Title IX and Faculty Misconduct: Steps You Need to Take Today

Here are steps Title IX coordinators can take in the next day, week, month, and year to start changing the culture on campus. An interview with Rabia Khan Harvey, Academic Impressions, recently Title IX coordinator at Columbia College Chicago Daniel Fusch, Academic Impressions. Rabia, thanks for another conversation. There are so many stories emerging over the last year regarding sexual harassment or other misconduct toward students by some faculty. What has struck you as especially critical for Title IX coordinators to pay attention to? What conversations do they need to be having with department chairs? Rabia Khan Harvey. That’s a tough one. That’s a really tough one. I really feel this needs to become a strategic initiative for the institution. That’s what it will take to get the necessary buy-in and engagement with the whole faculty. Because the steps we need to take aren’t small ones. We need to improve relationships with students from historically marginalized populations. We need to talk with faculty about how the academic department is choosing to nurture students to become alumni of the department. If we don’t provide a department and an institution that is safe for them, that will come back to haunt us tenfold. […]

SEM for Community Colleges: Practical Steps

Recently, I had the chance to speak with Dr. Monique Perry, dean of enrollment services at York Technical College, who will also be facilitating our two-part, recorded webcast series Strategic Enrollment Management for Community Colleges, where she will help participants learn how to make the case for, plan, and implement a strategic enrollment management model at their community colleges. We wanted to ask Perry, an expert on the topic, how shifting enrollment trends are changing recruitment practices for two-year institutions, and how their enrollment managers can be more strategic and data-informed as they move forward. Here is a transcript of our interview. Shifting Trends, Shifts in Focus Sarah Seigle.  How have community college enrollment trends affected recruitment practices at the community college level? Monique Perry. Shifting funding sources for public institutions, demographic changes, and more entities competing in the 2-year space all influence enrollment management. Of these, the decrease in funding for community and technical colleges has been the most impactful trend, as that sets the context for much of our work. And while funding can be out of the average enrollment officer’s circle of control, a college’s ability to transform and adopt EM principles in theory and execution is within our control, and is an […]

From STEM Pathways to STEM Highways

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 here. In an effort to better engage and retain STEM students, California State University, Los Angeles is partnering with two other institutions to establish a STEM Education Consortium as a way to pool resources and improve STEM education. Institutions in the STEM Education Consortium will use the $2.8 million First in the World grant to target three issues in STEM education: We talked to James Rudd, Cal State LA professor of natural science and project director, to learn more about how these initiatives will open more STEM career pathways to students. 1. How the STEM Education Consortium Will Test High-Impact Learning Strategies […]

3 Ways to Assess and Build Student Resiliency

This article is an excerpt from Sue Ohrablo’s acclaimed book High-Impact Advising: A Guide for Academic Advisors, which you can find here. Currently, higher education institutions are facing a crisis with declining enrollment and student attrition. Higher education professionals are being tasked with student retention on a system-wide level. With the issuing of this directive, student service professionals are scrambling to find ways to outreach to, engage, and retain their students. While formal assessment is important in identifying why students leave and how we can better retain them, there is value in informal assessment, as well. Front-line personnel such as academic advisors, counselors, and student success coaches can identify reasons for student departure as an outcome of their daily interactions with students. Resiliency is one factor which will impact a student’s decision to stay or go. While all students face multiple challenges throughout their academic careers, some of them can become derailed as a result of those challenges. By assessing student resiliency, student service professionals can strategically intervene in an attempt to retain students. Here are three ways to assess and build student resiliency… 1. Help Students Respond to Difficulties in the Classroom Consider how the student responds to difficulty within […]

Involving Off-Campus Constituencies When Planning Public/Private Partnerships

Successful P3 partnerships engage off-campus constituencies both early and deliberately. Here is advice from Dale McGirr on how. Increasing demands for capital expansion combined with a continued weak economy make partnerships with private entities an attractive option for financing new campus facilities. These partnerships are often fraught with complexity — and not only because of their legal and tax ramifications. There are also the ramifications of communicating and collaborating with a variety of off-campus constituents. Successful projects engage these constituents both early and deliberately. For advice on including off-campus constituencies in the project in constructive ways, we turned this week to Dale McGirr, senior planner with GBBN Architects, who also oversaw public/private partnerships during his 29 years at the University of Cincinnati (22 years as a cabinet officer). Being Clear on the Stakes “At most medium and large-sized public institutions,” McGirr remarks, “twice as many students live residentially near a campus as live on the campus. The era of treating housing for those students as someone else’s problem is over — developing an off-campus housing policy needs to be a top priority, and the quality of student life in that shadow campus district, as well as the quality of community relations in that district, […]

Leading in the Moment

UNCERTAIN TIMES, STEADY LEADERSHIP Your Resource Hub for Navigating Higher Education’s Challenges This is a Leadership Moment Higher education is shifting rapidly, and the challenges are mounting. Legislative uncertainty, financial pressures, and cultural shifts are testing leaders at every level. No one has all the answers, and the future remains unclear—but this is precisely the time when leadership matters most. How you lead today will shape your institution’s future. At Academic Impressions, we recognize the weight of this moment. We know that leadership is not just about having the right title—it’s about how you respond, how you support others, and how you make decisions in complexity. That’s why we’ve created this hub: a central resource to provide you with the tools, insights, and support you need to navigate this moment with clarity, confidence, and resilience. What You’ll Find Here This resource hub offers timely, easily digestible, and actionable content designed to help you: Respond with clarity in a fast-changing environment Build trust and community amid uncertainty Sustain your own resilience while leading others Access expert insights and practical tools for leadership at all levels Find opportunities to connect, learn, and engage with peers We’ll be continuously adding new resources—including written […]

Perfect Match: A Step-by-Step Guide to Landing a Leadership Position in Higher Education

Looking for a job in higher education these days is not unlike online dating. Maria Thompson and Susan C. Turell’s Perfect Match provides a unique, step-by-step guide to “dating” your prospective institution effectively and landing a leadership position in higher ed.

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What Every Higher Ed Leader Needs to Know About Supporting Women in Leadership

How can higher ed leaders support women’s leadership within their institutions? What do leaders need to know? Academic Impressions staff and leaders in the academy offer their advice and perspective. Several times a year at our Women’s Leadership Success in Higher Education conference, we bring together 200 women in leadership positions (or aspiring to leadership positions) in higher education to network, connect with mentors and success coaches, and share perspectives on the challenges of the academy. As we approach our next iteration of the event, we wanted to ask members of our previous faculty panel (as well as our internal team who designed the conference) what advice they most want to give this year to leaders in higher education who are committed to doing more to support women’s leadership growth and success. Here’s what they would like to share with you: 1. What’s one piece of advice you would offer those working in higher ed to support women in leadership roles? Karen Whitney. “If you really want to see more women in leadership, and in particular at the highest levels of leadership, then be prepared to be both honest and clear. “First, if a leader has asked for your support either as […]

Is it Time to Launch that New Academic Program? The Art and Science of Answering that Question

Related Articles: Feasibility Checklist: The Science of Bringing New Academic Programs to LifeFinancial Modeling for New Academic Programs The challenges facing higher education in recent times are well documented. Never has it been so critical for colleges and universities to adopt an entrepreneurial mindset.  Especially for resource-constrained institutions (which is most of us), traditional financial management approaches such as resource prioritization and/or cutting one’s way to sustainability are no longer sufficient long term solutions. In this current context, successful institutions are outward-looking and have developed a discipline around driving entrepreneurial growth in ways that live and further leverage the mission. This is what having an entrepreneurial mindset is all about; from my experience, nurturing such a mindset at the institutional level requires both art (intuition, active listening, and keen attention to opportunities) and science (rigorous discipline and process). I consider myself an academic entrepreneur.  Throughout my career in higher education, I have been focused on looking outward and asking key questions such as “How can we do this differently?”; “What do we do really well that might be leveraged in new and unique ways?”; and “What market opportunities exist that we are uniquely equipped to meet?” At Bay Path University […]

5 Questions to Help Restore a Strained Town/Gown Relationship

PART OF A SERIES ON RFPs, CAPITAL PLANNING, AND PUBLIC/PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS This is the first in a series of articles by Neil Calfee. Currently the principal of NPC Group, specializing in the creation and negotiation of public/private Partnerships, Neil Calfee previously served as Arizona State University’s director of real estate development. He has over 15 years of experience in development and management of complex development projects involving partnerships between government entities and the private sector. This article offers Calfee’s advice for strengthening often-strained town/gown relationships, and is written from his unique perspective in working for both Arizona State University and the City of Tempe. We also recommend his previous articles with AI: You may also be interested in his recorded webcast, “Creating Financial Expectations in the Housing RFP Process.” by Neil Calfee (NPC Group) “Love/hate” may be a little strong in describing many town and gown relationships, but “strained” may not be too far off the mark. The town/gown relationship can be full of drama, jealousy, passive-aggressiveness, and it can take “staying together for the kids” to a whole new level. But the town/gown can also be quite rewarding and mutually beneficial, and given that breaking up is nearly impossible, it’s best […]