As expectations and challenges continue to rise in the finance office, it is now more than ever, necessary to understand how to effectively communicate your college’s financial plan to stakeholders. The ability to create, maintain, and communicate consensus around your organization’s budget is critical to provide stakeholders the confidence and knowledge needed to move forward with your financial and strategic plans. However, the challenge then becomes, how to balance the different levels of fiscal knowledge of your audience while executing a high level of transparency? (Forecast5 Analytics)

Budget reductions, increasing demand for IT services, rapidly changing technology, and difficulty recruiting and retaining specialized staff are driving a new focus on collaboration and shared services at community colleges across the nation. While shared services—which typically involves organizations working together to centralize functions like billing systems, administrative processing areas, and hard-to-retain talent—has been around for decades, the advent of high-speed internet and cloud computing has enabled the model to evolve from location-based "neighborhood" consortia to "birds of a feather" collaborations, allowing community colleges with a shared need to work together regardless of location.

I hope you are enjoying your summer and have found some time to relax! There are some important updates I would like to share with you about CCBO. Our Executive Director, Hans Weichhart, will be leaving CCBO at the end of the month to pursue an amazing career opportunity as the Chief Relationship Officer for the Educational Theatre Association. Hans has brought so much enthusiasm to CCBO and has caused us to move forward in so many ways. Your leadership will truly be missed! Lillian De Lisle will step in as the interim Executive Director. Lillian is a former Managing Director of CCBO and currently serves as the Associate Executive Director of NACAS.

It's hard to believe that we're past the halfway point of 2017 already! So much has happened in the world around us, right down to the communities we live in and the campuses where we work. I hope that each of you have embraced the change around you to continue providing the best services and resources for the students and campuses we serve.

In a region beset by job losses, poverty, and poor infrastructure, what can colleges realistically do? (The Chronicle of Higher Education)

California Gov. Jerry Brown has asked the California community college system to "take whatever steps are necessary" to establish a new, online-only community college. (Community College Daily)

NC State wants to help solve the community college leadership pipeline problem amid broader shift in focus of doctoral training programs. (Inside Higher Ed)

Thursday, July 27, 2017 | 10 am EST A shared service is a collaborative arrangement where a function or process previously performed independently by multiple colleges is now provided centrally in support of two or more colleges. Shared services enable institutions to create synergies to provide optimized services efficiently and effectively and it can play a major role in reducing the administrative overhead that all institutions face. The success of any shared services initiative however requires significant planning and analysis, and there is no "one-size-fits-all" approach. Are you interested in exploring shared services? Have you identified the drivers for increased collaboration and addressed the factors that cause resistance? If you wish to know more, this webinar will help you determine if shared services are a good fit for your college.

You work hard to bring success to your campus. Honor members of the profession by nominating yourself or a colleague for a CCBO award. Deadline to submit for the Bob Hassmiller Award for Humanitarian Service is August 7, 2017. The Bob Hassmiller Award for Humanitarian Service is given to an individual who best exemplifies an exemplary service mindset. The recipient will display the core principles of humanitarianism including: (1) a desire to bring assistance without discrimination, (2) ensures respect for their fellow human beings, and (3) promotes mutual understanding, cooperation, and friendship.