Higher Education
Transform planning with integrated, data-driven decision making
- connected planning
Align student demand, workforce capacity and financial performance
Australian universities operate in a complex and changing environment. Shifts in student demand, course mix and funding have direct implications for workforce requirements, costs and long-term financial sustainability.
Zooss helps universities to connect student, academic, workforce and financial planning – giving Finance, HR and planning teams the visibility to respond to change and make better-informed decisions across the institution.
Higher Education & Universities:
High Level Planning Processes
Zooss creates alignment across higher education institutions - turning data into trusted insights and plans into action.
We do this by bringing together four interconnected planning domains:
Student Planning
student load planning
Forecast student enrolments and study loads to inform course delivery, workforce capacity, facilities and financial planning decisions.
UNDERGRADUATE COURSE PLANNING
Align undergraduate course offerings and delivery requirements with student demand, available resources and broader university planning priorities.
POSTGRADUATE COURSE PLANNING
Plan postgraduate course demand and delivery requirements to support effective resource allocation and informed academic planning.
STUDENT RETENTION MODELLING
Model student retention to understand future enrolment patterns and their impact on course, workforce and financial requirements.
COURSE PROFITABILITY
Understand the financial performance of courses by connecting student demand, revenue, delivery requirements and associated costs.
STUDENT JOURNEY MODELLING
Model the student journey to understand progression and retention and support more informed planning across the university.
STUDENT LOAD TO STAFF AND FACILITY ALLOCATION
Translate student load into academic staffing and facility requirements to align resources more effectively with teaching demand.
Workforce Planning
ACADEMIC WORKFORCE
Align academic workforce requirements with student load and teaching demand to improve capacity planning, allocation and workforce agility.
CASUAL AND TEMPORARY WORKFORCE
Forecast casual and temporary workforce requirements to match changing teaching demand while improving visibility and cost control.
ADMIN WORKFORCE
Plan administrative workforce requirements and costs to align support capacity with operational needs and university priorities.
Financial Planning
LONG RANGE FINANCIAL STRATEGY
Model long-term financial scenarios to understand future funding, costs and investment requirements and support sustainable strategic decision-making.
P&L FORECAST
Connect revenue and cost drivers to create more responsive P&L forecasts and understand the financial impact of change.
CAPITAL AND ASSETS PLANNING
Plan capital investment and asset requirements alongside strategic priorities, financial capacity and changing operational needs.
LONG & SHORT TERM PROJECTS
Plan and prioritise projects across different time horizons, connecting resource requirements, costs and strategic objectives.
OPERATIONAL EXPENSES (IT, SG&A)
Forecast operational expenditure across IT and other support functions to improve cost visibility, control and resource allocation.
ASSETS MANAGEMENT
Plan asset requirements and investment over time to support effective resource allocation and longer-term financial sustainability.
EXTERNAL AND INDUSTRIAL PARTNERSHIPS
Plan the financial and resource implications of external and industry partnerships alongside broader institutional priorities and commitments.
Consolidated reporting
UNIVERSITY COMPARISON METRICS
Bring key university metrics together to support consistent comparison, performance analysis and more informed institutional decision-making.
CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL
Consolidate financial plans and forecasts to provide leadership with a consistent institution-wide view of financial performance and outlook.
Common challenges we solve for universities
Universities and HE institutions come to Zooss when planning is fragmented, resource-intensive or unable to respond quickly to change:
- Disconnected student, academic, workforce and financial planning limits visibility across the institution
- Changing student demand and course requirements make it difficult to align teaching capacity, workforce and resources
- Manual, spreadsheet-based planning processes consume significant time and make planning difficult to scale
- Funding constraints and cost pressures increase the need for greater visibility and control of resources
- Siloed data and legacy processes make it difficult to model scenarios and respond quickly to change
These challenges make it harder to align resources with student and academic needs, build workforce agility and maintain financial sustainability.
Zooss connects planning across functions, giving Finance, HR and planning teams the visibility to model change, understand its impact and make better-informed decisions.
- how zooss helps
Connect student demand, academic delivery, workforce and finance
Changes in student demand flow through to course requirements, academic workload, staffing, facilities and financial performance. We connect these relationships, allowing teams to model change and understand its institution-wide impact before decisions are made.
Our capabilities include:
- Student & Academic Planning: student load, course planning, retention, course profitability and student journey modelling
- Workforce Planning: academic, casual and administrative workforce planning aligned to student and teaching demand
- Financial Planning: P&L forecasting, long-range strategy, operational expenses, capital, assets and projects
Scenario modelling across these areas enables universities to test changes in student demand, funding, workforce and other key drivers.
Benefits we deliver:
- Greater workforce agility as student and teaching requirements change
- Improved alignment between Finance, HR and planning teams
- Faster scenario modelling and more informed decision-making
- Less manual consolidation and greater visibility across planning
- More confident resource allocation and long-term financial planning
- Why universities choose Zooss
Higher education experience backed by deep Anaplan expertise
- Australian higher education experience: proven expertise delivering complex academic workforce planning with measurable operational and financial outcomes
- Deep Anaplan expertise: experienced solution architects and Master Anaplanners designing robust, scalable planning environments
- Strong data and architecture capability: we fix the data layer, not just the model
- Proven approach to change and adoption: we build internal capability, not dependency
- Global reach through GAIN: access to more than 300 connected planning specialists worldwide
Local experience, global reach
“For our customers, our worldwide network GAIN opens up access to each partner’s deep regional knowledge, industry specialisation, and best-in-class Anaplan expertise – ensuring smooth, consistent implementation to businesses operating across multiple regions.”
Steve Bows
Managing Director, Zooss Consulting
Connecting planning, people and performance
Build greater agility into university planning.
Connect planning across your institution to respond faster to changing demand, optimise resources and support long-term financial sustainability.