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Recruiting International Students

Posted on by Kenneth Soldink

Overall first-time graduate enrollments from international students at US institutions did not climb in 2008-09 (though emerging markets in the Middle East still saw increases), according to a survey released this week by the Council of Graduate Schools. Reasons suggested for the stagnant numbers include the global recession and increased competition from other nations. Many undergraduate programs, however, have reported surges in international students; the University of Oregon announced a 16% jump in undergraduate international enrollment. And many institutions (among the most recent, Virginia Tech and the University of Nebraska) have set goals for doubling international enrollment in the next five or ten years. Now more than ever, it’s critical for enrollment managers in the US and Canada to be intentional in their approach to recruiting international students. Sarah Ramisch Stewart, Manager of International Admissions and Recruitment at Carleton University, offers some practical tips for planning your approach. What You Should Be Asking Approach international recruitment with clearly defined goals and an eye for finding the best match. Stewart suggests: Identifying the right student profile is critical, and not just in terms of academic interest. Stewart offers the example of a rural or lesser-known institution seeking applicants in Turkey. In this […]

Four Tips for Managing the Brand Launch

Posted on by Greta Bell

June 9, 2011. Competition for visibility continues to pressure institutions of higher education to differentiate themselves in the marketplace. In order to stay competitive, maintain enrollment levels, and meet advancement goals, your institution needs a unique brand strategy that carefully defines who you are in the minds of stakeholders. Often, though, marketing professionals and institutional leaders have questions concerning how to effectively roll out or communicate a change to the brand. Past examples of branding efforts gone wrong have taught us that a brand campaign carries considerable public relations risk. This week, we asked Bill Faust, senior partner and chief strategy officer for Ologie, for his advice; Faust offers these four tips for success in managing your brand launch. Decide Whether You Need a Hard or Soft Launch Faust suggests that a hard launch or “roll-out party” isn’t always necessary: “some launches are very soft and are rolled out over time, applied to specific areas of the institution at a time.” If your institution has been through a tumultuous time or needs to change its public image dramatically (the public thinks of you as X, but you need them to think of you as Y), then a hard launch may be […]

Spotlight on Innovation: How the University of Minnesota is Building Collaborative Partnerships to Improve Retention of First-Gen Students

Posted on by Kenneth Soldink

SPOTLIGHT ON INNOVATION SERIES The US Department of Education has awarded multi-million dollar “First in the World” grants to 24 colleges and universities that are innovating to solve critical challenges with access, recruitment, retention, and student success. At AI, we have interviewed each of the recipients to learn more about the projects these institutions are pursuing, how their approaches are unique, and what other colleges and universities can learn from these new efforts. Geoffrey (Geoff) Maruyama, the department chair of educational psychology at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, has an intriguing — and direct — way of explaining the challenges faced in improving the academic success and persistence of under-represented and lower-income students. He cites Urie Bronfenbrenner’s research on the ecology of human development. Transformative Learning for First-Generation Students “Kids grow up in a lot of different ecosystems,” Maruyama notes. “To the extent to which those ecosystems are aligned, life is simple. When you have a bigger transition, however, it gets more complicated. First-generation students are less likely to have grown up in a culture with strong links to higher education, making the transition to a college environment a more significant change.” A lot of professionals in higher education are discussing how best […]

A Year in Crisis: Lessons in Communication Learned as a Department Chair

Posted on by Brady Stanton

Introduction We have just passed the one-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic. While this experience may have provided opportunities for us to learn and grow, it has also taught us there are critical elements of our life and work where no substitute is sufficient. One of these elements is communication. The extreme safety measures of social distancing, lockdowns, quarantines, remote teaching, and working from home have made communicating with one another increasingly difficult and acutely essential. Let’s not forget, though, there has always been a need for academic leaders to improve communication—many of us have even read books and attended workshops dedicated to this topic. However, the current pandemic has magnified potential weak spots in our communication, providing the opportunity to develop new habits that will benefit those we lead. Allow me to share with you some lessons I have learned recently—some more painful than others—and how they can be applied right now, as well as in a post-pandemic world. Knowing Your Responsibilities Makes You a Better Communicator Being a department chair is the toughest job on campus, and the job does not get any easier during a pandemic. Students, faculty, and staff look to us for magical answers to […]

Financing and Planning Student Life Facilities

Posted on by Kenneth Soldink

READ THE FULL SERIES This summer, we released an executive summary of the findings from a survey of institutions looking to add new student life facilities in the next year. You can read our executive summary here. Now, we are following up with lead architects and consultants who work with student life facilities in higher education. In this series of interviews, we are asking these lead experts to comment on the survey findings, trends they are noticing with student life facilities, and practical strategies they would recommend for colleges and universities that are seeking to take a more integrated approach to student life on their campuses. In this first interview, we have spoken with Eric Moss, director of the Student Life Studio at Ayers Saint Gross, and Julie Skolnicki on how institutions can adopt forward-thinking approaches to financing and planning student life facilities. 1. What especially struck you about the survey findings? JULIE SKOLNICKI, EdR.The Academic Impressions survey reinforces what we are seeing across the country: More thoughtful and integrated planning of student life facilities, but some ongoing challenges specifically related to funding hurdles. University planning for student life facilities has evolved significantly in the past 15 years: This evolution has led […]

Is It a Microaggression?

Posted on by Daniel Fusch

Is it a microaggression? The authors of Fix Your Climate, two leading experts on hierarchical microaggressions, discuss how microaggressions operate within an academic workplace and offer a few quick tips for identifying and reducing them. Microaggressions, microbullying, and bullying are the silent destroyers of a university’s climate. Because microaggressions have a cumulative and amplifying effect (an organizational culture rife with microaggressive behavior becomes a fertile ground for microbullying behaviors), it is crucial to both educate your departmental or institutional culture about microaggressions and help your faculty and staff understand what they are, what they are not, and how they work. Identifying a microaggression Let’s look at two quick scenarios. SCENARIO A A white, male assistant professor says to a colleague, “Someone mistook me for a security guard.” I ask, “How did that make you feel?” He responds, “Fine. It was funny.” Is this a microaggression? Probably not. His feelings weren’t hurt. The incident did not relate to an aspect of his identity. No microaggression. SCENARIO B If you change the race of the individual in the same scenario, the outcome of the scenario might also change. An African-American, male, assistant professor says, “Someone mistook me for a security guard.” A […]

Taking a Proactive Approach to Advising for At-Risk Students

Posted on by Kenneth Soldink

In this first of several articles, Academic Impressions is interviewing leading experts on proactive approaches to academic advising. Over the course of the series, we will look at interventions early on the academic calendar and innovations in course scheduling that support intervention with at-risk students. “By the time a student realizes they’re in trouble and asks an academic advisor for help, it’s usually too late for anything other than a conversation about dropping. The more you can front-load outreach into pre-term or start-of-term communications, the more options the advising office has to offer students.”Joe Murray, Miami University Joe Murray, the director of academic advising and retention services at Miami University Hamilton Campus, is acutely aware of the issue; his institution is open-enrollment, with many adult learners, first-generation students, and academically underprepared students. With a large number of students who could be designated “at risk,” Murray recognizes the critical importance of taking a proactive approach. Murray advocates an “intrusive advising” approach. Based on the research of Robert Glennen, intrusive advising focuses on early outreach and mandatory advising for at-risk students. When we interviewed Murray this week, his primary suggestion was that a one-on-one, personal connection early on the academic calendar will […]

What the President Looks for in a Chief of Staff

Posted on by Daniel Fusch

Here is what a president looks for in a new chief of staff – the three qualities that matter most. 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: How do you make yourself available as a liaison to faculty without appearing as a gatekeeper for the president? What words of wisdom would you want to offer to a chief of staff who has been in the role for a while? We know the chief of staff position can feel isolating at times. Thinking back, what were some of the most helpful resources to you in getting up to speed? When considering hiring a chief of staff, what are some absolutely crucial competencies or traits that presidents look for in a candidate? What does a new chief of staff most need to know, and which relationships do you need to build from the first day of your job as chief of staff? What are key skills that chiefs of staff need to build in order to best handle crises on campus? What are one to two key steps chiefs of […]

Taking On-Campus Student Employment to the Next Level

Posted on by Kenneth Soldink

September 29, 2011 The 2010 census data paints a bleak financial picture for recent graduates, and as the recession lingers, it’s clear that many of the students enrolled at your institution will be graduating into a very difficult market. There has rarely been a better time to conduct an aggressive rethinking of your on-campus employment opportunities. We reached out to Brett Perozzi, the associate vice president for student affairs at Weber State University and a key thinker and innovator on this issue, to learn more about how on-campus employment opportunities can be structured well to enhance student learning and prepare students well for entry into their future careers. Perozzi offered us advice on these four items: “The key that I have found is selecting specific learning outcomes (for example, outcomes focused on critical thinking, communication skills, problem-solving skills, leadership), and then teaching and training students around those specific skill sets. Often we think: “Well, of course students will become better problem-solvers after these employment opportunities.” But you need to train for this and provide structured opportunities for this learning to occur. Good on-campus employment programs select specific learning outcomes, provide relevant and targeted training, and assess progress.”Brett Perozzi, Weber State […]

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