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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 […]

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 […]

April 14, 2011. In our January – February 2011 edition of Higher Ed Impact: Monthly Diagnostic, which identified opportunities for using social media to move the needle on key objectives in student recruitment, student engagement, and fundraising, we highlighted the ethnographic research of danah boyd (sic), a social media researcher with Microsoft Research New England and a fellow at Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society. Among other findings, boyd noted that young adults use Facebook not to build or expand their personal or professional network (as, for example, adults in their 20s and 30s use LinkedIn), but to connect with their pre-existing network of friends and social contacts. This has implications for how institutions leverage Facebook for recruiting. A lot of institutions have invested in posting large amounts of content to Facebook pages that are designed to interest prospective students in the campus community, invite them to subscribe, and build networks of prospects and applicants. More efficient and effective uses of Facebook, however, use smaller amounts of very targeted content to get prospects conversing with their current network about the institution, sharing information, or completing specific tasks. To learn more about how institutions can make the most out of Facebook for recruiting students, […]

April 14, 2011. Veteran students represent a growing demographic of college students, and that demographic is likely to grow further as more military members return to the states from the overseas wars in the Iraq and Afghanistan, seeking college degrees and transitions into the civilian workforce. Yet veterans (and military students in general) face unique challenges in the transition from combat to the classroom, and colleges and universities face continuing challenges in supporting veteran students and integrating them effectively into the campus community. Two challenges in particular stand out: Many veterans continue to feel isolated on college campuses Many veterans face confusion over their GI Bill benefits Both of these challenges impact the likelihood of retention and degree completion. The first is an obstacle to securing peer support that would improve academic performance, and the second is a barrier to the financial viability of degree completion. An article in USA Today this week highlighted some of the measures colleges are taking to make their campuses “military-friendly” — measures such as peer mentoring programs, special orientation sessions, and establishing veterans centers on campus. To learn more about where colleges can see the greatest impact on academic performance and retention for veteran students, we […]

  In this issue: Where Current Retention Efforts Fall Short Starting with Fit: Defining and Delivering the Unique Student Experience Designing the Student Experience: Building Bridges across Student and Academic Affairs Delivering on the Promise: Removing Barriers to Student Success Identifying and Intervening with At-Risk Students To what extent is your institution defining what it means to be a student enrolled there? Is your institution’s leadership engaged in conversations about what your particular student experience (curricular and co-curricular) looks like, and how the promise of that experience shapes your recruitment strategy? Or how you incentivize your staff to deliver on that promise? Driven by the mission, your institution needs to be clear about what it stands for and what value its student experience offers. Creating a distinct, cohesive experience that is played out through your institution’s academic, residential, co-curricular, service, career, and global experiences is the first step to ensuring alignment of your resources to support student success. We asked Jon McGee, vice president for planning and public affairs at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University, for his tips on achieving this aim. Defining the Promise “If you read the typical guidebook, you’d know how much and how […]

  In this issue: Where Current Retention Efforts Fall Short Starting with Fit: Defining and Delivering the Unique Student Experience Designing the Student Experience: Building Bridges across Student and Academic Affairs Delivering on the Promise: Removing Barriers to Student Success Identifying and Intervening with At-Risk Students This year is seeing increased public and federal pressure on colleges and universities to improve completion rates, raising pressing questions of both policy (Will pressure on completion coinciding with cuts in state funding force public institutions to increase their selectivity and decrease access?) and practice (What efforts will move the needle on degree attainment? Who should lead them? How should they be funded?). Yet despite the increased attention to the issue, relatively few institutions have adopted a campus-wide and adequately resourced initiative to improve student success and student persistence. Two factors appear to be holding institutions back from seeing significant gains in retention: Under-investment in retention efforts, often due to uncertainty over the scope of the initiatives needed and over how best to allocate funds to them; and Driven in part by that uncertainty, a reliance on one-off programs (often housed within one department and isolated from other offices) What’s needed now is a […]

  In this issue: Where Current Retention Efforts Fall Short Starting with Fit: Defining and Delivering the Unique Student Experience Designing the Student Experience: Building Bridges across Student and Academic Affairs Delivering on the Promise: Removing Barriers to Student Success Identifying and Intervening with At-Risk Students Even with a clearly defined student experience; close alignment of people, practice, and policy; and a concentrated effort to remove barriers to a student’s momentum in pursuing educational goals, some students will remain unlikely to persist. With a well-coordinated early warning system, an institution can intervene and provide or refer the necessary support to ensure more students stay enrolled and ultimately graduate. Identifying At-Risk Students: What Data Are You Looking At? The earlier an academically at-risk student is identified, the better the prognosis for their success in college. Early alert systems, implemented within the first four to eight weeks of a term, can be instrumental in beginning an intervention that can help facilitate students’ success and increase retention. However, faced with frequent studies offering multitudinous data on factors influencing student attrition, it can be challenging to sort through the information available to determine what indicators deserve most attention, both to proactively identify students who may […]

  In this issue: Where Current Retention Efforts Fall Short Starting with Fit: Defining and Delivering the Unique Student Experience Designing the Student Experience: Building Bridges across Student and Academic Affairs Delivering on the Promise: Removing Barriers to Student Success Identifying and Intervening with At-Risk Students In a recent interview with Academic Impressions, Dennis Pruitt, vice president for student affairs at the University of South Carolina, suggested that one of the most critical factors in ensuring student success is ensuring momentum toward the degree: “Historically, many have assumed that if students get over their homesickness, if they have a good affinity group, if they feel good on campus, they’ll persist. But the two factors that truly help students persist are academic progress toward a degree (having a goal and gaining momentum toward it) and maintaining maximum eligibility for the maximum amount of financial aid (to ensure non-interruption in their courses).” Dennis Pruitt, U of South Carolina This suggests that more than anything else, supporting student success is about empowering students to build momentum toward their goals, and removing barriers to their momentum. To learn more, we turned to Kevin Pollock, the president of St. Clair County Community College, and Don […]

  In this issue: Where Current Retention Efforts Fall Short Starting with Fit: Defining and Delivering the Unique Student Experience Designing the Student Experience: Building Bridges across Student and Academic Affairs Delivering on the Promise: Removing Barriers to Student Success Identifying and Intervening with At-Risk Students If your institution opts not to “be all things to all people,” but to offer a specific, defined student experience that it is uniquely positioned to design and deliver (a single experience for a private liberal arts college; a cluster of linked, cohort-based experiences for a regional public university), the next step is to consider how you will align the various academic, co-curricular, and extracurricular activities your campus has to offer in support of that experience — and how you will align academic and student support services to ensure student success. Kim O’Halloran, associate dean for the college of education and human services at Montclair State University, offers a few scenarios to illustrate. SCENARIO A Institution A provides a unique residential experience marked by a seamless learning experience in and out of the classroom. The experience this institution has designed might include residential colleges, living-learning communities, classrooms located in the residence halls, student leaders and club […]