also seen tuition resets and budget and staffing levels reduced due to significant enrollment drops.  I have participated in numerous strategic plans and accreditation visits and I have created tools to successfully gather and track data to assist the administration and board in making data-informed decisions,  as well as meet the needs of outside teams and consultants.


Budget modeling became a major tool for me during the trying times of enrollment drops, and I have come to value the importance of a long term view on current decision making and the impact of today's decisions on enrollment, pricing, staffing, etc. in 5 and 10 years.  I have been very fortunate over the years to give presentations at national meetings on the lessons learned in budget modeling and data management.





I have also been honored to help teach new professionals in the field, primarily through NBOA's annual Business Officer Institute, but also recently at the Klingenstein Institute at Columbia University.  I truly enjoy sharing the wisdom and lessons learned from experienced business officers many years ago when I was new to the profession.  By supporting each other, we make each of our schools better and we improve the quality and professionalism of the industry, and ultimately better serve our schools and our students.


I am a big believer that schools need a strong value proposition and innovative leaders to position themselves to succeed during  these tenuous times, as tuition increases, exponential financial aid growth, financial sustainability, etc. present major issues for independent schools.  I am confident my varied experiences will benefit schools struggling with many of these same issues. 


I look forward to discussing with school leaders the tools I bring to address these topics at their schools.

Palmer D. Ball
palmerballconsulting@gmail.com