Category: Uncategorized

Planning Online Programs: Making Sure There’s a Market

As they look to improve student access and increase degree completion rates, more institutions are considering launching or scaling up existing online initiatives. At Academic Impressions, we’re responding to the trend with a series of articles interviewing leading experts on planning online programs, and by offering an upcoming conference that leverages collaborative information sharing and case studies to guide institutions in developing a working plan. It’s becoming more widely recognized that online programming entails far more than just providing electronic correspondence courses; with the new mode of course delivery come new demands on instructional design, technological infrastructure and student support services, staff and faculty training, and new challenges for your marketing and recruiting efforts. The investment required demands that institutions adopt a deliberate approach to developing online programs. The potential for increased tuition revenue and increased access to higher education is significant — but to see success, you have to look before you leap. Joel Hartman, vice provost for information technologies and resources and chief information officer at the University of Central Florida, suggests that those initiatives that have failed in the past share some or all of these characteristics: “Conceptualized by administrators who made the assumption that there was a market […]

Planning Online Programs: Involving Faculty Early

A May 6, 2011 open letter addressed to the University of California chancellor Mark Yudof by the faculty senate expressed concerns over how the system’s pilot effort for online programming would be evaluated, as well as (implied) concern over how faculty would be involved in the ongoing planning process. The issues raised at the University of California are just one example of an obstacle that several high-profile online initiatives have encountered over the past decade. “If you look closely at those initiatives that have failed to succeed,” suggests John Ebersole, current president of Excelsior College and responsible in past years for creating Boston University’s successful online program, “the common missing piece in all of them was that faculty were not at the table during the early planning. Their concerns were not addressed at the outset, and in fact it was perceived that it was the intent of the organization to go around them. This led to intensified skepticism and the eventual ire of the faculty.” Ebersole also cites other common issues — most significantly, insufficient market research to determine the student demand for a program and the lack of a systemic, institution-wide plan for growing online programming. Focusing on the issue of faculty […]

Connecting Your Humanities Graduates with Careers

Published in May 2011. Recent studies confirm that some of the graduates having the most difficulty finding fulfilling employment are those with majors in the humanities and social sciences. This week, we interviewed Andrew Ceperley, director of the University of California, San Diego’s highly effective career services center. Ceperley suggests that to help graduates in the humanities connect with desirable careers, college career centers need to invest in programming and services that: Provide self-assessment tools to help humanities majors define their career path Connect students with industry experts who also studied in the humanities, and who can serve as mentors and role models Educate students on the power of professional networking Defining the Pipeline “It’s too easy to just focus on strengthening services to majors who have an easy and direct pipeline to careers (chemical engineering, accounting). Students in the humanities have marketable skills, but they have to define their own pipeline.” Andrew Ceperley, UCSD Ceperley suggests identifying high-yield opportunities for exposing students to self-assessment tools that can help them better understand their skills, values, and personality traits, and to educational programming that can help them translate those skills and traits into a variety of career options. For example: Offer […]

Developmental Education: Making a Greater Impact

by Daniel Fusch, Academic Impressions The White House’s 2020 college completion goal and funding opportunities such as the Walmart Initiative and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s focus on college completion have placed fresh pressure and attention on both college preparation and “remedial” education. According to a new analysis by a national education advocacy group using data from 2007-08, remedial education for college students costs the United States $5.6 billion a year, including $3.6 billion in tuition. One in three students require a remedial course. While much of the attention is given to teacher preparation and reform for the K-12 system, it’s also critical for colleges and universities to examine what they can do to improve the developmental education programs that are needed at the post-secondary level. To trim costs and prepare students for academic success, colleges need to continue improving success rates in developmental courses and need to be able to move students through developmental courses faster. In November 2010, on the heels of an earlier, more regionally-focused report that demonstrated that the state of Georgia spends $22 million annually to provide developmental education at colleges and universities, we turned to Nick Bekas, professor of English and project director for the […]

The Changing Shape of Title IX Compliance

May 12, 2011. In 2010, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) rescinded the 2005 “third prong” standard for Title IX compliance, and recently, at NCAA’s Gender Equity Forum, OCR and Department of Education (DOE) officials have sought to clarify what Title IX compliance entails; the resulting picture suggests a need for more rigorous standards and assessments than have been seen over the past decade. To learn more about what’s changing and where institutions need to be proactive in order to manage their Title IX liability, we turned to Betsy Alden (who has conducted many Title IX reviews for higher ed institutions) and Jeff Orleans (who helped write the original regulation for Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972) with Alden & Associates Inc. A Shift from the Past What became apparent from the OCR representative’s remarks at the NCAA’s Gender Equity Forum earlier this month, Jeff Orleans comments, “is that schools that have been can no longer rely on the ‘third prong’ standard that if you show that you are satisfying the interests and abilities of student athletes regardless of the counts, you were in compliance. Under the Bush administration, you just had to survey and account for student interest in […]

Social Media and the Capital Campaign

During the recession, many institutions scaled back their campaign goals and timelines, but as donors begin to bounce back (a new study (subscription required) finds that 4 in 5 donors intend to give as much if not more to nonprofits in 2011 as they did in 2010), some institutions are considering more ambitious efforts. For example, the University of Colorado has just launched its $1.5 billion capital campaign (although without a projected finish date). If your institution is preparing for a campaign as the economy (and donors) bounce back, it will be important to consider thoughtfully — and as early as possible — how you will make use of social and interactive media channels and tools to support your campaign goals. This week we interviewed Rob Moore, president of Lipman Hearne and a nationally-recognized expert on branding and marketing in higher education, to learn more about some of the opportunities and caveats in the use of social media for campaign branding and messaging. AI: Rob, what is the first thing you would want to tell fundraisers about the use of social media in branding a capital campaign? Rob Moore: Know where it is useful. It’s important not to oversell social media. There’s a […]

Recruiting and Admitting First-Generation Students

A 2011 Chronicle of Higher Education review of federal data found that less than 15 percent of undergraduates at the 50 colleges and universities — both public and private — with the largest endowments received Pell Grants in 2008-09; the findings gathered considerable attention in the media because of the conclusion that America’s most selective schools are finding only slow improvement in bringing in more lower-income students. It’s important to note, though, that many four-year institutions of varying size and selectivity struggle with how to effectively recruit and retain lower-income and first-generation students. In an interview with Academic Impressions this week, Mary Ontiveros, Colorado State University’s vice president for diversity, suggested four key steps to boosting the enrollment of lower-income, first-generation students in ways that not only admit them to your institution but also help set them up for success after they arrive: Educate your staff about the challenges first-gen students face Form a first-gen faculty outreach group Engage in proactive outreach to local high schools Provide resources for parents of first-generation students Educate Your Staff about Challenges First-Gen Students Face “Too many institutions don’t recognize the extent to which first-gen students are really at a disadvantage. We’ve completed research […]

A Strategic Road Map for Campus Sustainability Efforts

Recent stats from The Princeton Review indicate that 69 percent of college applicants now cite as a factor in their college choice an institution’s level of commitment to environmental sustainability. Higher education institutions in the US and globally are recognizing the importance of sustainability, but many struggle with knowing where to begin or how to develop the grassroots initiatives already in play. The media is filled with stories of institutions adopting various one-off programs, from trayless dining to student-directed recycling programs to “green” capital projects and energy efficiency measures. However, few institutions have established an institution-wide strategy for directing investments in sustainability in ways that have positive and measurable impact on key measures of institutional health (such as cost savings, student recruitment and retention, and alumni/donor engagement) and that differentiate the institution from competing schools. “The campus sustainability movement has been gaining momentum for more than a decade, and yet it still adds up to little more than an itemized list of ad hoc actions taken in the areas of curriculum, research, facilities, campus operations, and community outreach. These actions are many times implemented without an overarching strategic model that guides and informs appropriate sequencing or rationale. It’s time for […]

Greening Your Dining Services: Key Opportunities

A quick scan of the nation’s media will show a plethora of stories about institutions adopting practices such as trayless dining and — in some cases — composting or purchasing of local and organic food. Dining services professionals continue to face pressure from student groups and administrators to “green” their operations, work with local farmers, and reduce waste emissions; yet few institutions have taken a comprehensive approach to sustainable dining, moving beyond going trayless to making a substantive impact on the campus’ carbon footprint. To identify some low-cost opportunities and learn more about how dining services professionals can think comprehensively about greening dining services, we turned to one of the forerunners in this area — Nell Fry, the sustainability coordinator for Georgia Tech’s dining services. Here is Fry’s advice. Understand Your Footprint “Where to start: think about your carbon footprint as a dining services operation on campus. With all the equipment and water we’re using, often a dining services operation can have five times the footprint of anywhere else on campus.” Nell Fry, Georgia Tech “Trayless and composting are very good and easy first steps,” Fry suggests, “but there are lots of easy, simple, and inexpensive next steps you can take. Look at […]

Supporting International Student Success

A recent preliminary survey conducted by three researchers — Peter Mather, an Ohio University assistant professor of higher education and student affairs; Bethany Schweitzer, a recent Ohio University doctoral graduate; and Gunter Morson, head of higher education and careers at England’s CATS College — revealed that while most international students feel welcomed and at home on their college campuses, many have a low sense of belonging in the US generally and face challenges in making the transition to American culture. These same students voice concern over the lack of support from the institution in making that transition. One student remarked about the international student services available, “The office helped in all administrative matters, but nothing more. Please, do not get me wrong: they were very helpful, but they did not help in my transition from Mexican to American culture.” Other students cited feelings of isolation and culture shock, as well as difficulties adjusting to the social expectations of the American classroom. The survey results, though taken from a small sample, raise interesting questions. As more colleges and universities feeling the pressure of budget cuts make significant investments in recruiting and admitting international students, what steps can they take to ensure that […]

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