Search Results for: meeting

Make Your Threat Assessment Team Effective: Part 2

Posted on by Greta Bell

This is the second of two articles offering practical advice on making behavioral intervention teams effective. You can read the first article here. August 18, 2011. In today’s difficult economic climate, most institutions of higher education are facing significant reductions in counseling and mental health budgets at a time when the mental health needs of students, faculty, and staff are on the rise. In a recent survey by the Association for University and College Counseling Center Directors, 77 percent of counseling center directors indicated that the number of students on campus with severe mental health issues had increased in the past year. And while most available studies focus on student mental health, last year’s shooting at the University of Alabama in Huntsville offers a tragic reminder that faculty and staff may also face mental health issues. We asked Gene Deisinger, deputy chief of police and director of threat management services at Virginia Tech, for his advice on pitfalls to avoid when establishing early behavioral intervention teams or threat assessment teams. Deisinger is both a police officer and a clinical psychologist, and has been involved with such teams for over 15 years. He notes these five pitfalls that you can avoid with a little careful planning: First Pitfall: Focusing Solely […]

“George”: How RIT is Encouraging Interdisciplinary Collaboration

Posted on by Kenneth Soldink

Institutions seeking to encourage interdisciplinary collaboration in research and teaching are pursuing an array of approaches: hiring faculty into multiple departments based on shared interdisciplinary interests, launching research initiatives that provide additional funding to get interdisciplinary projects off the ground, and providing shared research spaces. One of the challenges that often remains is that faculty often work in a relatively isolated manner, with little awareness of research, faculty work, or even faculty interest outside their own department. “At first, we thought the problem was related to idea sharing. We learned that the problem existed earlier in the collaboration lifecycle − people didn’t really know what other people did across campus.”Deborah Gears, RIT The Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, NY has struck on a creative and unusual approach to bridging this knowledge and communication gap. RIT’s new project, dubbed “George™,” uses Scholar Trading Cards™ and a searchable faculty database to enhance networking among faculty. It is a deceptively simple idea. Intrigued, we talked with Deborah Gears, RIT associate professor, College of Computing and Information Sciences, to learn more about: George™: Be Inquisitive, Be Inspired RIT’s project begins with Scholar Trading Cards™: physical cards that feature RIT faculty and that can be shared […]

Due Process and the Likely Gap in Your Title IX Investigation

Posted on by Kenneth Soldink

Series: The Compliance Issues You Need to Know About Welcome to the third in this series. You can read the first two articles here: Daniel Fusch. Bev, thanks for joining me for this conversation. There have been several cases recently in which a judge has ruled against a post-secondary education in a suit brought to court by a student (or former student) accused of assault: the University of Southern California; University of Southern California, San Diego; the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga; and George Mason University, to name a few. In these cases, the judge cited the institution for lack of due process. I can’t help thinking that this may be just the crest of an oncoming wave of similar cases. Could you tell us a little about the need for due process in Title IX investigation? Bev Baligad. First and foremost, institutions must understand that the hallmark of due process is fairness: fairness for all parties, whether they be complainants or respondents. This isn’t just a best practice; institutions have to be fair. In fact, this isn’t just about a “need for due process in Title IX Investigation.” There is a need for due process to be embedded throughout an institution’s processes. Period. […]

AMP UP: A Study of New Approaches to Math Remediation at Bergen Community College

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 18 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. 2015 was the second year of the First in the World grants. You can read our interviews with the 24 institutions that received 2014 grants More colleges are trying new approaches to math remediation to improve persistence and graduation rates for students who test into developmental courses, but there isn’t much data on which approaches prove most successful. To remedy this issue, Bergen Community College is partnering with Union County College in launching a new study funded by a $2.6 million First in the World grant to see which approaches to math remediation make the greatest difference to students. The project, “Alternatives to Math Placement, An Unprecedented Program” (AMP UP), will allow Bergen and Union County to compare the effects of various approaches. We talked to William Mullaney, vice president […]

A Conversation in Fundraising We Need to Have

Posted on by Kenneth Soldink

We asked Jason McNeal to share the philosophy behind his unique handbook and why he feels that training on effective contact reports can be – in the long term – a game-changer for development shops. An interview with Jason McNeal (Gonser Gerber LLP), author of  Writing Meaningful Contact Reports: A Handbook for Fundraisers. AI.Jason, thanks for this conversation. To get started, why do you think this handbook is especially needed?Jason McNeal.Every higher-ed institution is looking for the advancement part of the enterprise to be as effective as it can possibly be. Part of that effectiveness relies on how well we know our donors. And the mechanism for showing evidence that we know our donors well is the recording of our business with them. Contact reports do that for us. They capture the most important aspects of a donor’s contact with the institution and hopefully provide permanently records that so that the advancement shop can build a body of knowledge about that donor and their relationship to the institution. But how effective are we, actually, at doing that? AI.Could you say more about that, Jason?Jason McNeal.Well, here we have this very important component of our work — that is key to becoming more effective […]

In Busy Higher Ed, 3 Ways to Foster Our Own Learning

Posted on by Kenneth Soldink

We work at institutions of higher learning, but are we doing enough to foster our own learning? RELATED RESOURCES:10 Tips for Optimizing the Return on Professional DevelopmentScorecard: How Do Higher-Ed Institutions Leverage Professional Development?Full Report: The State of Professional Development in Higher Education (February 2016) by Mickey Fitch, Academic Impressions As professionals within higher education, our own practice should include ongoing education, development, and growth.  All too often, though, we treat professional development as a seasonal or occasional practice, not a regular practice. Just as we encourage our students to attend class regularly, read textbooks, and apply what they’ve learned, we should bring that same rigor to our own learning process as we develop in our careers. Yet each day, we are bombarded with information. How do we sort through it and prioritize what’s important? How do we know what to pay attention to? How do we make our professional development both more impactful and easier? Here are some practical tips. 1. How to make sure you’re paying attention to the right things: I recommend creating automated daily digests that get delivered straight to your inbox. We know that a world of information is available at our fingertips, but we need easy […]

A Close Look at Rio Salado College’s Approach to Boosting Success for At-Risk Online 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 18 colleges, universities, and organizations 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. 2015 was the second year of the First in the World grants. You can read our interviews with the 24 institutions that received 2014 grants at the link here. If you’re looking for ways to assist online students who are academically under-prepared, you may want to watch Rio Salado College’s developing research project, PLan for Undergraduate Success (PLUS). The two-year college’s latest initiative targets new students pursuing an associate degree or planning to transfer to a four-year institution, and will allow Rio Salado to route additional support and preparation to these students. Assisted by a $2.7 million First in the World grant, the college hopes to increase degree completion and persistence by personalizing learning, supporting students with a college success course and facilitator, and by offering an […]

As a Leader You Need Honest, Direct Feedback – Here’s How to Get It

Posted on by Daniel Fusch

“If you’re not getting information or feedback on a regular basis that is uncomfortable for you, go seek it out.” One of the traps a higher-ed leader can fall into is in believing that they are receiving accurate feedback when in fact their colleagues and team members are holding back. Here’s a way to break through that trap: an anonymous 360° feedback process. This article is adapted from an excerpt of Pat Sanaghan’s book How Higher-Ed Leaders Derail: A Survival Guide for Leaders. For leaders in higher ed, I cannot stress enough that you have to be proactive in encouraging (and rewarding behavior that fosters) a climate of candor and transparency. If others around you are not pushing back on your ideas, sharing different perspectives, and asking the tough questions, you may not realize how your leadership is actually being received. It’s very likely that you have an inaccurate and incomplete picture. In How Higher-Ed Leaders Derail: A Survival Guide for Leaders, I refer to this situation as “the seduction of the leader,” a common dynamic in which leaders are “seduced” into believing they have all the facts when in fact, they don’t. It is a dynamic that, if allowed […]

Four Stats That Will Impact Higher Ed in 2017

Posted on by Kenneth Soldink

2017 has the potential to be a volatile year in higher education, and that was the case even before Donald Trump took office. Regulatory uncertainty, continued economic and demographic headwinds, and shifts in both domestic and international student enrollment trends are just a few of the rapids that higher-ed leaders will need to navigate. At Academic Impressions, as we review current research and much of the best current thinking on paths forward for colleges and institutions, we want to draw your attention to four stats that are likely to have an immediate impact in 2017—but that not many are paying heed to. Here are four statistics we think every higher-ed leader should know. 1.  80,000 Nationwide, we are in the midst of a multi-year decline in the number of high school graduates, which began in 2013. This year, however, will see the sharpest single-year decline in the approximately 10-year downturn (numbers are expected to surpass 2011 figures in 2024). WICHE projects that in 2017 we will have approximately 80,000 fewer high school students graduating, a decline of more than 2%. For institutions that still heavily rely on this population of approximately 3.4 million students, this decline will be significant. We are […]

Loading survey...