Evaluation of Financial Viability - Case Study Example

Making a School Yearbook Financial Analysis and Survey No. Faculty Letter of Transmittal Address Mr. Nicholas M. Seidler Title Institute Street Address City Dear Mr. Seidler I present to you a feasibility report on students’ yearbook project for Milwaukee School of Engineering. The project was assigned to me for academic purposes and it is of substantial importance as MSOE has not published students’ yearbooks in the past despite it being a norm in other universities. The report entails findings offinancial analysis and students’ survey to identify their perception of student’s yearbook. The report also contains various recommendations for fund raising activities, for this particular project. The most important limitation that can be faced in the pursuit of selling yearbooks is over-reliance of students on social media. However for that purpose, various recommendations are already included in the report entailing strategic alliance with parents, corporate organizations and students. In the light of this survey and financial analysis, it can be recommended that publishing yearbooks is a viable project with no substantial risks involved. Best Regards Student’s Name Title Abstract The purpose of this feasibility report is to establish whether Milwaukee School of Engineering should undertake publishing of an annual school yearbook. These yearbooks are a compilation of the activities that have undertaken in the concerned year, details of students and their respective honors, details of faculty and management along with academic articles written by the students on different subjects. For the purpose of identifying its financial feasibility, a students’ survey was conducted that showed students’ support for it. Furthermore, costs expected to be incurred and respective fundraising techniques are also discussed. In addition to that, it was found that publishing students’ year books is beneficial for various stakeholders such as university’s management, community and corporate alliance and students. Contents Abstract 3 I.Introduction 5 II.Merits of Students’ Yearbook for MSOE 5 III.MSOE & Parental Alliance 6 IV.MSOE & Students Body 6 A.Formulation of Students’ Club 6 B.Using Service of Photography Club 6 V.MSOE & Corporate Alliance 7 VI.Evaluation of Financial Viability 7 A.Financial Analysis & Students’ Survey 7 B.Fundraising for Publication 8 VII.Conclusion 8 Works Cited 9 Appendix A Interview Questionnaire 10 Appendix B Graphical Representation of Interview Questions 11 I. Introduction The purpose of this report is to analyze the feasibility of publishing institute’s year book by Milwaukee School of Engineering. MSOE has not undertaken any such formal steps so far whereas using yearbooks has been used widely for advertising institute’s internal mechanisms, generating more good will and funds. On the other hand, school books are considered as an effective extracurricular activity that allows students not only to build up their skills set for professional life but also to preserve the memories of their student life forever. With the advent of social media, school year books are considered as tertiary activity that consumes substantial financial resources with no promising outcomes. However, it is important to note that where social media is effective and more expedient in the short-run, it has a tendency of leaving short-term effects instead of making a potential memory and student’s records. Apart from just cataloging of institute’s academic and extracurricular activities, such yearbooks form a record of transitions that students undergo during their academic lives and keeping track of their overall performance. The report entails literary and financial analysis which performed to evaluate if this particular project is feasible to be initiated in the first place and continued in later years. The report further sheds light on the students’ and management’s views about it along with necessary details. For the purpose of this report, financial analysis and students’ survey is performed which involved randomly selected 50 respondents from different disciplines. Furthermore, literary evidences have been acquired by going through books and journals written on the subject matter. The book used is written by Blakely and Evans on the importance of yearbooks and its impact on students and educational institutes. Whereas another article written by Hoffman (2003) which was published in the journal of high schools, is used to identify the reasons for students not being interested in school yearbooks anymore. Similar notion is supported by the research conducted by Rubin (2009). The report is submitted to Nicholas M. Seidler who is an Assistant Director AT MSOE, to illustrate the importance of publishing students’ yearbooks and its possible advantages for MSOE, its organizational development and community relationship building. II. Merits of Students’ Yearbook for MSOE While undertaking the analysis of the data available on usage and merits of yearbook, it was identified that yearbooks are considered as substantial source of information disseminated by the institute’s management to its students. It also act as a front face of the educational institutes by allowing them to share their mission and vision with the external world along with the details of activities performed by the management to comply with their overall organization’s objectives. Furthermore, these yearbooks can be considered as a major source of fund raising if utilized properly. Most of the students use social media and may underestimate the importance of school yearbooks, their parents and other strategic corporate alliance along with other individuals with rather mature approach and potential to affect school’s fundraising and other activities may consider it as a platform of having a glance of institute’s operations. III. MSOE & Parental Alliance Considering the work model of MSOE, it is important to note that MSOE has no mechanism through which parents and guardians can be become part of university’s management. Although such alliance with parent body appears to have significant impacts till junior schools and high schools, hence its importance in university’s business is usually undermined. Parents of present and former students may act as potential referrals that can provide an opportunity of increasing university’s future business if used adequately. Through yearbooks, they will have an opportunity of being able to understand the kind of environment that their child is being educated in and positive impressions may lead to small individual donations along with prospective of brining in future business. In addition to that, the yearbook will be segregated into various sections such as junior year, freshman and sophomore years. The yearbook will also contain details of faculty and the office of dean that would help parents to gain familiarity of the personnel that their children are getting educated from (Hoffman 23). IV. MSOE & Students Body A. Formulation of Students’ Club Yearbooks can be beneficial in developing university’s relationship with students’ parents along with extended community, these books can also affect students positively. Yearbooks are usually an outcome of detailed documentation of institute’s students, extracurricular life in the institute along with articles reflecting student’s views about different social, political and economic issues (Blakely and Evans 54). This activity usually demands formulation of student’s club that would be responsible for gathering all the material required for printing a yearbook. Such students’ body is usually supervised by a faculty member who assures that appropriate material is published that does not affect university’s goodwill or cause any psychological harm to any other individual i.e. management, faculty and students. This activity will allow students to harness their editorial and reporting skills along with writing abilities. Involving students to share pictures of schools important events would further increase students’ interest and would allow them to actively take part in this activity. B. Using Service of Photography Club To bring more finesse in the photography, services of university’s photography club can be used that would further reduce the cost of yearbooks. Perks such as free lunches for the student’s club, extra credits and certificates would further allow the student’s to take interest actively in this project. Faculty can be used to demonstrate the benefits of yearbooks to the students. These benefits include a track record of personal grooming. A periodic publication illustrates how the students grow overtime and what are their yearly accomplishments. Development of commonality can be observed in the students by virtue of yearbooks as the students can see a sense of closure and completion in the form of events that have undertaken in the past. Further benefits include a record of pleasant events that students experience during their academic life. V. MSOE & Corporate Alliance Along with parents and students, corporate organizations and non-profit organizations can also benefit by reviewing university’s year books. MSOE has strategic alliances with several corporate bodies. Sending out university’s yearbooks along with graduate directories allows them to understand the culture that students have been taught in and also the benefits that they can have by providing employment to students of such institute. Students’ yearbooks can be a medium of illustrating students’ talent and the potential that they have for undertaking corporate challenges. Furthermore, positive impression of a university can lead to raising substantial corporate donations that are provided by such bodies to educational institutes in the name of corporate social governance. VI. Evaluation of Financial Viability A. Financial Analysis & Students’ Survey Where it is evident that publishing yearbooks bear many benefits for different stakeholders of university, it is important to evaluate if this project is commercially viable. In order to evaluate its feasibility, a financial analysis has been performed with the help of rates of publication available online. It was found that publication is carried in three forms and the use of book cover i.e. faux leather or printed paper along with paper quality acts a decisive agent for the overall cost. It was found that costs vary from USD 9 to 15. If the institute decides to sell it on cost/ breakeven, it is less likely to incur any losses. The publication costs incurred for MSOE students with headcount equivalent to 2700 is found to be USD 41000. Further USD 2000 can be used for other administrative expenses with making total expenditure equivalent to 43000.For the purpose of evaluating students’ views about university’s yearbook, a small survey was conducted with involved selection of 10 interviewees from different disciplines of the university i.e. business, nursing, engineering, technical communication and construction. The survey included six questions regarding yearbook to evaluate students’ preferences. In response to question concerning use of social media over yearbooks, 67 percent of the students showed positive responses which are rather encouraging. Holistic view explained that 57 percent would prefer using soft copies that will lead to further cost reduction. B. Fundraising for Publication For the sake of prior revenue generation, schools books can be used as source of advertising for various corporate organizations. University’s management can raise funds by using 8-10 pages of students’ year book for advertising purposes. The activity itself will be substantial for covering the costs. Possible benefits for such organizations include saving heavy expenditure on campus drives and employer branding. Where it has been noted from the history of other universities that students usually tend not to buy yearbooks due to excessive usage of social media and unawareness of benefits of yearbooks, the risks arising from such behavior can be mitigated (Rubin n.d.). University can charge the costs of individual yearbook at the time of charging semester or yearly fee. Such prior accumulation will allow university’s management to have funds in hand before publication which would facilitate the planning of whole activity. In addition to that, where students might be reluctant to have an extra pile of books with them along with considerations paid to paper-saving regime, CD/ DVD medium can also bepreferred. Students can be encouraged to share their views about nature of the yearbook’s copy in the beginning of the academic year so that only known number of hard and soft copies are published along with extra copies published for corporate alliances. VII. Conclusion Students’ yearbooks are usually considered as an unnecessary activity that is burden on an institutes’ overall budget. However, there are various benefits offered to universities, parents and students. University yearbooks are an effective medium for educational institutes to develop goodwill within community and other corporate organizations. On the other hand, parents can benefit by having an awareness of the environment in which their child is being educated. Furthermore, students’ yearbooks can act as a reservoir of memories that would help them maintain a track record of their students’ life and it would also help them in keeping records for academic purposes. Financial analysis along with other fund raising strategies revealed that this project is potentially feasible and majority of students who participated in the survey have shown their support for it. Where university needs to allocate funds for publishing yearbooks, receiving students’ yearbook fee in the beginning of semester and gathering information about students’ preference regarding hard/ soft copies will help in planning out the cost structure of this activity. Also, corporate alliances can be used for further fund raising by allowing them to perform employer branding through Milwaukee’s yearbooks. Works Cited Blakely, Darlene and Cristopher Evans. Complete Guide to Yearbook Journalism. Sylvania, Ohio: Advise Publications. 1991. Print. Hoffman, Lynn M. “Why High Scools Don’t Change: What Students and Their Yearbooks Tell Us”. The High School Journal 86.1 (2003): 22-37. Web. Rubin , Bonnie . “Yearbooks vanishing from college campuses.”15 May 2009. Chicago Tribune News .n. pag . Web .19 Dec 2012. Appendix A Interview Questionnaire 1) Have you ever used a student’s yearbook? 2) Do you think yearbook helps students finding jobs? 3) Do you think it’s a best medium for students to preserve memories? 4) Would you prefer a hard copy or a soft copy? 5) Do you think that amount paid by students for yearbooks is justified? 6) Would you prefer social media presence i.e. facebook and twitter etc, over printed yearbooks? Appendix B Graphical Representation of Interview Questions 1) Have you ever used a student’s yearbook? 2) Do you think yearbook helps students finding jobs? 3) Do you think it’s a best medium for students to preserve memories? 4) Would you prefer a hard copy or a soft copy? 5) Do you think that amount paid by students for yearbooks is justified? 6) Would you prefer social media presence i.e. facebook and twitter etc, over printed yearbooks? Read More