Category: Blog

The Critical Step in Allocating Resources Across Alumni Relations and Annual Giving

by Bob Baer, Kylie Mitchell

Most alumni relations and annual giving operations have limited intelligence about who will be a strong reunion volunteer, annual giver, or alumni travel prospect—if the person has not previously participated in any of those activities. But rather than pulling a random database query and then reaching out at random to the contents of the entire resulting list, applying predictive analytics can help provide a more targeted allocation of your resources and more targeted messaging. Why Predictive Modeling is Critical Many organizations seeking to improve operating performance are turning to predictive analytics and predictive modeling to either increase revenues, decrease costs, or both. The size of our alumni population and database at Penn make focusing resources critical to fundraising success. The objectives of our early pilot projects in predictive modeling have been to reduce fundraising-related marketing costs and/or increase the dollars raised, or improve business performance in some other way. Here are examples of how our recent analytics efforts at Penn have informed critical resourcing decisions: The Steps for Effective Predictive Modeling The steps in the predictive modeling process are: Identification of the business need and a proper problem definition are critical for a successful project. In most data warehouse systems, […]

The Most-Needed Competency for Online Instructors

If you find these practical strategies useful, please share this article with faculty at your institution. In this updated and revised edition of a popular 2012 article from Academic Impressions, we have turned to Larry Ragan, Susan Ko, and Brian Redmond for tips on how faculty can develop a key competency for online teaching. Debates continue in the public sphere over the quality and efficacy of online instruction, with research studies citing quite different outcomes confusing the issue. The heart of the matter is that not all online instruction is equal –- institutions still differ widely in the level of planning that goes into the online instruction they provide and in the level of preparation and training provided for online instructors. To see success with an online learning initiative, hiring and training for specific competencies is critical. Director of Penn State’s Center for Online Innovations in Learning (COIL) Larry Ragan and a number of his colleagues at Penn State (including Janet May, Paula Bigatel, Shannon Kennan, and Brian Redmond) have for some time been engaged in defining competencies for online instructors with some specificity. We have interviewed Larry Ragan and Brian Redmond, who guided the panel of researchers for the […]

Tailoring the RCM Model to What Works For You

by Linda Kroll, Casey Hudson

In an era of public scrutiny and requests for increased financial accountability, higher-ed leaders are looking for ways to show the public that they are addressing the issue of rising college costs. Many have turned to responsibility-centered management (RCM) as a way to reduce costs and encourage financial responsibility within individual academic departments. While many institutional leaders see RCM as a way of decentralizing financial decision-making, allowing vice presidents and deans to take responsibility for their own budgets, they may not realize that certain principles of this financial structure can be tailored to fit the distinct culture of their campus, even without wholesale adoption of an RCM model. The University of Notre Dame recognized how they could adopt some principles from RCM to meet their institutional needs and goals. Here is what they did, and what you can learn from it. Adopting Elements of RCM – Not the Whole Model Linda Kroll, associate vice president for finance at the University of Notre Dame, states that when their institution looked at some of the fundamental elements of the RCM model, university leaders liked that the model allowed for: Distribution of responsibility to unit leaders Creation of a culture that rewards lowering […]

Help Your Faculty Manage Online Workload

We turned to Larry Ragan and Susan Ko for tips on how department chairs and faculty developers can help faculty manage online workload. We hope you will also invite your faculty to review our recorded webcast, Managing Online Course Workload. Because online and blended courses require more preparation than most traditional courses, faculty often find that they are committing significantly more time than they would for a face-to-face class. In the absence of specific guidance from department chairs or faculty developers on how to effectively structure an online course or how to manage their growing workload, faculty–especially faculty new to online learning–are in jeopardy of over-committing their time. For practical tips on how to assist faculty with online course workload, we turned to experts Larry Ragan, director of the Center for Online Innovations in Learning (COIL) at Penn State University, and Susan Ko, the faculty development director for CUNY School of Professional Studies. Managing and Setting Expectations In the absence of a set period of scheduled classroom time, it is critical to discuss with faculty the need to define structured, set time periods for their online communication and instructional work. Otherwise, faculty may underperform — or over-perform. “If we don’t help […]

Is Crowdfunding Right for You?

by Erin Swietlik and Gwen Doyle (Academic Impressions) In our introduction to crowdfunding published this past fall (“Higher-Ed Crowdfunding: What Is It and Why Does It Matter?“), we outlined what crowdfunding is and what distinguishes it from other fundraising and donor acquisition tools that are gaining popularity across higher-ed fundraising shops. In this article, we will examine: The pros and cons of employing a crowdfunding model to attract new donors and increase annual fund giving. How to account for the dollars raised via a crowdfunding initiative. How to measure the success of a crowdfunding initiative. As crowdfunding continues to be a key buzzword across college campuses, institutions are leveraging crowdfunding platforms to fund a variety of initiatives, including: faculty or student research (including efforts at the University of Virginia and the University of Utah), student organizations and projects (see Cornell University), and other assorted institutional initiatives (such as the University of California system’s “Promise for Education” campaign). In our research into crowdfunding initiatives, we interviewed a variety of advancement and alumni relations professionals in higher education and providers of crowdfunding tools; these experts had differing perspectives, and here are some of the insights they provided. To help you decide if […]

Practical Strategies for Partnering with Faculty in Student Recruitment

by W. Kent Barnds

W. Kent Barnds offers seven strategies for involving faculty in student recruitment in ways that are meaningful and effective. Here’s how to do it right. Admissions teams often ask: “How do we effectively involve faculty members in student recruitment?” This question has even more urgency now, given enrollment pressures throughout higher education. It only makes sense to look to the faculty; they remain the most credible messengers on a college campus. A LOOK AT THE DATAIn fact, in Academic Impressions’ 2013 survey on enrollment declines, 47% of the 190 institutions participating in the survey missed their enrollment targets last year–many by a significant percentage. Years ago I heard Robin Mamlet, who at the time was the dean of admissions at Stanford University, remind a room full of admissions officers that “we work for the faculty.” I’ve been guided by this idea and recognize admissions officers are an extension of the faculty, rather than vice versa. Involving faculty in recruitment activities should be guided by this premise. Admittedly, I don’t always get things right. But, based on more than 20 years of experimenting and listening, I’d like to suggest: 7 Keys to Encouraging Meaningful Involvement 1. Provide guidance, not direction.I once […]

Representing Your Institution Overseas: Leveraging Your Alumni as a Key Resource

by Gretchen Dobson (Gretchen Dobson, LLC) We do it domestically when we are traveling for business: we ask family, colleagues, and friends for recommendations on how to make the most of a free afternoon, where to find local cuisine, and whether public transportation saves us time and money. We need to do the same when traveling internationally. However, in this case we should turn to our “extended family,” our international alumni and valued partners that dot the globe, from Switzerland to Shanghai. And our questions need to go beyond soliciting a Top Ten list for restaurants; making international travel productive requires knowing your destination much more fully, including familiarity with: Cultural norms Vaccinations and health regulations Travel requirements Currency exchange and travel costs Holiday calendars and traditions In this article, I’ll focus on holiday calendars. Planning without knowledge of the holiday calendar and traditions for your destination can threaten your credibility with overseas contacts. Part of your checklist for 2014 international travel should include a thorough review of the 2014 international holiday schedule for regions outside the US and Canada. Getting the Information and Perspective You Need Use every opportunity to poll alumni abroad to gain a deeper understanding of […]

How One Institution Took Space Management to the Next Level

by Araceli Fleet

Here’s how the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) completely updated its approach to space management. What We Faced As capital funding becomes more competitive, it is increasingly important that the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) uses spatial data in a strategic fashion to acquire monies for capital projects. Upon creating a spatial database, UTEP recognized the importance of making the data within it robust enough to identify space accurately and understand how to increase utilization and efficiency. In turn, this would help upper-level administrators to make data-driven decisions in order to meet the goals and objectives of the university. What We Did The DatabaseFirst, we created a spatial database that not only addressed the reporting requirements from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, but also addressed the internal university attributes that were deemed important when determining whether a space was being utilized efficiently – such as: When instructors become accustomed to using a certain room, it is useful to be able to list these attributes. Then, we can justify offering them another room that better matches space capacity with course capacity and their teaching needs. The Space PolicySecond, to stress the importance of space management to […]

Checklist: Using LinkedIn to Engage Alumni

During a recent Academic Impressions online training, Keith Hannon of Cornell University asked alumni relations professionals from 81 institutions to share where they have found success in sharing content and starting discussions with alumni via LinkedIn. The lively list of responses provides a quick checklist of content that alumni relations officers are trying across higher education: “All of these represent a good place to start to get the dialogue going,” Hannon remarks. Which of these is your alumni relations office doing? Which could you be doing? The Key to Growing Alumni Engagement on LinkedIn The key, Keith Hannon suggests, is daily engagement. When polled, two thirds of participants in this online training log in to their LInkedIn alumni group on a daily basis; one third do not. “That’s where it starts,” Hannon remarks. “It starts with daily attention to your community. The only way to really get to a thriving community is to give it daily attention and lots of TLC. That can mean: Most institutions understand the value of social media, yet few have a sound strategy across all channels. The barrage of new communities, platforms, and ways to connect can overwhelm even the most savvy social media butterfly. […]

Reforming the Core Curriculum: When You’re Mid-Process

Earlier this fall, Academic Impressions released a study of general education reform in North America, based on a survey of 308 academic leaders and a series of interviews with leading innovators in core curriculum reform. In the weeks since the release of our report, we have continued to interview provosts and deans at a diversity of colleges and universities, asking follow-up questions about their struggles and successes with the process of improving their core. This week, we reached out to Betsy Beaulieu, dean of the core division at Champlain College, to share some of what we were learning with her and to ask her what insights she would offer for her peers at other institutions. (You can read about Champlain College’s thoughtful approach to the core curriculum in our recent report.) Here is what she had to say: See Other Topics in Academic Leadership