News

Engagement-Focused Advancement: Finding a Sustainable Financial Future for Your Institution

by Jim M. Langley

In this Report: The operating environment for institutions is increasingly challenging – rising competition, declining resources, and changing demographics are all putting tremendous pressure on colleges and universities. As with organizations in any industry, when conditions get tougher, there is a tendency to retrench and focus on short-term objectives and needs. Many institutions have responded to the recent economic downturn in this way, adjusting their fundraising tactics to maximize immediate returns. However, institutions must ask themselves: Is this strategy sustainable, and does it position our institution to compete in the future? Institutions that take a longer-term view and adopt a more intentional and authentic approach to engaging alumni, parents, and others in their work are capable of generating more significant returns – and not only financial returns. A more engaged constituency leads to greater advocacy for the institution, a widening network of resources on which the institution can draw for input, and increased opportunities for partnerships that will help the institution advance its mission. In this issue, we’ve reached out to some of the most forward-thinking experts in advancement and to a university president to find out how an engagement-focused approach works, how to create buy-in from institutional leadership, and […]

An Engagement-Centered Approach to Corporate Relations

Corporations are giving less frequently and in smaller amounts, and in many cities the corporate landscape has changed dramatically during this recession due to mergers, consolidations, and bailouts. These conditions make it critical for corporate and foundation relations staff at institutions of higher education to rethink their opportunities for deepening and stewarding their relationships with corporate donors. Recently, we interviewed Chris Groff, executive director of corporate and foundation relations at Fairleigh Dickinson University, for tips on how CFR officials can take a more forward-thinking approach to cultivating and stewarding corporate donors. Groff draws attention to a recent white paper published by the Network of Academic Corporate Relations Officers (NACRO) entitled “Five Essential Elements of a Successful Twenty-First Century University Corporate Relations Program.” The white paper makes the critical point that “corporations no longer consider themselves ‘donors’ to academia; they consider themselves ‘investors,’” and that as corporations approach colleges and universities on an enterprise level rather than a philanthropic level, they are looking to institutions as partners in solving some of the needs of their organization. Groff adds, “Companies are now very accountable for the funding they give to philanthropic efforts; you really need a broad and deep relationship with the company. CFR needs to be […]

Public/Private Partnerships: Understanding the Rating Agency’s Perspective

Increasing demands for capital expansion combined with a continued weak economy make partnerships with private entities an attractive option for financing new campus facilities. But before forming partnerships, an institution must review the possible trade-offs, including implications of those partnerships on the institution’s risk profile, debt capacity, and credit rating. To learn more about how a rating agency will evaluate the credit impact that any given public/private (P3) project will have on the affiliated university, we interviewed Karen Kedem, the vice president, senior analyst, and co-manager of Moody’s U.S. Higher Education and Not-for-Profit Team. Kedem spoke with Academic Impressions recently about how Moody’s analyzes the credit risks associated with these transactions, as well as how institutions can work more effectively with the agency as they prepare to enter into a P3 partnership. Increasing demands for capital expansion combined with a continued weak economy make partnerships with private entities an attractive option for financing new campus facilities. But before forming partnerships, an institution must understand various structures and options, as well as possible implications of the partnerships on risk profile, debt capacity, credit rating, and even town-gown relations. Here are several key points Kedem shared with us this week.   AI. What does Moody’s look for when […]

Mobile Marketing and QR Codes: Some Key Tips

Last June, Ball State University released a study showing that of college students owning phones, 49 percent owned smartphones; the number had doubled since 2009. In the year since, many colleges and universities have launched mobile marketing initiatives or mobile apps for students and alumni, and a few admissions offices have begun experimenting with uses of Quick Response, or QR, codes, those black-and-white matrix barcodes that can be scanned into students’ smartphones to provide URLs to specific online content. Given the increasing use of smartphones among the college-aged, this year is an excellent time for your admissions staff to familiarize themselves with QR codes and with mobile marketing in general. In an interview with Academic Impressions this week, Web marketing guru Bob Johnson, president of Bob Johnson Consulting LLC, offered the following practical tips and caveats for experimenting with QR codes. AI. Bob, thanks for joining us for this interview. Recently, we’ve seen a few examples of fresh uses of QR codes in admissions and orientation. For example: Orientation staff at Washington and Lee this year welcomed new students while wearing T-shirts with QR codes; when scanned into students’ smartphones, these codes took students to mobile-friendly websites for a variety of campus services […]

Involving Off-Campus Constituencies When Planning Public/Private Partnerships

Successful P3 partnerships engage off-campus constituencies both early and deliberately. Here is advice from Dale McGirr on how. Increasing demands for capital expansion combined with a continued weak economy make partnerships with private entities an attractive option for financing new campus facilities. These partnerships are often fraught with complexity — and not only because of their legal and tax ramifications. There are also the ramifications of communicating and collaborating with a variety of off-campus constituents. Successful projects engage these constituents both early and deliberately. For advice on including off-campus constituencies in the project in constructive ways, we turned this week to Dale McGirr, senior planner with GBBN Architects, who also oversaw public/private partnerships during his 29 years at the University of Cincinnati (22 years as a cabinet officer). Being Clear on the Stakes “At most medium and large-sized public institutions,” McGirr remarks, “twice as many students live residentially near a campus as live on the campus. The era of treating housing for those students as someone else’s problem is over — developing an off-campus housing policy needs to be a top priority, and the quality of student life in that shadow campus district, as well as the quality of community relations in that district, […]

Practical Approaches to Information Literacy for the First-Year Student

As research on gaps in college preparedness continues to emerge, fueling debates in both academic and public forums, most postsecondary institutions have taken some measures to assist undergraduates in developing a higher degree of information and digital literacy, and to prepare students better for conducting academic research. To learn where you can see the highest return on these efforts, we turned this week to Anne-Marie Deitering, the Franklin McEdward Professor for Undergraduate Learning Initiatives at Oregon State University. A forward thinker on integrating information literacy into different stages in the student experience, Deitering offers the following tips for her peers at other colleges and universities. Integration Beyond Research-Based Coursework “A truism among our colleagues pursuing information literacy efforts is that the best place to integrate information literacy is in courses with research assignments,” Deitering notes, “and that the best place to embed concepts and content on information literacy throughout the curriculum is to embed it where students are already motivated to do research and access library resources.” In this model, academic libraries often hold an information literacy or library services tutorial for students, or — in the case of a few institutions — embed a librarian within the research course. However, Deitering […]

Doing Service Learning Right

At many institutions, service learning programs are pursued in an ad hoc manner. Here’s how to realize the full potential of a service learning initiative. Service learning programs have proliferated on college and university campuses over the past decade, leading in the best cases to measurable gains in student learning and engagement; yet at many institutions, these programs are still pursued in an ad hoc manner. Among the obstacles to realizing the full potential of a service learning initiative: To learn from the success of one of the more effective programs, we turned this week to Drew Stelljes, director of community engagement at the College of William and Mary. That institution has effectively scaled its interests in service learning up to a comprehensive civic engagement initiative with defined outcomes and structured collaboration across both the academic affairs and student affairs division. Here is Stelljes’ advice for colleagues at other institutions who may be looking to achieve more with their service learning efforts. Defining Your Outcomes First, Stelljes advises establishing clarity around the purpose of the initiative: “Tease out the objectives that are important to your school,” Stelljes advises, “and then articulate those to the faculty you hope to involve.” “We […]

Occupy Colleges and Student Walkouts: Takeaways for Media Relations Professionals

This article looks back at lessons learned from the Occupy Wall Street movement. Many adjunct and part-time faculty, students at institutions across the US have been organized walkout days in support of the movement. Because of the public nature of the movement and the extent to which social media have been used to organize student walkouts and raise awareness of the movement, we turned this week to media relations and crisis communications expert Cindy Lawson, assistant to the chancellor for marketing and communications at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. We asked Lawson for practical tips on how media relations professionals in higher education can prepare for and respond to student walkouts. AI. Cindy, thank you for joining us again. In looking at student walkouts such as those that are related to the Occupy Wall Street movement, what do media relations professionals need to be most mindful of, going forward? Lawson. With all the social media tools at our disposal, there is really no reason why campus administrators should not be aware of a potential student walkout, including the issues that are causing the walkout in the first place. Not only is it critically important to monitor what is being […]

Speechwriting for Your Institution’s Leaders: Why Speeches Fail

It’s likely that at some point we have all seen a convocation, state-of-the-university, or other speech by an institutional leader fall flat — even when the subject matter of the speech was not itself intrinsically dull. Yet it has rarely been more important for presidents and cabinet members to be able to speak compellingly and directly to a wide array of constituents, as institutions are increasingly called upon in the public sphere to make strong cases for funding, for their impact and outcomes, and even for their relevance. To learn why well-intentioned speeches by campus leaders sometimes fail — and how to help your academic leaders prepare better for them — we turned this week to speechwriter and policy analyst Chuck Toney, who serves as assistant to the president of the University of Georgia. He offers these tips in avoiding three common pitfalls: Lack of structure Lack of research into one’s audience Failing to engage one’s audience in the subject matter from the start Structure “Audiences want speakers to succeed,” Toney notes. “Think about it — a bad speech is a very awkward experience for the audience, too, so they are invested in your success. They’re willing to go where the speaker is […]

Boosting Adult Persistence

Beyond offering flexible course scheduling, what are the real keys to persistence and academic success for adult learners? Janet Daniel, director of the office of adult students and evening services at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, distills the current research into four key points that, when present, make a difference: A central unit on campus to coordinate cross-departmental efforts to support adult learners, and which serves as a single, “one stop” point of contact for adult students An intentionally designed orientation to help adults transition back into the college experience Academic advisers (and faculty) who understand adult learners’ unique needs Extended office hours for key services and a campus-wide emphasis on availability and convenience A Coordinated Approach, with One Point of Contact Many campuses have particular services and staff that are equipped to help address the needs of adult learners, but they are seldom coordinated. Daniel speaks to the importance of a “one stop” approach to offering services for adult learners. Many adult learners are either first-generation students or have been removed from the college experience for enough years that they are not familiar with what offices to contact and when, or where to go to locate critical campus resources. Adopt a “one stop” […]

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