[Alumni-chat] Today's Inside Higher Ed article and the AB Business Plan

[alanbenard (alanbenard at pobox.com)]

Personal correspondence has led me to believe there is confusion over what has been gained this weekend by those wishing to keep the college open without pause. 

Imagine trying to write a business plan to revive a business without looking at the accounting, the inventory or the customer list?

Now, that is available to the Alumni Board. That is what has changed. But, typically, the journalists have buried the lead.

>Mary Lou LaPierre, vice chancellor and chief spokeswoman for the university administration, stressed that much remains uncertain. She said that the alumni who have been pushing to keep the college open have not had full access to the college’s financial records, which they will now receive to help them. At the same time, she said, specific benchmarks will be developed to be sure that any plan is realistic in terms of keeping the college running. Those benchmarks will involve fund raising, budgets and student recruitment.
What Ms. LaPierre means for us to think is that the alumni will see the true hopelessness of the situation when presented with the books. But the fact remains that now, informed and intelligent business planning can be done by experts, and there is funding for those experts. 

Anticipating the question: What does the Alumni Board have that the BoT and ULC didn't have? The goodwill and cooperation of many, many alumni who will only donate if the college has a greater level of autonomy from the university. 

Alan Benard