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Turnover Stinks, Part 2: Three Ways to Minimize It

Posted on by Kenneth Soldink

Turnover stinks! In December, I released my article “Turnover Stinks: Some Critical Perspective for Admissions Leaders” to help admissions directors shift the way they think about it. Now, looking ahead at the new year, I’d like to offer some advice on how to deal with turnover. While many would say (and I would agree) that the solution to turnover is to pay better and improve the working condition, there are many other things you can do as an admissions leader. Here are a couple of suggestions to help prevent turnover and build a high-impact admissions team. 1. Train Well and Often Training and re-training is critically important to aligning strategy and execution of responsibilities. Training also represents a time and opportunity to get into theory and examination of what you do and what you want done. Yet too often, training is a secondary priority. One might think, “He’ll get it once he does it for a while,” or “They won’t be into it; they have too much experience.” This is the wrong approach. Think of training as an opportunity to: Build time into your annual plan for training for everyone, not just the new members of your staff. In my office, we […]

Saving on Administrative Costs through Shared Service Agreements: 2 Case Studies

Posted on by Kenneth Soldink

Given depleted funding sources and scrutiny over the costs of higher education, institutions across the country are recognizing that traditional modes of operation are not sustainable; many are instead looking at more efficient models of shared operational and administrative services. The reality of established cultures and organizational structures at nearly all institutions make generating these efficiencies a sincere challenge. However, several institutions have successfully navigated these challenges to create shared delivery models that generate efficiencies and guarantee much-needed funding for the academic mission. Wright State University in Dayton, OH has developed a unique model for funding operational and administrative services. Here are two case examples illustrating their approach — and highlighting what you can learn from their model. Example 1: Enterprise Print CHALLENGEWright State was facing rising costs across its print production and office print footprint resulting from antiquated equipment, an outdated capital expenditure model, declining print production volume, idle capacity with heavy investment in fixed costs (i.e., labor and equipment), and decentralized, non-strategic deployment of print devices.SOLUTIONWright State led the development of a consortium for enterprise print services across multiple institutions that would leverage pricing and generate economies of scale. The key elements for deliver were quality, service, value, […]

5 Mistakes to Avoid when Seeking Vendor Partners for Online Programs

Posted on by Kenneth Soldink

EVALUATING AN EXTERNAL PARTNER External partners can provide boosts in quality, capacity and enrollment numbers for universities’ online programs. However, decision makers must be diligent in choosing who to partner with and examining which services are most efficiently outsourced.  A lack of comprehensive preparation can lead to wasted resources, unnecessary costs and stagnant enrollments. In this article, Deb Gearhart, vice provost for e-learning and strategic partnerships at Ohio University, offers: Podcast: Rethinking Vendor Partnerships Checklist: 5 Mistakes to Avoid When developing a vendor partnership to help deliver your online program, these items are too commonly overlooked: MISTAKE #1. NOT BRINGING THE RIGHT PLAYERS TO THE PROCESS. Identify the key stakeholders early on. Ensure that all areas of the University that will touch your online program and its students are represented in both the planning and the evaluation of the partner vendor. This would include: Always work through your procurement office. MISTAKE #2. NOT CONSIDERING YOUR BUDGET. What are the costs to provide the services within your institution, compared to the expenses of bringing in a vendor partner? Online education is an upfront investment with costs recouped from enrollment. When reviewing vendors, be sure to gain a clear understanding of what […]

How 2 Library Directors Have Transformed Their Academic Libraries

Posted on by Kenneth Soldink

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 […]

General Education Reform: Unseen Opportunities

Posted on by Kenneth Soldink

A recent national survey conducted by Academic Impressions revealed a surprising and welcome finding that 80% of the more than 300 institutions surveyed have recently completed or are currently involved with reforming their general educationprograms. For years, leaders across all types of institutions have been calling for reforms to general education to improve persistence and quality. Traditionally thought of and treated as core to the idea of educating the whole student, general education programs have become increasingly watered down with: The proliferation of courses that can meet general education requirements marks a missed opportunity to improve student persistence by offering a tightly structured and mission-driven core. This also adds cost for the institution. As Lucie Lapovsky, past president of Mercy College, notes, “General education curricula with lots of choices tend to be inefficient because all of the seats in most of the classes are not filled.” The reasons for this situation are many—general education programs are infrequently reviewed, quality is defined only by internal standards, and faculty lobby to have courses included to ensure credit hours for their department. So it’s encouraging to us that institutions are looking to reform their curriculum—because if done the right way, there are numerous […]

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 […]

New Faculty: Making the Transition from Graduate School to a Primarily Undergraduate Institution

Posted on by Tímea Halmai

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 […]

How Good is Your Crystal Ball?

Posted on by Kenneth Soldink

with contributions from Amit Mrig (President, Academic Impressions)and Pat Sanaghan (President, The Sanaghan Group) How Academic Leaders Can Reinvigorate Forecasting and Planning Processes on their Campuses The recent surprise in the US presidential election results suggests that those who do not pay close attention to current trends and possible future events may be unprepared for sudden and impactful changes. This is especially a wake up call for those who are in leadership positions on college and university campuses. In today’s volatile environment, predictions that were once thought unlikely may actually have huge consequences. For example, many thought the call for free public higher education that surfaced several years ago was so unrealistic that it could be discounted. Now several states have enacted laws in that area. How many people predicted MOOCs, or even now have a good sense of their long-term implications? The FLSA executive ruling on overtime, originally due to take effect December 1, was stayed by a federal court. Competition from for-profit educational programs looked like it might be on the wane after the recent federal crackdown, but now the founder of Trump University is the POTUS, so what does that mean for the for-profit sector? How do […]

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