We oversee an undergraduate program consisting of approximately 2700 students in a typical college of business at a large, public land-grant institution. Being a business school, we constantly look for ways to adapt to the changing environment and to find opportunities to make our operations more efficient and effective. Applying these basic business principles to academia is becoming more necessary in an environment of declining student populations and increasing costs. The Covid-19 pandemic caused a major disruption in the way academia operates, and such disruptions often lead to fundamental changes in the environment in which an organization exists. Those that adapt quickly have an opportunity to take advantage of these changes, but those that assume things will “return to normal” are often left behind. You don’t want to be the shop renting videotapes in the era of the internet, and you don’t want to be the school focusing primarily on classes held in brick-and-mortar facilities when many of your students have spent a year taking courses online. We were certain that the disruptions caused by the pandemic, especially a year of almost fully online instruction, would lead to changes in the educational desires of our student population, and that identifying […]
YOUR ANNUAL FUND THIS YEARFollow Jim Langley’s advice on what makes for the best and worst annual fund strategies to ensure this is a successful year for your annual giving operation. The 2 Worst Annual Fund Strategies Using the annual fund to balance the annual operating budget.Donors give much, much more in the name of philanthropy than they do for charitable purposes. Charity calls people to meet an urgent need; philanthropy is a means by which people can create a better society. If you cast your annual fund as a way of meeting urgent need, you raise unsettling questions in the minds of philanthropic investors: Failing to adjust your annual fund solicitations to loyal donors’ giving patterns.The vast majority of regular annual donors make their contributions in December. Yet, every year, they are subjected to repeated requests to give starting at the beginning of the year. This drumbeat of requests raises questions in the minds of many loyal donors about how much money is being spent to raise money. It also makes them feel that the school’s fundraising has become impersonal and machine-like. Loyalty should be prized and reinforced with personalized communications. If donors have given two years or more on essentially […]
Your team may have up to five generations working together, a phenomenon that is unique to our time in history. This generational diversity makes our teams stronger and more ready to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse student population. To leverage the full strength that comes from this generational diversity, however, supervisors must first understand the value of and know how to appreciate the unique styles and preferences of each team member. Join our facilitator and your peers across the country to share best practices and experiences for increasing all of our understanding on successfully supervising multigenerational teams. You will come away from the training with the following:
Recruiting and retaining diverse faculty and staff talent must be a key priority for colleges and universities. However, hiring diverse and high-performing talent can be challenging due to limited resources, perspective, and commitment. To dig deeper into some of the challenges, we reached out to a panel of three experts: We asked each panelist to discuss the gaps they see in how institutions are hiring and onboarding diverse talent. What are most institutions not thinking about? What should they be thinking about? Here are their answers: Liz Ortiz, DePaul University. The gap that I see is: Why do our intentions not match our results? If I had a room full of search chairs and I asked, “Is diversity important in your searches?” — the answer would be yes. Yet the results we see are often the same hire after hire with little to no diversity in the final selection. Often we hear it is a pipeline problem or a competition problem as qualified candidates are highly sought after and therefore out of reach. However, it could be a systems problem that is recreating the same results over and over again. In my experience, there are several factors that can lead to […]
by Lisa Cook, Academic Impressions Why We’re Taking a Close Look at FAU Florida Atlantic University has piloted several innovative strategies for providing students more timely advising and support. In fall 2014, FAU’s University Advising Services office started a resident hall outreach but struggled to come up with a plan to reach out to commuter students, who frequently attend part-time and only in the evening due to work and family commitments. Historically, all university offices closed at 5, which posed an additional challenge to reaching out to students with full-time jobs. The reality is that commuter students, who are often part-time, take longer to graduate, making outreach to that population especially critical. We talked with Joe Murray, director of University Advising Services, to learn more about the initiative. Taking Advising to the Parking Garage The idea to reach out to commuter students was the brainchild of Florida Atlantic University academic coach and advisor Jennifer Coisson, who herself had once been a commuter student and knew that commuter students often miss out on campus support services. Yet outreach to these students is difficult because FAU doesn’t have commuter lounges or any one spot on campus where commuter students congregate. Except the […]
W. Kent Barnds offers seven strategies for involving faculty in student recruitment in ways that are meaningful and effective. Here’s how to do it right. Admissions teams often ask: “How do we effectively involve faculty members in student recruitment?” This question has even more urgency now, given enrollment pressures throughout higher education. It only makes sense to look to the faculty; they remain the most credible messengers on a college campus. A LOOK AT THE DATAIn fact, in Academic Impressions’ 2013 survey on enrollment declines, 47% of the 190 institutions participating in the survey missed their enrollment targets last year–many by a significant percentage. Years ago I heard Robin Mamlet, who at the time was the dean of admissions at Stanford University, remind a room full of admissions officers that “we work for the faculty.” I’ve been guided by this idea and recognize admissions officers are an extension of the faculty, rather than vice versa. Involving faculty in recruitment activities should be guided by this premise. Admittedly, I don’t always get things right. But, based on more than 20 years of experimenting and listening, I’d like to suggest: 7 Keys to Encouraging Meaningful Involvement 1. Provide guidance, not direction.I once […]
Knowing and communicating the financial health of your endowed funds will show your donors that their gift remains in good hands, which increases the potential for further giving. Now is the perfect time to review your endowed funds to ensure they remain: Legal: In compliance with rules and regulations Possible: To be rewarded according to fund criteria Practical: Able to be administered within reasonable limits Join us for a three-hour virtual training to develop a plan of action for your next endowed funds audit. You will learn a step-by-step process to help you confirm whether your endowed funds are meeting both institutional compliance and donor intent. You will also identify potential risks and communication strategies for donors whose funds have been misspent, unspent, or are underwater. You’ll walk away with clearly defined next steps that will help you move your endowed fund audit forward.
Dr. Sarah Edwards is a tenured professor in the Teacher Education Department and currently serves as an active participant in the administrative decision-making processes in the Academic Affairs Office at University of Nebraska Omaha. Her position is responsible for assisting the Senior Vice Chancellor in planning, directing, evaluating, and developing undergraduate academic programs; collaborating with other divisions of the University to analyze and develop recommendations in response to evolving issues; and providing leadership for developing and achieving strategic initiatives. Those primary responsibilities include leadership for meeting the goals and objectives of the University’s strategic plan for undergraduate education; implementation and administration of policies and regulations affecting students; and leadership and facilitation for the processes of curriculum development. In addition, this position is responsible for leadership and support for Academic Learning Communities, such as the Susan Thompson Buffett Scholars and the Army and AFROTC detachments, as well as coaching and guidance for the University Honors Program, National Honors, Scholarships and Awards, and oversight and planning of the Student Honors Convocation.
Continuing to support student mental health needs in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic is critical. Stress and anxiety are high, and current circumstances are causing hardship for many. Student affairs leaders and counseling center directors are operating as best they can in this environment, while simultaneously navigating rapidly-evolving institutional responses and balancing their own well-being. Join us for this webcast recording where we facilitate a conversation with Kelly Wesener-Michael, Associate Vice President for Student Affairs & Dean of Students at Northern Illinois University, and Kristen Gray, Director of Counseling & Psychological Services at Hope College. In this open discussion space with our experts and your peers, we shared strategies, current approaches, and decision points related to the following items:
Co-Authored by Faculty and Staff at the University of IdahoVanessa Sielert, Professor and Director, Lionel Hampton School of MusicKatherine Himes, Director, McClure Center for Public Policy ResearchErin Chapman, Clinical Associate Professor, School of Family and Consumer SciencesKathryn Schiffelbein, Director of Diversity, Inclusion and Outreach, College of Engineering Starting a program of any type can be daunting. Doing so with little to no experience and resources may seem impossible. Yet the importance of this work and a shared vision brought us together to create a community for women to connect and thrive. We built the Athena Women’s Mentorship Program in autumn 2018 with the support of Athena, the professional women’s organization at the University of Idaho. The intent of the Athena Mentorship Program is to promote and facilitate mentorship for women and/or female-identifying staff and faculty at all University of Idaho campuses. The program graduated its second cohort in December 2020 and launched its third cohort in January 2021, fully online. The program follows a calendar year schedule, provides monthly formal gatherings and bi-weekly informal coffee chats for mentees with mentees and mentors with mentors, and requires that mentorship partners meet monthly based on their personal schedules. The year begins with […]
