As Carol Moore notes in her article, “Advising: Meeting Student Needs?”, “only 22% of colleges have the advising function staffed by professional advisors.” At schools with professional advisors, students often encounter a well-oiled machine of advising that transitions them from their first years of college with a general advisor to more focused work with a […]
Experienced chief development officers know that budgeting and staff planning must take into consideration agreed-upon fundraising priorities and goals. We also know that fundraising plays a role in achieving the campus leader’s overall strategic vision. Since most campaigns or projects require more than one year to complete, budgeting and planning beyond a year at a […]
Karen Thurmond coordinates the day-to-day operations of the general education program (core curriculum), degree audit system (DegreeWorks), and an 24/7 system for academic advising appointments (AppointmentPlus) at the University of Memphis. She has written extensively for NACADA, and recently completed work with a team to automate the graduation process at The University of Memphis. Congratulations! […]
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 […]
Lisa Smith has been with the Chemistry Department at North Hennepin Community College since 2008. She has worked on initiatives that include First Year Experience, Closing the Achievement Gap, and most recently became the Institutional Assessment Coordinator. Motivated to improve the student pass rate, Lisa took a successful STEM mentoring model she had worked on […]
Phil is an independent consultant to higher education institutions with more than 35 years of experience and service to the higher education community. His areas of emphasis are assisting boards and finance committees in financial strategy, financial planning and metrics, financial reporting processes, and understanding stewardship responsibilities related to donor funds. He has also assisted […]
I frequently say to my friends in donor relations that I would like to find the person who invented giving societies and give them a swift punch or two. I am of the opinion that great donor recognition does not hinge on giving societies. I am also of the probably unpopular opinion that most donors […]
The academic library faces increased demand for services and the increased costs of acquisitions, digitization, and facilities upgrades, even as many institutions are trimming budgets. This has led to a growing awareness that library leaders need to devote more energy to partnering with advancement and academic leaders to raise external funds for the library. Yet […]
NSSE’s 2009 annual report cites low participation in high-impact activities (such as study abroad, service learning, internship, undergraduate research, or senior experience) among transfer students as one measure of engagement and likely persistence. The lowest engagement was from vertical transfers (students who enter four-year institutions from community colleges). In the survey, 62% of native seniors had participated […]
Student financial literacy remains top of mind at many institutions, and for good reason. With student default rates on the rise and retention a greater challenge than it’s ever been, colleges and universities throughout the sector are looking for ways to make financial literacy education available for their student population. The University of North Texas, […]
