Now that most of us have settled in for the fight ahead wrestling with the economy and obvious budget cuts, it is time to reevaluate the way we do business.  While reducing spending is a great place to start, reallocation is also a crucial step in restructuring business practices that impact the bottom line.  While our time continually proves to be our most valuable resource, what we do with it can make a difference in these tough economic times.

Travel budgets.  The dreaded words!  If you’ve ever worked on a budget committee, you know that travel or other “unnecessary spending” is the first to go on the chopping block.  And while travel may be an obvious first step in cutting back, the repercussions can be costly.  Typically travel through colleges and universities include conferences that cover valuable information to keep faculty and staff up on the latest offerings and often times include required credit for certifications or licenses.  Unfortunately even though travel budgets are cut, the need for new information and networking with colleagues is not mitigated.  So what can a school do to minimize the impact low travel budgets have on morale and potential training credit?  In response to this need, many companies are now sponsoring webinars on a variety of topics that allow multiple participants from one location with no travel involved.  Wimba, a leading provider of collaborative learning software solutions and services to the Higher Education and K-12 markets, conducts many free webinars in various topics of distance learning.  Elluminate, Inc. provides proven, best-in-class solutions for real-time online learning and collaboration that deliver exceptional outcomes, including enhanced learning experiences, increased retention and completion rates, and higher ROI.  Elluminate is another company that has a complete list of free webinars.

Organizers of traditional travel conferences have been painfully aware of the budget cuts, based on low enrollments.  Texas Distance Learning Association is doing something about it!  Through a clever marketing plan, the annual TxDLA conference hosted in Corpus Christi decided to create a Corkboard.  This provides attendees a place post classifieds such as needing to carpool to the conference or looking for a roomy to share the hotel bill.

At eLearningToolBox, we are also doing our part to help ease the burden of costly seminars and travel associated with tradition conferences.  This summer we begin our first annual Webinar Series.  Topics include testing integrity, student authentication, finding qualified online faculty, and student readiness.  The best part about the webinars is they are FREE.  Featured speakers include Dr. Mac Adkins, CEO eLearningToolBox, Dr. Michael Theall, Assoc. Professor of Education, Youngstown State University, and Lori McNabb, Assistant Dir. Student and Faculty Services, University of Texas System TeleCampus.  Don’t miss out on learning about the latest challenges in distance learning and robust solutions that will help your institution.

Now is a good time to ask yourself, why did you get involved in education?  Use those creative thinking powers and think outside the box to invent new ways of meeting economic challenges.  Travel is one of many budget line items to discuss.  Come back next week to learn more about crucial aspects of planning for the future.  While I can’t promise a crystal ball to see into the future, we will discuss some clear signs of where educational programs should be heading based on current events.

Economic Downturn Part 1 - Impact on Travel Budgets