What a great section! I am very fortunate to work for a campus that does not have high turnover. However, I realize as a manager, I have based my hiring practices on attitude alone and not capability (nice people but not effective in achieving results). I am interested in receiving feedback regarding successful faculty hiring practices. Thanks in advance.

I am so excited to be taking this course! I believe student retention is directly related to customer service. I will ask my team to answer the following questions: What's the difference between a good customer and a loyal customer? Who is our customer? What is our product? Are we doing everything within our power to please and retain our students? What do our customers need/want? Do we adjust/shift based upon the evolution of our customers? I am of the opinion these fundamental questions must be answered to run a successful organization.

when you start a program?

In this day and age of social networking, do you think advertising through magazines, newspapers, and billboards is still an effective means of promoting a school?

Our corporation provides budgeted sales numbers and a required return. At the division level, we are responsible for planning and budgeting for the expenses that reach these goals. Identifying variable vs fixed costs becomes the primary driver in our budgeting process.

Most budgets are prepared for existing business operations. Their process is strongly dependent upon historical information on costs, revenues, and trends. What options are available to managers required to develop a budget for a new organization/division/project when there is no historical data to use as a model?

When a higher education institution decides that it will pursue social media networking strategies (Facebook, Twitter,Link In, etc.), could that be construed by the students/faculty population as too personal or intrusive within an academic environment?

Who should be the people required to do a budget in a small business company. Every Department Manager?

In my experience as an outreach specialist I find that there are two marketing theories that are applicable to development of educational institution which are: Direct Marketing because is has allow me to have a direct contact with the prospects get their immediate feedback and impressions Relationship marketing: although at the college level is a bit challenging to have this implemented do the volume of customers which are students this kind of strategy strengthen the interpersonal relationships with our clients.

There has been an overall master budget done at the schools to date. What is the best way top break this budget out by campus for five locations? What processes and steps would you use to disseminate?

EVEN THOUGH I'M A BURSAR I'M IN CONSTANT CONTACT WITH OUR STUDENTS TAKING PAYMENTS A GREAT ATTITUDE IS A MUST TO BE EXCELLENT IN CUSTOMER SERVICE!!!

The student is the #1 customer then comes the repair shops and deaerships that these students work at. We must put out a good product or our customer base will die.

I know at our company the planning process starts as soon as the current year budget is finalized. Each dept is responsible for keeping a notebook of items that were left out of the prior budget, or areas in wchihc we could save. In March we get the entire mgmt team together to brainstorm a wish list for the new budget, and to discuss opportunities for savings. This is then input into the tentative budget to see how this compares to the our companies target for the school. We adjust until June, and then submit the schools "final" budget. This is never the final budget, so after further adjustments we have our actual budget by July 1.

In general, is there a particular number that may be considered a "good" profit margin, or are there just too many variables (size and type of business, type of industry, etc) to allow for that simple of an answer.

"Measuring an organization's performance has by far the single most significant or paramount influence on its success." Do you agree or disagree? Why?