Search Results for: meeting

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

Posted on by 25337pwpadmin@ai_azuread

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 […]

Rethink Campaign Leadership: A Workshop for Senior Fundraising Executives 

Rethink Campaign Leadership: A Workshop for Senior Fundraising Executives Check back for new dates soon! SEE SIMILAR TRAININGS Elevate your leadership, spark new ideas, and connect with peers who share your challenges and aspirations. Overview Running a successful fundraising campaign is about more than strategies and best practices—it’s about purposeful leadership, team alignment, and building cross-campus partnerships. This exclusive workshop for senior fundraising leaders goes beyond traditional campaign playbooks, focusing on leadership approaches, team dynamics, and fostering collaboration for lasting success. Through expert facilitation, peer discussions, and practical exercises, you’ll explore the challenges holding back your campaign, uncover actionable solutions, and develop a personalized roadmap for transformative results. Why Attend? Adapt to Change: Understand how shifts in higher education impact your campaign and institution. Foster Collaboration: Master techniques to engage stakeholders and drive consensus. Sustain Team Momentum: Keep your team motivated and aligned with ambitious goals. Lead with Purpose: Empower leaders to guide high-performing teams toward success. Join fellow fundraising leaders to rethink strategies, overcome obstacles, and redefine what’s possible for your campaign—and for your institution. Session Descriptions More details about the timing of the days can be found by clicking Learn More and Register, but session descriptions of the […]

10 Articles Every Leader in Higher Ed Should Read

Posted on by 25337pwpadmin@ai_azuread

Over the past 7-8 years, Academic Impressions has designed and delivered leadership programs for over a thousand leaders across the higher education landscape. We have had the opportunity to work with academic and administrative leaders as well as presidents and provosts. The learning experiences have been outstanding because almost every participant was curious and interested in learning about leadership, not pontificating about it. One of the protocols we use in every leadership program is the creation of a “learning agenda” that is produced by participants and is a list of highly relevant articles, books, and papers on leadership. The criteria for inclusion on the learning agenda list is that the suggested reading must be something that influenced a participant, made them think differently about how they view leadership, or had a positive and meaningful impact on how they actually lead. Participants populate the list over the course of the 2 or 3-day program. They also provide a 1-minute snapshot about the suggested book or article, with a brief rationale about why their suggestion is worth reading. This article provides an annotated list of some of the strong recommendations from past participants. There is a lot of blather and clutter out there […]

Adjusting Housing and Dining Operations for the Fall: Ideas from Your Peers

Posted on by Daniel Fusch

Every campus with plans to re-open in the fall is scrambling to adjust campus housing and dining services – but often, we are moving so fast and feeling so isolated that we lose the opportunity to compare notes and brainstorm solutions with our peers, or to learn from what other institutions are trying. That’s why we brought a couple dozen housing and dining services leaders together for a virtual brainstorm session. Here’s some of what they came up with. As a student life professional, you are currently planning how housing and dining operations will adjust in the fall under the “new normal” of COVID-19. Assuming your institution will host students on campus beginning in August, you will soon have to implement plans to keep students and staff safe in these shared spaces. Before moving to the implementation phase, have you stopped to discuss your plans with other housing and dining professionals to ensure the very best options are on the table? On May 20, 2020, leaders in housing and dining from just under two dozen campuses met online to discuss the issues entailed. This virtual workshop was unique in its format and was the first of an ongoing series of […]

The Department Chair as Talent Manager: A Discussion Series 

The Department Chair as Talent Manager: A Discussion Series   Recorded on October 24, 2023 | Recorded on November 8, 2023 | Recorded on December 13, 2023 | Recorded on February 5, 2024 | Recorded on February 14, 2024 | Recorded on March 11, 2024 | Recorded on April 29, 2024 | Recorded on May 9, 2024 Take your leadership to the next level by joining us monthly throughout the academic year to discuss what it means to be a talent manager within your department. Overview Traditionally, the role of the department chair is to work directly with faculty and staff to create a meaningful and engaging experience for students. In recent years, however, there’s a growing need for department chairs to also serve as talent managers for faculty and staff. According to McKinsey and Company, “Talent management includes all the ways that organizations bring employees on board, keep them happy and productive and help them continue to develop their skills over time.” Specifically, there are five key focus areas of talent management, as follows: Finding and hiring the right people Creating opportunities for learning and growing Managing and rewarding performance Tailoring the employee experience Optimizing workforce planning and strategy […]

Summer Bridge Programs: Impact and Tips for Success

Posted on by 25337pwpadmin@ai_azuread

Amid growing pressure on student retention and completion rates, much of the current research on factors in student success emphasizes both the importance of early intervention with at-risk students and increased attention to obstacles that confront students in the first weeks of their first term, including academic underpreparedness and the transition from the rigor, study hours, and study skills needed in high school to those needed in college. More institutions are turning to summer bridge and mentoring programs to help bridge the gap between senior year at high school and freshman year at college. To learn more, we turned this week to Wayne Jackson, director of multicultural academic and support services at the University of Central Florida. Jackson is a two-time national retention award recipient: the 2010 National Association of Academic Advising (NACADA) Outstanding Institutional Advising Program Certificate of Merit for his leadership in directing the Seizing Opportunities for Achievement and Retention (SOAR) summer bridge program, and the 2003 Noel-Levitz Retention Excellence Award for his work in directing the Minority Mentoring Program at The College of New Jersey. SOAR is worth examining as a model of an effective program. One of the oldest summer bridge programs in the US, SOAR […]

Spotlight on Innovation: How Hampton University Plans to Increase STEM Retention and Completion through Course Redesign and Engagement

Posted on by 25337pwpadmin@ai_azuread

How do you increase the number of underrepresented minority students attaining STEM degrees? Hampton University has a holistic approach. 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. Hampton University has set a specific goal of increasing the number of underrepresented minority students who graduate with STEM degrees, and Hampton is looking to address several obstacles to degree completion for minority students, including access, affordability, and engagement. Hampton intends use its $3.5 million First in the World grant to identify students who have declared a STEM major and engage them with a number of activities designed to boost success and completion. The project includes partnerships with several other organizations to facilitate internships and other opportunities for STEM majors. To learn more, we reached out to Dr. Ira Walker, project director of the grant and associate professor […]

Alumni Relations ROI: An Approach

Posted on by 25337pwpadmin@ai_azuread

Marquette University has piloted (and refined) an innovative metrics tool for measuring the impact of alumni engagement efforts. Numerical scores are assigned to specific activities that are indicative of alumni engagement and participation, and the scoring is used to measure the return on investment for alumni relations efforts in quantitative terms and to inform allocation of future resources. To learn about the basics of the approach and how these metrics have informed decision making at Marquette, we interviewed Andrea Petrie, director of development for Marquette’s College of Nursing, and Taylor Schult, an associate engagement officer who serves on Marquette’s Affinity-Based Giving team. Schult notes that what is especially empowering about Marquette’s point-scoring system of alumni relations metrics is that once you have numerical scores, you can set specific goals for improving those scores for specific groups of alumni. And those goals can then be measured quantitatively. BY WAY OF EXAMPLE: MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY’S METRICS Marquette University uses a 16-point model to assess alumni engagement and giving. For each alum, up to 8 points are assigned to metrics that assess engagement: 8 points are assigned to metrics that assess giving: The Marquette point system (above) is just one example of how an […]

Improving Completion Rates for Online Students

Posted on by 25337pwpadmin@ai_azuread

(An earlier version of this article ran in April 2010.) With the percentage of students who are taking online courses rising rapidly (a 17% increase in 2009 alone), improving completion rates for online students (many of whom are returning, adult learners) will likely become a key priority for higher education. In an interview with Academic Impressions, Ken Udas, CEO of UMassOnline, offers his advice on how academic leaders can promote higher completion rates as their institutions strive to meet a growing demand among adult learners for online and distance education. Where You Can Make the Most Difference Udas suggests that there are two areas where relatively small investments in online student retention can see significant returns: Encouraging Course Completion First, Udas suggests, identify your “warning signals,” your indicators that a student engaged in online coursework may be at a higher risk of not completing the course; then set up a process for immediate response to those signals. Warning signals for online learners might include: For example, suppose that your online calculus course has a 40% completion rate each semester. Once you know this, you can respond by making tutoring services available, whether face-to-face or in the form a virtual math lab. […]

More than Dollars: How Many Opportunities are You Missing with Your Alumni?

Posted on by 25337pwpadmin@ai_azuread

Series: Creating the Conditions for Support Everyone is trying to raise more money. Rather than simply suggest the next tactic that can boost giving in the short-term, this series offers a more intensive look at the strategic thinking that drives philanthropic support: Why do donors give? How do institutions strengthen their core and emphasize initiatives worthy of support? How do we align strategic plans, strengths, and advancement strategy to create the conditions for ongoing and sustained support? In this series, distinguished current and past chief advancement officers apply their most innovative and creative thinking to this question. Also in this series:Why Donors Give: It’s Not What You ThinkEngaging Women in Philanthropy: Practical Ways to Shift Our ApproachChecklist: Questions the Governing Board Must Ask Before Launching a Campaign If Congress passed a law tomorrow making fundraising illegal, would you still care about your alumni? I asked this question to alumni directors and chief advancement officers across the country as part of a research project in 2011. Over the last 75 years, colleges and universities have communicated to alumni almost singularly that the most important thing they can do to support their alma mater is give money. But increasingly, this single focus […]

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