Search Results for: meeting

Crisis Communications: Lessons Learned From Lynn University

Posted on by Kenneth Soldink

The January 12, 2010 earthquake in Haiti left four students and two faculty from Lynn University (Boca Raton, FL) missing, and for several long weeks, no definite information was available about the whereabouts or the security of the missing persons. During the long rescue and recovery, Lynn University kept the campus community, the families of those missing, and more than 900 media professionals informed and current at every stage of the crisis. We asked Jason Hughes, former director of public relations at Lynn University and now director of marketing and communications at Beloit College; Laura Vann, Lynn University’s media relations specialist; and leading crisis communications expert Cindy Lawson, for advice on what best practices institutions can learn from Lynn University’s crisis response. “Lynn University has established a best practices benchmark for future crisis communications. This should be a case study for university media relations professionals. I think it was impeccably done.”Cindy Lawson, DePaul University The Emergency Alert Lynn University’s communications strategy during the recent crisis relied on a well-tested and well-prepared emergency alert system, in which alerts arrived in inboxes and were posted to a separate website that kept a running log of the updates. “We needed to have it easy to […]

Student Affairs: Trends to Watch in 2017-19

Posted on by Kenneth Soldink

What will student affairs look like, 3 years from now? Looking ahead, what concerns you most? What do we most need to do this year? Recently, we held vigorous discussions of the future of student affairs with a panel of experts that included two vice presidents of student affairs (Les Cook and Paul Marthers), a career services expert (Jeremy Podany), and a sitting president (Karen Whitney, Clarion University) whose background is in student affairs. All four are forward-thinkers and bring unique perspectives to student affairs. Paul Marthers heads up both student affairs and enrollment management at SUNY’s central office, and Les Cook, as vice president for student affairs and advancement at Michigan Tech, oversees the entire student-alumni lifecycle from pre-college outreach to planned giving. Karen Whitney’s approach to leading Clarion University is deeply informed by her work in student affairs, and Jeremy Podany, as executive director of Ascend and The Career Center at Colorado State University and the founder of the Career Leadership Collective, is pursuing the integration of career and co-curricular at every step of the student experience. Our conversations with this panel of experts left us enthused, and we want to share some of the highlights from these interviews […]

Recruiting Military Students

Posted on by Kenneth Soldink

Even though this market is largely dominated by the for-profits, the past year has seen many non-profit universities make initial investments in services for military students, especially since the passing of the post-9/11 GI Bill. We asked Jim Paskill, principal and creative director for Paskill Stapleton & Lord; Eric Craver, director of marketing and recruitment for the office of adult degree programs at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay; and David Hoftiezer, director of admissions at Thomas Edison State College, for advice on first steps in reaching out to military students, whether veteran or active duty. Be Realistic Paskill recommends proceeding with “both eyes open.” Most active duty military — and many veterans — are going to be looking for online offerings. “The for-profits are the 2000 pound gorilla in that arena, and institutions like the University of Phoenix and DeVry are investing significant funds to generate leads. You will probably not be able to compete on a dollar-for-dollar basis.” Also, whether you are thinking of an active duty, deployed population or veteran students, remember that you are competing for a relatively small market.  If you are looking at the military market as a revenue source, you are not likely to see a […]

Student Success: A Team Effort

Posted on by Greta Bell

Our Member Exclusive report Tackling the Retention Challenge: Defining and Delivering a Unique Student Experience emphasizes the importance of achieving a broad alignment of academic and student support services, rather than trusting to isolated, one-off retention initiatives. Yet there are often organizational and cultural barriers that keep efforts within student affairs and academic affairs separated and siloed. This week, we asked James Cook, co-editor (with Christopher Lewis) of the book Student and Academic Affairs Collaboration: The Divine Comity (NASPA, 2007) and past vice president of student services at Laramie County Community College, to identify some of the most difficult and pervasive barriers to effective partnerships across these divisions. Cook also suggests some tips for breaking down those barriers. What Gets in the Way Cook notes five barriers that represent the most significant — and difficult to address — obstacles to effective coordination of academic and student support services: Organizational structure — these functions typically report to separate vice presidents Residual antipathy between some student services professionals and some faculty (there are still faculty who view student services professionals as “the party people” who hold pizza events for students; there are still some student services professionals who stereotype faculty, seeing them as too […]

“No One Ever Told Me”: How Advisors Can Maximize Service and Minimize Risk through Effective Documentation

Posted on by Kenneth Soldink

This article is an excerpt from Sue Ohrablo’s acclaimed book High-Impact Advising: A Guide for Academic Advisors, which you can find here. Electronic documentation has become an integral part of an academic advisor’s daily life. Student records and notes are often maintained electronically, and email has been established as a preferred method of communication among students, faculty, and staff. No longer are advisor records locked securely in a file cabinet within the department; our records and communications are more transparent and accessible to a broader audience than ever before — as colleagues within the department rely on accurate, timely notes for consistency in service, and departments throughout the institution may access these records to develop an historical perspective on a student. “No one ever told me”: five words that are sure to make an academic advisor cringe, yet are uttered all too frequently in higher education. The implications behind those words may range from mild frustration on the part of the student to the basis for a lawsuit. It is crucial for academic advisors, as well as all university personnel, to maintain accurate, timely student records and documentation. By ensuring that your documentation is clear, concise, and accurate, you can maximize the delivery […]

Spotlight on Innovation: A New Take on Developmental Education at Gateway Community and Technical 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 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. There has been no shortage of research documenting the extent to which developmental education courses under-serve academically under-prepared students; traditional dev-ed curriculums typically award no college credit yet cost students time and money, while showing dismal persistence rates. In the past couple of years, we have seen a number of colleges and universities undertake innovative and impactful reforms of their developmental education. Gateway Community and Technical College in Florence, KY, is currently engaging in such a reform through its Flexible Learning and Exploration space (FLEXspace) project, which is funded by a $3.4 million First in the World grant. We reached out to Kristen Smitherman, project director; Kerri McKenna, division chair of developmental education and orientation and assistant professor of developmental writing; and Doug Penix, director of learning […]

The College Store: Encouraging Customer Loyalty

Posted on by Greta Bell

As college bookstores face increased competition from chains such as Barnes & Noble, peer-to-peer sites, and popular online retailers such as Amazon and eBay, many stores are seeing fewer students come through their doors, meaning not only declines in revenue from textbook sales but also from sales of other items — apparel, electronics, and campus memorabilia. A feature in The Chronicle of Higher Education emphasized that bookstores at many colleges are responding to their changing industry with new services they hope will keep students coming: performance spaces for in-store concerts, multimedia stations for printing digital photos, and even dry cleaning. However, diversification of services can be an expensive investment, and many stores are neglecting their best opportunities for increasing customer loyalty around their core services. This week, we turned to Mark Mulder, past auxiliary services director at Pacific Lutheran University and a key planner for the Garfield Book Company, and Dennis Mekelburg, associate director of Arizona State University Bookstores, to learn some practical tips for encouraging customer loyalty for the college store. Positioning Your Campus Store in a Changing Industry Before leaping into adding new programs to strengthen your customer base, Mulder suggests beginning with key strategic questions: At the end of […]

Make Your Threat Assessment Team Effective: Part 1

Posted on by Kenneth Soldink

This is the first of two articles offering practical advice on making behavioral intervention teams effective. The second article, which will focus on five pitfalls to avoid, will appear in late August. An abbreviated version of this article appeared in an earlier edition of Higher Ed Impact. August 4, 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 how to establish early behavioral intervention teams or threat assessment teams when challenged to do more with existing resources. Deisinger is both a police […]

Responding to a Bad Employee Engagement Survey: A Call to Action for Higher Education Leaders 

Posted on by Sarah Adams

Employee engagement surveys, if thoughtfully designed, are a powerful tool for understanding the lived experiences of faculty and staff. They can illuminate areas of strength and expose systemic issues that hinder inclusivity, belonging, and engagement. However, too often, leaders in higher education conduct these surveys infrequently, and when the results are less than favorable, they either bury the data or delegate the issue to a committee that produces little meaningful action. This approach not only wastes time and resources but also erodes trust and credibility. If your institution has received poor results from a climate survey, it’s time to take decisive action. But here’s the key: this isn’t a problem for senior leadership to solve alone. The best outcomes come from a dual approach—from transparent leadership from the top down, and from active engagement from the bottom up. Faculty and staff don’t just want to hear the results; they also want a role in shaping the response. When leaders both own the results publicly and empower their teams to develop solutions, they create a stronger, more engaged institution.   Own the Results The first step in responding to a bad climate survey is for leadership to create transparency by owning […]

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