As our article “The Library of the 21st Century” attests, the academic library continues to evolve at a rapid pace, and library administrators across higher education continue to wrestle with the question of how best to adapt their libraries to changing student and other user needs on campus. There is a lot of uncertainty about how best to revitalize the library space so that it becomes — or continues to be — student-centered, flexible, and reflective of the institution’s academic mission. At Academic Impressions, we have engaged hundreds of library directors in conversation — with us and with each other — in our annual library revitalization conference, which we founded in 2007. Recently, we sat down with two directors — Karen Clay (Library Director of Pierce Library at Eastern Oregon University) and Sara Bushong (Dean of University Libraries at Bowling Green State University) — to learn how they continued that conversation on their own campuses after the event, and what approaches they have taken to successfully modernize their own libraries to meet current user needs. In this interview, Clay and Bushong present slideshows of “before and after” photos of their academic libraries, and discuss in detail how they were able to: We […]
Dr. Kim Eby joined the Mason community in 1996. A faculty member in the School of Integrative Studies, she is also affiliated with Women and Gender Studies. In 2002, she was awarded the George Mason University Teaching Excellence Award. Her professional and scholarly interests include issues surrounding violence and gender, leadership, organizational development and change, and collaboration and community building across a variety of contexts. She was a consultant for the National Learning Communities Project and has presented at national meetings and consulted with individual institutions on topics such as leading institutional change; learning space design; interdisciplinary collaboration; working with student and faculty diversity, equity, and inclusion; and other issues related to faculty, teaching and learning, and leadership development. Kim served for nine years as the Director of the Center for Teaching and Faculty Excellence (CTFE, now Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning) and Associate Provost for Faculty Development, providing programming, consultations, and professional development support to Mason faculty and graduate students, with an emphasis on teaching and learning. Currently Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs and Development, Kim is responsible for all matters pertaining to Mason faculty’s professional well-being, development, and success, including providing support for faculty career development, recognizing […]
I have been involved with over one hundred planning efforts on a variety of campuses (including DePaul University, Central Community College, Tarleton State University, Stephen F. Austin State University, The University of the West Indies, Saint Joseph’s University, The University of California, Santa Cruz, Cornell University, Anoka Ramsey Community College). I have had my share of successes and failures with implementation efforts. Both the failures and the successes leave important clues. The success rate for the implementation of strategic plans is dismal, with the percentage of failed implementations ranging anywhere from 63% to 90%. In fact, Robert Kaplan of the Balanced Scorecard fame (1996, 2000, 2008) estimates that 90% of strategies fail due to poor execution. Actually creating strategies and inspiring strategic plans is not hard work. We have many intelligent, dedicated people throughout our campuses who have powerful hopes and aspirations. But having beautiful pictures of the future is not enough; we must be able to produce them. That’s the hard, difficult part of strategic planning. We must become world-class at actually executing our strategic plans. This will not be easy. I want to talk about some practices I’ve learned that work. Here are 10 of the most critical. 1. Always […]
Recently, AI’s program manager Grace Spivak and our director of research and publications Daniel Fusch had the opportunity to interview Steve Kreidler, the vice president of administration and finance at Metropolitan State University of Denver, a public institution enrolling 20,000 undergraduate students. Several years ago, Metro State underwent a transformational strategic planning process and instituted an advisory budget task force that operates in an entirely new way. To learn more, we invited Steve Kreidler to speak with us about: Here are the key findings from our interview… 1. Bringing Transparency to the Budget Grace Spivak, AI. Can you describe how the new budgeting task force builds trust through transparency? Steve Kreidler. Previously, Metro’s budgeting process involved three people in a room (the president, the VP of administration, and the budget director). And this isn’t unusual; it’s common for universities have a small group huddle over the budget without gathering much input. What that leads to is the complete belief throughout the rest of the campus that deals are being made, some colleagues are getting preferential treatment, and that there is more money available than is being distributed. Today, we have a budget task force that includes a representative from each of the formal […]
If this article proves useful…You can take a deeper dive into this Middle Tennessee State University case study and a case study from Bay Path University in our recorded webcast. We’ve written a lot in past articles about the importance of resilience or “grit” to student persistence, and about what some offices on campus can do to help students—particularly first-generation and PELL-eligible students—build their resilience. Middle Tennessee State University has adopted a remarkably comprehensive and affordable (and therefore replicable) approach to doing so. To learn more, we spoke recently with Vincent Windrow, formerly the University’s Director of Intercultural and Diversity Affairs and now the Assistant Vice Provost for Student Success, and Dr. Rick Sluder, Vice Provost for Student Success at MTSU. They shared with us an in-depth look at MTSU’s REBOUND program: its three key phases, the results it has produced, and practical tips for other institutions that may wish to implement a similar initiative. What MTSU Set Out to Do Enrollment of students at MTSU who identify as either first-generation or are PELL-eligible has increased by 24% over the past five years. Now, nearly 50% of the incoming freshman class each year (1,400 out of 2,800 students) fall into […]
To continue to meet student needs and plan for shifts in an uncertain year, many institutions are planning courses that are adaptable to online, hybrid, and face-to-face learning environments. Dr. Elizabeth Barrie from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, has led an effort to pivot existing courses using Kaufman’s notion of agile learning, most recently introducing 38 new agile courses. The agile model enables faculty to proactively design courses that are adaptable to any scenario. This model allows students to choose their own course path by using the combination of formats that works best for their lives, whether they are working full time, parenting, or pursuing double and triple majors. The framework gives students more control of their educational pace and experience while also allowing institutions to offer quality instruction and readiness for the unforeseen pivots like those we have experienced during the past few years. Join us for a practical and interactive virtual workshop with a question-and-answer period to learn how to prepare faculty to offer every course in face-to-face, hybrid, and online formats. In the re-airing of the workshop, you will: Learn the benefits of agile courses for the student, faculty, and institution Identify ideal courses for agile […]
Over the past year, there have been a number of think pieces and declarations related to the need to maintain DEI as integral to the success of campuses. While many of these well-written and impactful statements offer a myriad of reasons we continue to need DEI programs, effective approaches to maintain these programs beyond “fight for the right to say/keep DEI” are harder to come by. We demand courageous leadership (as if DEI professionals haven’t always operated with courage) and then we define that courage as the willingness to put out a statement affirming their values and/or affirm that they will continue to say DEI. But if we’re being honest, that has always been the problem we’ve never addressed: allowing DEI to simply be platitudes and virtue signals, as if the words people say in public are always translated into meaningful action. And even when the words are truly courageous, the reality is that courage without a strategy is either ineffective or reckless. As we transition from “fact-checking” to “community notes”, it is imperative that we infuse diverse experiences and perspectives within the overall lived experience. We must help everyone around us think critically about sources of knowledge and the […]
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 […]
The vast majority of new college and university faculty members receive very little training for their jobs, and often very little training once they have their jobs. How can we support their transition from graduate school to a primarily undergraduate institution (PUI)? Every year thousands of higher-education faculty members begin a job for which they have had little or no training. According to the Carnegie Classifications of Institutions of Higher Education, over 88% of higher education institutions serve primarily undergraduate students. However, in most disciplines, Ph.D. training programs provide minimal preparation for a career at a teaching-focused institution. The truth is that the vast majority of college and university faculty members receive very little training about how to do their jobs, and often very little training once they have their jobs. This disconnect between the training provided in most Ph.D. programs and the skills necessary to thrive in most careers in higher-education can lead to frustration and job dissatisfaction. …To explore the ins and outs of this issue, we sat down recently with Mark E. Basham (Regis University) and Pamela I. Ansburg (Metropolitan State University of Denver), who are in the process of writing a book in hopes of easing […]
