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:
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 […]
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 […]
This article continues a series focused on Creating an Innovative Institutional Mindset. More articles will follow. The previous article in this series is: Creative thinking skills are more important than ever if we are to deal with the vast and complex array of challenges facing many colleges and universities. In my last article I discussed the difficulty of creating and nurturing innovation within an academic organization. In my experience, the forces for preserving the status quo are especially powerful within academic organizations and are institutionalized in ways that make change very difficult. Moreover, those who are well positioned and authorized by role and formal authority to lead change are often weighed down with workloads and responsibilities that can kill the creative impulse. Perhaps it is no wonder that, according to a national study, the average tenure of a chief academic officer or provost is only 4.7 years, compared to the significantly longer 8.5 average tenure of all college presidents. According to this same study, the top frustrations for chief academic officers include lack of resources, difficulty cultivating leadership in others, curmudgeonly faculty, campus infighting, and unresponsive campus governance structures. Only 31% of respondents view ‘leading change and fostering innovation’ as job priorities; […]
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:
2010. A report from Moody’s Investors Service stresses that as community colleges experience enrollment surges during this down economy, many will issue bonds as a means of raising the capital needed to provide the new construction, renovation, and technological infrastructure projects needed to meet the growing demand. As community colleges take on more debt to fund capital projects, it is going to be critical for business officers to ensure that they can maintain liquidity. We asked Cynthia Gilliam, the vice chancellor of administration and finance for the Lone Star College System and a past president of the Texas Association of Community College Business Officers, for advice on financial planning. Long-Range Financial Planning Gilliam notes that the Lone Star College System is unique in that the system is in a very strong financial position (and has just received an AAA rating from S&P), but also remarks that this didn’t happen by accident or by luck. It is the outcome of a long history of solid debt planning. “The key for us has been to have our financial advisers extremely involved in our debt planning from the get-go,” Gilliam comments. “We use them to assist us in strategy. How are we going […]
Your AI Leadership Coach for Higher Education Sophia is designed to meet you where you are and support you through the complexity of leading in higher education, where all of us have more responsibility than authority. She works best when you’re specific. The more honest you are with Sophia, the better she’ll be. Sophia does not store your responses. Nothing you share is logged, tracked, or traceable back to you. This is a completely confidential space. You can bring the real situation, not the polished version. To access Sophia, log into your Academic Impressions membership, and go to My Path. To give you a way to start, here are 50 conversations you can start with Sophia. Feel free to modify these to suit your context. Navigating Difficult People & Relationships Team Dynamics & Culture Leading Change Communication & Influence Career Development & Self-Awareness Managing Up & Sideways Faculty Relations & Shared Governance Personal Leadership & Well-Being Strategy & Organizational Effectiveness Sophia is at her best when you bring her the real situation. The more context you give, the more specific and useful her guidance will be. How will you use Sophia today? Go to My Path to use one of these prompts or ask another question. Reach […]
As a fundraising professional, you may feel unsure of how to move a prospect forward. In the early stages, how can you get the prospect’s attention and ask questions that fuel your next moves? Later in the cycle, how can you assess motivations and strategize visits that will support your asks? Join us online for a 4-part online training series that will help you create rigor in each phase of your process and offer new approaches to raise more dollars. If the following statements from each phase of the donor cultivation cycle resonate, then this series is for you: Outreach – “Getting in touch with prospects and donors is so much harder than I thought it would be, especially without a mature portfolio. I need to increase my successful contact rates and secure more visits.” Prospect Qualification – “Qualification is tough. I don’t know how to do the right research or ask the best questions in order to get the best yield from a prospect. I want to know as quickly as possible if I should include this person in my portfolio or move on.” Visits – “I have plenty of wonderful meetings with donors and prospects, but they don’t […]
