The Higher Education Treasury Expertise Certificate (TEC) program is an online Treasury Basics Certificate that once complete indicates a mastery in the Higher Education Treasury and Financial Management best practices. The program is recommended for current treasury analysts, management analysts, budget analysts, accountants, cashiers, treasury supervisors, treasury managers and many other job titles that pertain to the treasury management and finance functions on a typical higher education campus.

Professional Development Group (PDG) has teamed up with Mark Krawczyk and Jim Washam for the instructional design of the program. 

About the Speakers

Mark Krawczyk

Mark Krawczyk has over thirty-five years of management experience spanning two centuries in banking, corporate and municipal finance, treasury operations and human resources.  Mark is the principal and owner of his own firm, CZYK & Associates.  Through his company, Mark provides a unique insight into the workings of treasury operations, change management strategies, ACH applications, and financial/ treasury management strategies to clients and audiences around the country.  Through numerous writings, lectures, seminars and speaking engagements, Mark brings a unique, insightful and, many times, humorous perspective to a number of issues facing corporate America today.

Mark is a CTP (Certified Treasury Professional), has twice served on the Board of Directors of the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP), and has served for 17 years as a faculty member for the Graduate School of Banking at LSU in Baton Rouge.  He is actively sought as an entertaining and informative conference keynote speaker and as a knowledgeable practitioner (some might even say an expert) on treasury management, ACH applications, financial operations and change management issues across the country.

Mark received both his undergraduate degree and MBA from Oklahoma State University.

Jim Washam

Jim Washam, Ph.D., CTP, FP&A, has been a member of the finance faculty at Arkansas State University since 1989 and currently holds the McAdams Frierson Professorship in Bank Management. He has served in administrative positions within the College of Business for 16 years, including 8 years as Associate Dean and two years as Interim Dean.  Jim is a member of the Arkansas State University Foundation Joint Committee on University Investments and the Arkansas State University System Retirement Plan Committee.

Jim’s primary teaching and research areas are treasury management and financial risk management.  His work in the areas of liquidity management, financial risk management and derivative securities has been published in national and international journals and he has served as a subject matter expert for numerous treasury and finance books.  Jim is co-editor of Essentials of Treasury Management, 5th edition.

In addition to his duties at Arkansas State, Jim has approximately 20 years of experience in the design and delivery of treasury management training programs.  His clients have included multinational corporations, community banks, municipal governments, global financial institutions, and universities.  These projects have focused primarily on cash, liquidity and risk management.

Treasury Expertise Certificate Topics

Payment Systems

In this unit you will learn about the different methods by which payments are made; by check, via ACH, by credit card and via wire transfer.

Payment System Risk and Fraud Prevention

In this unit you will learn about the four major risks in any type of payment system, the risks in an ACH payment system, the risks in a card payment system and the risks in a wire transfer system.

Disbursement Practices in Higher Education

In this unit you will learn about managing the three components of disbursement float, the various methods to fund disbursements and how to determine disbursement system costs.

Managing Financial Service Provider Relationships

In this unit you will learn the objectives of good relationship management with your financial services provider, the basics of an account analysis statement and how to evaluate potential financial services providers.

Borrowing Management and Strategies

In this unit you will learn the components of a university debt policy, how to calculate the annual cost of borrowing, short- and long-term borrowing alternatives, various features for long-term debt, and how a basic interest rate swap can be used to convert variable rate debt to a fixed rate.

Financial Concepts and Liquidity in Higher Education

In this unit you will learn the basic components of university financial statements, how to calculate liquidity metrics, and time value of money applications including net present value and internal rate of return.

Budgeting Practices in Higher Education

In this unit you will examine the relationship between budgeting and strategy, and learn to use variance analysis to investigate the root causes of differences between the institution’s budget and actual results.

Short Term Investments and Strategies

In this unit you will learn the terminology of investments, types of risk that must be managed in the short-term investment portfolio, how to calculate prices and yields for discount instruments, characteristics of various short-term investment options, and factors that must be considered in long-term investment portfolios.

Forecasting Processes in Higher Education

In this unit you will learn how to develop a forecasting process and use various forecasting methods including a receipts and disbursements forecast, distribution forecast, and time series methods (moving averages, exponential smoothing, regression).

Collection and Concentration Practices in Higher Education

In this unit, you will learn to develop objectives and designs for collection and concentration systems, evaluate different options for a lockbox system, and review methods for electronic collection and international receipts.

“I took a lot from the courses because I was new to Higher- Education. I felt this training would be beneficial for those just starting a new position in higher ed and/or finance. It gave all the background vocabulary and other items that someone new starting off would need. I felt the facilitators were awesome I would take them again and again!”

— Fiscal Analyst 2 - Western Washington University