Reimagining the Academic Library: A Peek Inside Payson Library

Among the more fascinating library revitalization projects we have seen recently, one that stands out is Payson Library at Pepperdine University. As we took a closer look, we realized that much of the thinking that informs the Payson Library renovation is replicable and scalable for other institutions, even institutions with quite small library facilities. To […]

Alumni Affinity Groups: How One University Formed a Highly Successful Organization

by Kathy Edersheim, President of Impactrics How does an alumni affinity group get started and, perhaps more importantly, what makes it sustainable beyond the initial excitement? There are many right answers and many challenges along the way. The key is to develop some guidelines and learn from other institutions’ successes as well as from their […]

How Some Colleges are Building Student Resilience and Grit

Managing the student life cycle requires cross-divisional initiatives and the willingness to innovate. Applying a student success lens to the student life cycle has led institutions to examine the relative roles played by traditional measures of academic achievement (grades, credits completed, major requirements met) and less traditional, non-cognitive indicators such as student grit and resilience. […]

How to Think More Strategically About Alumni Participation

This article is an excerpt from Jim Langley’s book Comprehensive Fundraising Campaigns: A Guide for Presidents and Boards (Academic Impressions, 2016). Over-reliance on marketing academic distinction and under-reliance on building alumni affiliation is one of the reasons that annual alumni giving has been declining for 20 straight years and why, today, fewer than one in 10 […]

5 Fairy Tales People Believe About Mentoring in Higher Ed

Once upon a time, I lived in a magical fairy tale world where higher education professionals, educated and insightful individuals, knew exactly how to navigate a mentor program and the results were nothing less than charming. Then I woke up. Sadly, the real world presents many obstacles to this “happily ever after,” and a belief […]

Practical Strategies for Women in Leadership in Higher Ed

In November of 2016, Academic Impressions held its first Women’s Leadership Success in Higher Education conference. (You can see information about the upcoming Women’s Leadership Success conference here.)  For me personally, this was one of the highlights of my year and a culmination of months of work that sprung from an idea that had formed in the […]

Courses with No Syllabi: A Unique Instructional Model at LDS Business College

In this interview, learn about a unique approachto designing a more immersive learning experience. In this short clip, you’ll hear my conversation with Bruce Kusch, the current president of LDS Business College. Formerly the chief academic officer at LDS, Bruce spearheaded an instructional framework there called the i4 model of design. i4 means campus instruction […]

How One College Used the Business Model Canvas to Boost Enrollment and Develop New Academic Programs Quickly

While working to design our conference Budgeting for Innovation in San Antonio, TX, we became fascinated by the Business Model Canvas, an open-source tool developed by Alex Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur, and others, which helps organizations swiftly explore alternatives, challenge assumptions, compare and set new strategies, and build shared vision and language. This tool helps institutions document their […]

Preparing Students to Lose Their Jobs (And Faculty To Keep Theirs)

also by Alan Ritacco (Learn more in the recorded webcast: The Future of Work and the Academy) Abstract: A recent study reveals that young people today could have as many as 16-17 different jobs in 5 industries. As the rate of technological change becomes exponential, the future of work requires adapting to change, recognizing job failure […]

Higher Education: Your Life May Depend Upon It

also by Robert E. Johnson, Ph.D. (Learn more in the recorded webcast: The Future of Work and the Academy) Higher education and the coveted bachelor’s degree was once the essential launch pad to economic stability. Now, it seems it is something more. In to a new report published by Brookings, “Mortality and morbidity in the […]