Search Results for: conflict

College Student Mental Health Statistics and What They Really Mean

Posted on by Daniel Fusch

There has been a lot of media attention to college student mental health statistics and to the upsurge in demand for mental health services. But does the data really suggest a mental health “crisis”? What does the upsurge actually mean for postsecondary institutions? Where do we need to shift the conversation, and what do we need to do next? Learn more in the infographic and article below. What the Upsurge in Demand for Mental Health Services Means (and Doesn’t Mean) The first thing I want to underscore is that institutions are facing an unprecedented level of demand from students seeking help and support for mental health issues. Counseling centers are not new on campus–and mental health services are certainly not new–but the upsurge in volume from students accessing these services is. The two main presenting issues we’re seeing in students are anxiety and depression. The other issue institutions are concerned about but that is statistically much less frequent is suicidality. If you read the press on this topic, there are a lot of articles that emphasize the number of college students committing suicide. That’s obviously a horrible mental health outcome and something institutions are investing prevention and education efforts around, […]

7 Steps to Launch a Robust Brand Strategy

Posted on by 25337pwpadmin@ai_azuread

Recently, during an Academic Impressions webcast (you can order a recording here), we covered the approach that the University of California, Davis took to overcome a crisis and rebuild its internal culture, while also promoting itself and its strengths to external audiences. No matter where your institution currently stands, the same steps can be used when considering a wide-scale and new approach to branding. Here is an outline of seven critical steps to developing a robust brand strategy. 1. Identity Research and Analysis The first step in branding is knowing three elements about your institution: Only after you have been thoughtful about each of these steps, can you start to use your research to build your platform. In this step, you can truth-test your perceptions about your institution with the most important people you want to engage. Doing this helps senior leaders fully see reputational gaps and why your targeting marketing and branding efforts will advance the university. 2. Define Marketing and its ROI After the first step, conversations with senior leaders, key champions and opinion leaders about what marketing is and is not able to achieve will help you manage expectations. In addition, this is the time to share […]

5 Questions to Help Restore a Strained Town/Gown Relationship

Posted on by 25337pwpadmin@ai_azuread

PART OF A SERIES ON RFPs, CAPITAL PLANNING, AND PUBLIC/PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS This is the first in a series of articles by Neil Calfee. Currently the principal of NPC Group, specializing in the creation and negotiation of public/private Partnerships, Neil Calfee previously served as Arizona State University’s director of real estate development. He has over 15 years of experience in development and management of complex development projects involving partnerships between government entities and the private sector. This article offers Calfee’s advice for strengthening often-strained town/gown relationships, and is written from his unique perspective in working for both Arizona State University and the City of Tempe. We also recommend his previous articles with AI: You may also be interested in his recorded webcast, “Creating Financial Expectations in the Housing RFP Process.” by Neil Calfee (NPC Group) “Love/hate” may be a little strong in describing many town and gown relationships, but “strained” may not be too far off the mark. The town/gown relationship can be full of drama, jealousy, passive-aggressiveness, and it can take “staying together for the kids” to a whole new level. But the town/gown can also be quite rewarding and mutually beneficial, and given that breaking up is nearly impossible, it’s best […]

What the Chief of Staff Needs to Do on Day One

Posted on by Daniel Fusch

In this series, we’ve talked about how the chief of staff can operate as an effective liaison, what qualities presidents desire in the chief of staff, and where new chiefs of staff could look for resources. Now, in our fifth article, we want to ask: What does the new chief of staff need to do, their first day, first week, first month on the job? In this series of articles, experienced chiefs of staff offer critical advice on managing the chief of staff role. We will share their answers to questions such as these: Contributors to this series include: We hope you will enjoy the series and share each article with your peers. If you find these articles useful, please consider attending and learning from these and other experts at these virtual trainings: Today, here is the fifth installment in our series: 5. What Does the New Chief of Staff Need to Know? Academic Impressions. The four of you have served as chiefs of staff. What is one specific piece of critical advice you would offer to a new COS? Chris Romano, Ramapo College. Relationships are everything in this role. An effective chief of staff must spend his/her time among the campus and […]

From Information Overload to Collaborative Learning: Why Higher Ed Needs Higher Tech

Posted on by Daniel Fusch

Our campus communities — students, faculty, staff, alumni — deal with information overload across many platforms and apps. Isn’t it time we brought campus communication and learning into one high-tech ecosystem? Editorial by Kathy Edersheim (President, Impactrics LLC) and Yasim Rahman (CEO, Unio) Today, while we all deal with massive information overload, this is an acute problem for students. Simply by carrying a smartphone, students are bombarded with information almost constantly. And, as mentioned in a recent Nielsen study, 98% of students from age 18-24 own a smartphone. Millennials wake up with their phones, sleep with their phones, take their phones to their bathrooms and, yes, some check it during sex. (See this study on smartphone separation anxiety.) The massive data deluge leads to information overload, confusion, and a general lack of focus and attention. Colleges need to do whatever they can to simplify navigation of the educational experience to foster a positive experience and successful completion. It is shocking that only about 60% of high school graduates who started college in 2009 finished within six years – by 2015  – and that challenges in coping with college were a key factor. Where does all the information – and information overload – […]

Higher Ed is Facing Adaptive Changes: Why This Conversation? Why Right Now?

Posted on by 25337pwpadmin@ai_azuread

The Changes You Face Now Are Different From the Changes in the Past We’re well-equipped, in higher education, to meet technical change head-on. We’re often less well-equipped for adaptive change. This is a distinction Ron Heifetz drew, first in his thought-provoking book Leadership without Easy Answers (1998) and later with Martin Linsky in Leadership on the Line (2002). With technical challenges, situations arise where current knowledge, expertise and resources are enough to deal effectively. A technical problem is not necessarily trivial or simple but its solution lies within the organization’s current repertoire of resources (such as updated technology, takeaways from past experience, or decisions to invest more money or people). With adaptive challenges, there are fewer clear answers. Adaptive challenges cannot be solved with current knowledge and expertise, but require experimentation, risk taking, creativity and the ability to use “failures” as learning opportunities. The problem is that we too often treat adaptive challenges as technical ones. On top of this, many people tend to resist or deny adaptive challenges (e.g., Khan Academy, MOOCs, mobile technology in the classroom) because these challenges could dramatically change the way they think and act. Often, these people expect their leaders to come up with […]

Mergers and Acquisitions: Strategic Questions Every University Leader Should Ask Now – Not When It’s Too Late

Posted on by Daniel Fusch

Higher education mergers are often seen as a sign of personal and institutional defeat, to be avoided at all costs. Yet the truth is that waiting until the last possible moment, when the institution is in full tail spin, is the true sign of failure. The time to be watching for strategic partnerships or opportunities for merger or acquisition—specifically those opportunities that make the institution stronger, not weaker—is always now. An interview with Ricardo Azziz and Nivine Megahed Recently, we spoke with Dr. Ricardo Azziz, the Chief Officer, Academic Health & Hospital Affairs, State University of New York (SUNY) System Administration, who oversaw the merger that resulted in Georgia Regents University (now Augusta University), serving as founding president, and with Dr. Nivine Megahed, Ph.D., the President of National Louis University, who oversaw the university’s acquisition of Kendall college (a for-profit Laureate Education college). Dr. Azziz and Dr. Megahed also joined other experts in leading our 2019 conference Preparing for the Future: Institutional Mergers and Strategic Alliances in Higher Education. We wanted to ask a few key questions before the event. Here’s what Ricardo Azziz and Nivine Megahed shared with us. We hope you will find their perspectives useful and thought-provoking and […]

Academic Advising’s Role in Change Implementation

Posted on by 25337pwpadmin@ai_azuread

READ THE WHOLE SERIES:Developing a High-Performing and Productive Advising Department In this series, “Developing a High-Performing and Productive Advising Department,” I’ve discussed strategies for identifying, assessing, and meeting student, staff, and advisors’ needs. Now I will discuss strategies for positively impacting departmental, college, and university-wide systems and contributing to the effective implementation of change. Be a Voice in Decision Making Institutions vary as to how they deliver academic advising and where the function resides. Sometimes it is housed in student affairs, sometimes in academic affairs within colleges and departments, and other times there is a cross-over or shared responsibility between academic and student affairs. No matter where advising is situated, academic advising is just one small part of a larger unit. If advising is housed within student affairs, there is a challenge contributing to academic decision-making, as the role of the advising department is often thought to be limited to implementing and communicating academic decisions to students. Even when the academic advising unit is located within academic affairs, there is a risk of being considered a limited support service role and thus being excluded from decision-making and change implementation. Let’s examine the implementation of a new curriculum as an example. Typically, […]

5 Ways to Tell if a Mixed Use Facility Will Work on Your Campus

Posted on by 25337pwpadmin@ai_azuread

Mixed Use Facilities are gaining in popularity on campuses across the country, representing a blurring of the line between the edge of campus and the surrounding community.  “Mixed Use” has a broad meaning, encompassing projects that include multiple campus and commercial uses such as office space, incubators, retail, restaurants and hotels.  The projects are only limited by your creativity and, of course, the viability of the local market. Based on experience in procuring and developing successful Mixed Use Facilities, I recommend the following five steps to determine campus readiness for a given project: So, you will know that a Mixed Use Project will work on your campus if… 1. If You’ve Done Your Homework (A Local Market Analysis) Thinking that a mixed use project would be successful on your campus is much different than studying the market to understand if there is enough interest, density and money to make such a project feasible.  Conducting an independent market analysis to understand the appetite for a given development type and what unmet demand might exist will give you a solid understanding as to whether your proposed project might be viable. The same holds true if you are presented with an unsolicited offer […]

What Happens When Volunteers Are No Longer a “Nice to Have” Resource, But Instead a Strategic Investment?

Posted on by Daniel Fusch

Most colleges treat volunteers as “nice to have” resource, but a well-managed volunteer infrastructure can mean better fundraising, stronger student outcomes, and deeper relationships with donors, alumni, and friends of the institution. by Valerie Jones, College of Saint Benedict The Scenario In October 1989, 11-year-old Jacob Wetterling was abducted from a rural road in St. Joseph, Minnesota. The event made national headlines and united the community in support of his family. Twenty-eight years later, their worst fears were confirmed. As the grieving family began planning a memorial service in 2016, the College of Saint Benedict (CSB) offered to host. The invitation drew RSVPs from more than 6,000 people, including state and national dignitaries. Logistics such as parking, shuttles, security, media management, hospitality, and more demanded resources. With only two weeks to prepare and with all normal functions of the college already maxed out with the beginning of the fall semester, the college turned to the one resource that would make all the difference: volunteers. Within 10 days, CSB recruited, trained, and deployed roughly 125 volunteers to support the memorial service. Volunteers worked alongside college staff parking cars, ushering dignitaries, greeting shuttles, guiding media members, tending to presenters, collecting condolences and […]

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