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Effective Task Forces Follow a Clear Purpose

<- back to the main page of this report THIS IS ONE CHAPTER IN A FULL REPORT ON TASK FORCES IN HIGHER ED Academic Impressions has conducted a survey of 300 higher-ed professionals, and what we learned about task forces and committees in higher education was both revealing and powerful: On July 9, we shared an executive summary with you From July 10 – July 23, we are sharing practical strategies for improving your task forces to ensure they provide the outcomes you need. See the end of this article for a complete list. We hope you find this report useful and share it with your colleagues! by Amit Mrig (Academic Impressions) and Patrick Sanaghan (The Sanaghan Group) Best Practice No. 2: Effective Task Forces Follow a Clear Purpose To complete their work effectively, task forces and committees need to be set up for success. As we’ll discuss in the next few sections of this paper, positioning task forces and committees for success requires multiple steps. The first step is to have a charter that clearly states the purpose and scope of the work. Without a clear purpose, the committee’s work is bound to wander and lead to few real outcomes. What does a clear purpose […]

Effective Task Forces Can Answer YES to: “Do We Even Need a Committee For This?”

<- back to the main page of this report THIS IS ONE CHAPTER IN A FULL REPORT ON TASK FORCES IN HIGHER ED Academic Impressions has conducted a survey of 300 higher-ed professionals, and what we learned about task forces and committees in higher education was both revealing and powerful: On July 9, we shared an executive summary with you From July 10 – July 23, we are sharing practical strategies for improving your task forces to ensure they provide the outcomes you need. See the end of this article for a complete list. We hope you find this report useful and share it with your colleagues! by Amit Mrig (Academic Impressions) and Patrick Sanaghan (The Sanaghan Group) Best Practice No. 1: Effective Task Forces Can Answer YES to: “Do We Even Need a Committee For This?” The first question that campus leadership has to answer is whether a committee or task force is even appropriate or required for the task at hand. Given the time invested in these groups, this decision should be carefully weighed against the opportunity cost of redeploying these resources elsewhere. If the critical decision has already been made or if the campus leadership already has a clear […]

8 Keys to Improving Task Forces and Committees in Higher Education

by Amit Mrig (opens in new tab), Patrick Sanaghan (opens in new tab)

Time is the most precious resource on campus, and it is one we can control and influence. But how closely do we manage people’s time across our institutions? What are the biggest opportunities to increase the value from someone’s time? And how do we actually derive more value? These are the questions that led us to our most recent project: examining committees and task forces. We invite you to explore what we found through this project. In this unique report, you will be a able to: Read the full report here. ___________________________________ See Upcoming Leadership Workshops

Executive Summary: What We’ve Learned About Task Forces and Committees in Higher Education

<- back to the main page of this report by Amit Mrig (Academic Impressions) and Patrick Sanaghan (The Sanaghan Group) The Scope of the Opportunity Committees and task forces are ubiquitous in higher education, yet, very limited attention is invested to help asses or improve their effectiveness. Whether mandated through shared governance structures or because of noble intentions for participative decision making, task forces and committees abound. In fact, in our survey of 300 higher-ed professionals, approximately 35% of respondents currently serve on 5 committees or more. If the average committee work consumes one hour a week (which is a low estimate when you consider the pre-work, research/preparatory work, meeting time, communication, off-line meetings, etc.), then, easily, more than 10% of our time is being invested here. If we’re spending more than 10% of our time, the work must be important. And indeed most of it is—at least in theory. Some of the institution’s most critical needs—from student retention to strategic planning to hiring—are managed via committees and task forces. Despite noble intentions and charters that are mission-critical, big questions remain as to how effective these groups are. In our same survey, respondents gave an overall effectiveness score of 6.72 […]

Beyond “The Ivory Tower”: Success Stories for Higher Ed

by Daniel Fusch (Academic Impressions) Last night I saw The Ivory Tower with my colleagues. I was interested to see a wide-ranging take on the higher-ed industry, but was struck by the movie’s focus on extreme examples — and by the fact that it shared few success stories. In the years ahead, higher-ed leaders will face some bold decisions, but that can be an opportunity as easily as it can be a threat. We are an industry of learning. When we network at seminars and workshops and learn from the successes of our peers, when we try and test new initiatives with care, when we listen to the needs of our students, donors, and other stakeholders and respond vigorously, we have it in our power to change things … without waiting on changes in policy or state/federal funding. The thing I love most about working at Academic Impressions is that every day, I get to interact with and learn from some of the leading innovators in academia, as well as practitioners who are on the ground making a real impact at their institutions. I hear stories of effective one-stop shop student centers, academic coaching programs, learning games that engage students, successful giving […]

Consolidating Services for Transfer, Adult, and Veteran Students – and Doing it Well

by C. Andrew Griffin (Northern Arizona University), Diane Schmitz (Seattle University), and Cory Phare (Academic Impressions) With over one third of college students transferring from at least one institution to another, and with 38% of students above the age of 25 (according to the National Student Clearinghouse 2012 Snapshot Report), campus populations are often changing faster than the programs intended to support them. And with more student veterans taking advantage of military educational benefits, the need for individuated support grows. A Retention Gap Consider the fact that 51% of four-year public institutions believe that they already have effective retention plans in place for full-time first year students, whereas only 14% believe they have effective retention efforts in place for transfer students (Jo Hilman, Noel-Levitz, 13 Sept 2013) … and the potential retention gap becomes starkly apparent. Many academic and student support services that were originally developed to meet the needs of traditional-aged students are not adequate to meet the needs of all of today’s learners. “The worst welcome for a transfer student, adult learner or student veteran,” suggests Diane Schmitz, director of commuter and transfer student life at Seattle University, “is to be met with programs and services geared to […]

Advancement/Academic Partnerships: Identifying Areas of Untapped Opportunity

by Ed Mason (opens in new tab)

A SERIES ON INNOVATIONS IN FUNDING ACADEMIC RESEARCHEd Mason, president of EMNR & Associates, is writing this series to assist academic leaders in finding creative strategies to merge public/private funding for existing and new research initiatives. Mason has studied an array of collaborative partnerships between the two offices most focused on external funding (the development office and research & grants), and he will be sharing some of the models he has observed, as well as directions for the future. We hope you will join us for this innovative series: Universities are faced with challenges that range from uncertain economic times to dwindling public support and declines in federal research funding allocations. To thrive in the future, all educational institutions are going to need more nimble and flexible planning and execution. As I noted in my previous article, there are a number of innovative models for leveraging donor and foundation support to fund academic research initiatives. What you need to do is have a clear understanding of your present areas of academic strength and be able to identify your best future opportunities to procure external funding for research that matters to private donors and philanthropic entities. The three-step process I will describe below […]

Fundraising After a Disaster: Learning from the Christchurch Earthquakes

by Ashlyn W. Sowell (opens in new tab), Naomi Wilde (opens in new tab)

Ashlyn Sowell: During my recent leave from Gettysburg College, I travelled to Christchurch to speak to the Educate Plus New Zealand local chapter.  I was quite moved by the challenges that my international colleagues face in fundraising after the devastating 2010 and 2011 earthquakes. One woman said to me, “I know we are supposed to have 50% of the money in hand before we start construction on a new building, but we don’t have any buildings!” I followed up with Naomi Wilde, the Community Relations and Development Coordinator at St. Andrew’s College, an independent school, with one question. Her response led to a great deal of valuable information for all of us, and her responses are very worth considering as you look at crisis planning and post-crisis fundraising at your own institution. When I asked her, “What has been the biggest challenge in fundraising since the earthquakes?” she answered: “The biggest challenge is probably building the case for support for your own institution, because of course you’re not the only institution affected, and your donors, especially those that live locally, are deeply affected too, and there are so many unanswered financial questions. The Case for Support needs to clearly mark your […]

3 Lessons from New Zealand for Advancement Leaders

by Ashlyn W. Sowell (opens in new tab)

A COLUMN FROM GETTYSBURG COLLEGEThis article is the fourth in a series by Ashlyn Sowell, Gettysburg’s associate vice president and campaign director. The previous articles are:Developing Your Campaign Reports: Getting it Right the First TimeSpring Clean Your Major Gifts Portfolio4 Lessons Learned from Campaign Volunteers at Gettysburg College Today, Sowell shares some critical reminders that are fresh on her mind after spending half a year with her New Zealand colleagues. For the past six months, I’ve had the good fortune to be living in Auckland, New Zealand while my husband is on sabbatical from Gettysburg College. Depending on whom you ask, the Kiwis are about 10-20 years behind the United States in creating a culture of philanthropy and in growing their advancement programs. And there’s nothing like looking at a young country to remind you of some important building blocks for development and alumni relations — building blocks that we might otherwise neglect in the rush of our work. I had the chance to experience these fresh reminders firsthand as I got to know colleagues across this small and wonderful country. Even for those of us with more mature programs, the following reminders from three of my New Zealand colleagues can […]

These 5 Soft Skills Are Critical to Managing Capital Projects

by Mark Hartell, Capital Projects Consultant Capital Projects: Consider This Scenario Is a capital project that delivers on time and within budget automatically a success? That depends on who you ask. The facilities manager who has to spend tens of thousands of dollars each year maintaining the cheaper compact shelving might not agree. The staff, still grappling with new procedures, new layouts and increased user expectations may not agree. And the IT department who had to devote their budget to the purchase of largely redundant hardware to de-risk a physical migration may not agree. The reality is that a large-scale capital project must deliver something that can be operated, maintained, and sustained for years — maybe decades. Such projects involve broad and diverse sets of stakeholders whose aspirations, fears, beliefs, and motivations must be addressed in order for the project to be a success in the long term. To achieve this, it is critical that a project manager deploy soft skills, not just the formal methods of project management. In this article and those that follow, I will examine what those skills are, why they are needed, and how to apply them. Rethinking Project Management You have to look beyond the […]

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