Addressing Housing Overflows Proactively

At those residential institutions that are seeing enrollment growth, providing adequate student housing has rarely been more challenging. Sudden, unexpected housing overflows at residential institutions can prove both expensive and complex to manage. We turned to Lorinda Krhut, director of student housing and residence life at the University of Mississippi, for her advice on how […]

Making Your Campaign Successful

Meeting campaign goals in this economy remains a challenge, and recent news emphasizes how few institutions are exceeding campaign goals this year (a very different story than in 2007-08). Many institutions are just barely meeting their goals: Pace University recently celebrated the close of a seven-year capital campaign with a $100 million goal; the amount raised: […]

Teaching Academic Honesty in the Classroom

Incidents such as Centenary College’s decision in 2010 to discontinue a program in China due to the high incidence of cheating among the program’s students raise the question of how to clearly communicate (and police) academic honesty, not only among international students but also among domestic students. Given that many cases of inappropriate academic behavior […]

Incentivizing Faculty Retirement

Recent news has highlighted how the economy is making aging faculty more reluctant to retire and slowing colleges’ ability to hire new faculty. And this week saw a New York Times feature interviewing diverse faculty about the issue. Mary Coussons-Read, a professor of psychology at the University of Colorado Denver, summarizes some forward-thinking approaches institutions […]

Building Strong Relationships with Young Alumni

In recent news, development officers at Claremont McKenna College are expanding their alumni engagement strategy by asking alumni volunteers to interview their peers about interest and affinity. The college’s commitment to investing in engaging young alumni has already seen returns: the institution’s 10-year average giving rate has increased 6% since 2008, despite a difficult economy. […]

Affordable, High-Impact Study Abroad

Among the findings from GLOSSARI, the Georgia Learning Outcomes of Students Studying Abroad Research Initiative: Students completing study abroad programs show improved academic performance in subsequent terms Study abroad students have higher graduation rates Study abroad improves academic performance for at-risk students However, as the Chronicle‘s article “7 Signs of Successful Study Abroad Programs” notes, as […]

Strategic Planning: Engaging Faculty and Other Stakeholders Early

As July 2010 draws to a close, the news is full of reports of state budget shortfalls, belt-tightening initiatives to cope with the approaching demise of stimulus funding, and growing protests from faculty and staff as institutions make politically unpopular decisions in re-allocating increasingly scarce resources. In this environment, it is critical to engage as many stakeholders as […]

Supporting Faculty in Adopting Emerging Learning Technologies

The 21st Century Report released by CDW-G confirms an increasing trend of rising student expectations for technology on campus: 63% of current college students indicate that campus technology was a critical factor in their college choice 93% of current high school students indicate that campus technology is a critical factor in their college choice, 95% […]

Testing Your Emergency Response Plan

Testing your campus’s crisis response plans frequently and rigorously is key to ensuring that you can protect campus resources and recover speedily following a crisis, and as of July 1, 2010, annual testing is mandated under the updated Clery Act. Nonetheless, annual testing represents a significant shift in practice for many institutions. Nearly a quarter […]

Re-enrolling Stop-Outs: Overcoming the Barriers

In the news recently, the regents for the University of South Dakota system have focused attention on re-enrolling students who have “stopped out” and left their degree incomplete. This is in response to a recent report to the board that demonstrated that 1,889 students who had earned at least 90 semester credit hours had left […]