Forecasting, Budgeting, and Managing Money in an Environment of Uncertainty and Risk - March 2026
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Register
- Non-member - $599
- Member - $459
Faculty Member
Michael Jones
Cost
Members: $459.00
Non-Members: $599.00
Description
How do those in online and professional continuing education analyze opportunities, project revenue and expenses, identify prudent ways to manage resources, monitor cash flow, and mitigate financial disaster? How do you measure success and respond to failure, reallocate resources, and determine new investment opportunities? Those in online and professional continuing education often operate as a stand-alone business by relying on revenue to support operating costs, and depending on forecasting, cash flow, and agile pivoting to new strategies.
Topics Covered
- Resource Allocation and Budgeting Basics
- Forecasting
- Creating a Program Business Plan
- Evaluating Partnerships
Learning Objectives
- Differentiate between resource allocation and resource generation budgeting and analyze the implications for online and professional continuing education organizations
- Create a course budget and financial statement
- Create alternative future scenarios
- Understand and evaluate opportunity costs
- Distinguish between development and delivery costs and understand amortization
- Articulate the value proposition of both partners of the partnership
- Anticipate and mitigate the common barriers in forming partnerships
Who should take this course?
This course is designed for learners at various professional levels, particularly those who have some experience in online and professional continuing education education administration who seek to learn more about financial forecasting and creating budgets at the course, program, and departmental level.
Format and Schedule
This is a five week course consisting of about five hours of weekly course work made up of readings, asynchronous activities, and a weekly one-hour live class meeting on Wednesdays at 1:00 PM ET via Zoom.
Dr. Michael Jones
Associate Faculty
Post University
Michael Jones is an Associate Faculty member at Post University and an independent consultant supporting institutions on academic program development, strategic operations, and organizational effectiveness in higher education. He holds a Doctor of Education from Northeastern University, where his dissertation examined how institutions build belonging and persistence for nontraditional learners, and an MBA from University of Maryland Global Campus.
Michael brings over a decade of higher education leadership experience, most recently as Director of Academic Program Development and Support in the Office of the Provost at the University of Connecticut, where he led the development of undergraduate and graduate programs, with a focus on professional and online programs designed to meet the evolving needs of the workforce, and provided leadership oversight to UConn's Office of Professional and Continuing Education, Summer Programs, and enrollment support units. He previously served as Director of Strategic Operations for UConn's Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, where he served as a strategic partner to the Associate Vice Provost, providing financial, HR, and operational leadership across the Center's portfolio and acting as its primary liaison to university central administration and academic departments. Prior to UConn, he held several leadership positions at the University of Maryland, College Park.
As a nontraditional student himself, Michael is committed to advocating for and advancing opportunities for nontraditional learners in higher education.
See what past participants have to say about this course:
"This is a great course to refresh or review budgeting and forecasting fundamentals in a supportive and encouraging environment. If you have struggled to find a financial management course that is tailored to the particularities of continuing and professional education, this is the course for you! - Suzanne Dove, Bentley University
"Overall, this course was exceptionally run and the material was relevant to the struggles we're facing right now. I speak for my colleagues in saying that we enjoyed this course so much, we are sending 3 additional people to the course."
"I enjoyed sharing with others during the live sessions. It was refreshing to know that we aren't the only institution dealing with budgeting issues. The assignments and readings inspired me to take action on some budgeting items and forecasts that I should have been doing anyway."
"I greatly appreciate all the resources you provided in our course: the readings, lectures, and discussion prompts were excellent."
"The examples of budgets and program planning were so beneficial to me. The readings for course budgeting were insightful and helpful too!"
"I have been asking for this the contents of this very course for 5 years and couldn't find anything remotely relevant. Thank you for this! His book is now my bible."
"I will be sending my program leads to this class next time around."
"I thought the content was very good. I learned some new things and validated my thinking on others."
"A wealth of knowledge. The book is a great tool to keep. Resources provided were top notch. Answered all questions."
