A university CFO is often situated further down the totem pole than their corporate counterparts. Universities, with their provosts, trustees, faculty, students and alumni, operate under shared governance: everyone has a voice, and, theoretically, there's no such thing as unilateral decision-making. This even applies to use of perhaps the most vital source of spending: the endowment. According to a study of 705 institutions by the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO), colleges on average spent about 4% more from their endowment in 2020 than they did in 2019, in large part to handle the disruptions, emergencies and needs posed by the pandemic.
https://www.cfodive.com/news/higher-education-finance-pandemic-covid-19/596972/
