Financial Flexibility of Universities in Adaptation to Covid-19 Challenges

Abstract

During the adaptation of universities to Covid-19, the problem of their financial flexibility has become crucial. The ability to react quickly during a pandemic crisis with changes of training format and educational activities, the flexibility to respond to external challenges under the scarce resources, maintenance of a competitive position on the market of educational services are the symptoms and implications of financial flexibility. The purpose of the article is to determine the signs of the university's financial flexibility, which could be the basis for designing and practical application of methodological tools for evaluating the financial flexibility of universities. The concept of financial flexibility of universities is proposed as the ability of university management to generate income, restrain and optimally allocate costs, generate cash flows with constrained budget funding during the crisis, create and implement business models, implement unique valuable educational proposals. Manifestations of financial flexibility concerning state and private financing have been defined. The signs of financial flexibility, such as sensitivity, efficiency, manoeuvrability, alternativeness, economy, have been outlined. Methodical tools and indicators for the evaluation of financial flexibility have been proposed. The degree of the impact of main factors on the financial flexibility of universities is determined.