“This was a great program to help me take my ideas to the next step and figure out how to begin to implement them. I felt like the instructors had a personal interest in my progress, and connecting with personnel at other institutions was extremely helpful.” -Adrienne Fraaza, Fall Welcome Coordinator, Western Michigan University Overview Join us for an online course in which you will build a project proposal to create or expand the sophomore year experience (SYE) programs at your institution. In your proposal, we’ll help you apply student development theory to foster second-year engagement, increase interactions with faculty and staff, and help develop a sense of purposefulness in students’ degree paths. You will receive feedback on your proposal from our expert instructors as well as your course colleagues, and you will leave with a finished proposal to use on campus. By the end of this course you will be able to: Set SYE goals that support your institutional mission Apply student development theory to sophomores Draw on current campus resources for SYE programming Develop curricular and co-curricular programming Propose an appropriate evaluation plan for measuring your SYE success Watch this pre-webcast recording that features the webcast’s […]
Gain new ideas for creating engaging content on each social media platform. Overview Learn how to keep social content and ideas fresh and exciting across multiple platforms. Join Lynne Wester as she shares the latest and greatest ideas for incorporating social media as an important part of your donor and alumni communication strategy. You will examine: Examples of successful engagement opportunities through various social media channels Practical considerations for calendering, managing, and monitoring social media activity New ways to engage and thank donors, as well as integrating social media at events
Learn the essential components of transforming face-to-face courses to an effective online format. Overview As the demand for high-quality online courses and programs rapidly increases, instructional designers and course developers are faced with a new set of challenges. Special considerations are required to ensure the development of effective courses and a high level of engagement for a variety of learners. Join us for a unique experience to examine steps to design effective online courses. In four sessions, we will cover re-mapping your course, organizing content, using Web 2.0 technology, and integrating learning design. We will also walk you through a step-by-step process to transform a face-to-face course to an online delivery format.
With nearly 25% of institutional costs coming from purchasing, institutions across the sector are looking for ways to push beyond transactional approaches to procurement. In response, strategic sourcing is emerging as a valuable method for lowering procurement costs by leveraging spending patterns and optimizing supplier relationships. Join us for these two online trainings that walk through necessary infrastructural elements to any strategic sourcing effort and identify key areas of focus for successful implementation on your campus. Our expert facilitator brings firsthand experience of this approach, and a keen understanding of how to achieve success with this model. This online training will have a particular focus on: Garnering stakeholder support for strategic sourcing shifts Addressing staffing and technology considerations for your model Conducting a comprehensive spend analysis Establishing a commodity strategy Discussing tactics for sound relationship management
Learn how you can improve your institution’s ability to recruit, hire, and retain diverse faculty. This training is split up into three modules and covers: Diversifying your search process and search committee Following Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and Affirmative Action guidelines Writing inclusive position announcements Organizing a welcoming campus visit Utilizing pre-employment agreements On-boarding diverse faculty Implementing sustainable retention strategies
This two-part online training series will help you identify key predictive data, use that data to select retention programming, and assess the overall effectiveness of your interventions. Expert instructor, Russ Little, brings knowledge and experience from across the nation. You will learn: Strategies to inventory and map your current intervention strategy How to utilize predictive data in selecting student success interventions Measures and processes to evaluate your retention impact Approaches to demonstrating student support programming ROI You will leave this webcast better able to use predictive data to create tailored retention plans for your students.
Training of new Admissions counselors is often, out of necessity, much too hurried and perfunctory. The training that new counselors receive has historically been focused on the everyday duties of the job (travel, reading and processing applications, CRM systems, etc.), accompanied by lots of “just in time” training where other key competencies are concerned. But in today’s intensely competitive environment, it is no longer sufficient to let your Admissions counselors go out and begin recruiting for you without having adequate training on key, all-important soft skills. Join us for a trio of online training programs that will help get your new and entry-level Admissions counselors up to speed. These three 45-minute webcast sessions are focused on strengthening universal core competencies that all Admissions counselors must possess in order to be successful in their roles: How to discuss and think about value in higher education Effective counseling skills with prospective students and families Strategies for building connections and relationships with other key external stakeholders
With the growth of online education, institutions face the challenge of effectively measuring the quality of online teaching and the teaching competencies of their online faculty. Rather than using new practices tailored to a specific online learning environment, many institutions use basic evaluation methods that are not responsive to individual course considerations. Applying new practices specifically designed for your online environment will allow you to increase course quality, student success, and faculty engagement. Join us for an online course that will help you develop an innovative faculty evaluation plan that is built for online programs. Over the course of 4 modules, our expert instructors will: Guide you through an audit of current online faculty evaluation to identify strengths and opportunities Share a variety of evaluation models and tools to help you integrate best practices into the evaluation of your online faculty
Are you properly leveraging your annual giving data? Overview Properly analyzing your annual giving data is essential to make sound decisions about growing your annual fund. Knowing what data to gather and how to mine it to craft your strategy can be intimidating if you are not sure where to start. This self-paced training will assist you in regaining your shop’s competitive advantage by considering a fresh perspective for preparing and analyzing donor data. No matter what software you use or how sophisticated your current level of data analysis, our experienced instructor will share ideas that you will easily be able to implement.
Learn the basic concepts of academic and administrative program prioritization as you hear advice from two of higher ed’s experts. Overview The current and foreseeable fiscal challenges in higher education require institutions to move beyond short-term measures like temporary cuts and sharp increases in tuition revenue, and fundamentally revisit their mission to ensure their programs and cost structure are aligned.
This online course will help you design targeted peer mentor programs to improve the success of specific student populations. Using best practices, this course will help you design a peer mentor model, train your mentors, and address important challenges of your mentee population. You will leave with a plan to improve your peer mentor program for one or more of these populations:
Learn to help raise needed funds, develop precise budgets, and develop and evaluate faculty more effectively. Overview Join us for this three-part online training series to learn the essentials for serving as an effective department chair. Whether you are a faculty member with a desire to advance your career towards academic administration or you are an experienced academic leader, this series will help you to manage faculty more effectively, develop precise budgets, and raise needed funds.
Knowing and communicating the financial health of your endowed funds will show your donors that their gift remains in good hands, which increases the potential for further giving. Now is the perfect time to review your endowed funds to ensure they remain: Legal: In compliance with rules and regulations Possible: To be rewarded according to fund criteria Practical: Able to be administered within reasonable limits Join us for a three-hour virtual training to develop a plan of action for your next endowed funds audit. You will learn a step-by-step process to help you confirm whether your endowed funds are meeting both institutional compliance and donor intent. You will also identify potential risks and communication strategies for donors whose funds have been misspent, unspent, or are underwater. You’ll walk away with clearly defined next steps that will help you move your endowed fund audit forward.
Join us for two online sessions that will show you how to plan for and implement a Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM) structure on your campus for the first time. Using case studies rooted in the practical leadership experience of our instructor, you will gain an in-depth overview of how to take the necessary steps toward implementing a SEM structure at your institution. In session one, Planning for SEM at Community Colleges, we will focus on making the case for a SEM model at community colleges and discuss how you can approach the initial planning process on your campus. You will learn a number of smart practices and strategies about how two-year institutions should approach the planning process and will explore critical questions surrounding the adoption of SEM. If you are just beginning to consider SEM at your institution or are in the early stages of planning your model, this session is for you. In session two, Implementing SEM at Community Colleges, we will focus on moving from the planning to the implementation stage of your new SEM model. You will learn how to operationalize new marketing and recruitment tactics, education and training, and technology improvements. If you have already made progress with […]
Learn how to improve the accuracy of your gift receipting and acceptance processes. Overview While many gifts to your institution are straightforward, others present challenges and require special processing and acknowledgement. Gain an understanding of various types of complex contributions and your institution’s obligations for each variation. This comprehensive gift-receipting program will cover: Defining charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes Identifying the legal donor of a gift Gift receipt requirements and considerations Non-cash gift issues Recent US tax code changes and updates Considerations to weigh before accepting a gift Note: The technical and legal aspects of this webcast series will be focused on US examples.
Is your institution considering inter-institutional enrollment for specialized programs? Overview Low enrollment programs that are core to institutional mission and values continue to face decreases in funding. Rather than cutting these programs, forward thinking leaders are collaborating with peer institutions in shared academic curricula. These partnerships allow institutions to maintain specialized courses and expand capacity and degree pathways by incorporating peer institution course offerings. Join our experts for a two-part online training series as they discuss the strategies and tools needed to effectively collaborate in a shared academic venture. This online training will provide practical approaches to: Collaborating to expand degree pathways Optimizing inter-institutional enrollment management Mitigating the cost of collaborative efforts
Get more students engaged in the career services you have to offer. Overview This comprehensive two-part training will help you to plan for and implement an integration of career and advising services on your campus. Session one focuses on administrative strategy for integration. Session two focuses on the practical operational strategies needed to integrate your services. Join us for one or both sessions. In session one you will: Learn how to make a stronger case for integration Examine four integration models with different structures, strengths, and challenges Get an action planning worksheet to guide your implementation In session two you will: Examine key decisions and challenges during integration Learn what is needed to cross-train academic and career advisors Get tips for designing a four-year plan for guiding student experience
Better translate market research into strategy in higher ed marketing. Overview Learn how you can more effectively turn market research into meaningful marketing strategy at your institution. This webcast series is designed specifically for central marketing and communications units in higher education to help them make more data-driven decisions when connecting market research with strategy. Session One: Using Market Research to Inform Strategy Learn how you can use market research to inform strategic initiatives within your central marketing and communications unit. We will walk through how you can conduct and guide market research efforts for both small and large-scale marketing projects, from basic surveying of a specific audience to branding campaigns and program demand. You will leave with a better understanding of what techniques you should use based on your project type and goals, and how to interpret the results of the data you collect. Session Two: Using Social & Digital Data to Inform Marketing Intelligence Learn how data from your digital and social media platforms can inform your marketing strategy. You will hear specifics on how to dig deeper than surface-level Likes, Follows, Click-Throughs, and Retweets to gather insights that can inform your marketing strategies in a targeted […]
Maximize net tuition revenue by working with your finance and enrollment management counterparts. Overview Throughout higher education, institutions are feeling the effects of stagnant or declining enrollments. As more and more institutions spend money to try to differentiate themselves in an increasingly competitive market, few look internally to ask the more sustainable questions: How do we negotiate competing enrollment goals of net revenue, quality, access, and class size? Are we setting attainable enrollment goals that adhere to both mission and budget realities? Are we packaging institutional aid in ways that optimize institutional goals and constraints? Based on our enrollment results, how should we respond in the short and long term? Join us for an online training series that brings together key representatives from finance and enrollment management to address these key questions.
