Integrating E-Portfolios into Your Assessment Strategy

Trent Batson, executive director of The Association for Authentic, Experiential and Evidence-Based Learning (AAEEBL), stirred some controversy this week with an article entitled “The Testing Straitjacket,” in which he advocates for privileging e-portfolios over legacy testing as a primary tool for assessing student learning, arguing that e-portfolios, which “encourage students to use their collection of […]

Evaluating Part-Time Faculty

Traditionally, most institutions have not made significant investments in either training or rigorous evaluation for contingent faculty. However, given the rising percentages of part-time instructors, it is increasingly crucial that deans and department chairs give thought to implementing evaluation methods that will encourage continued improvement of the quality of instruction in their adjunct-taught courses. For this […]

Doing Lecture Capture Right

Lecture capture has been receiving a lot of attention in the news this year, as colleges attempt to expand online and blended course offerings or make instruction to more students in remote locations. The impact on student learning of removing the ‘face-to-face’ dynamic remains a continuing concern for educators. A few institutions have recently made […]

Training and Preparing Your Faculty for Teaching Online

This year we have seen a growing proliferation of proposed online degree programs, as more institutions feel the pressure of needing to increase enrollment and revenue without also increasing expenditures in physical infrastructure. Most recently, Indiana has launched an online-only university to serve rural adults, and the University of California has decided to invest between $5 […]

Connecting Undergraduates with Careers

Even as the demand for career services from students and recent graduates is rising, many career services centers are seeing their budgets cut. Yet this is a critical moment; there is evidence of increased hiring in some sectors, and many companies are again looking for interns. A recent survey by the National Association of Colleges […]

Connecting Young Alumni with Careers

With a shaky job market, many alumni offices are seeing rising demand from recent graduates and young alumni for networking and career help — just as many undergraduate career offices are seeing rising demand for their services from students nearing graduation. We asked Matthew Donato, senior associate director of alumni career services for the University of […]

Connecting Returning Adults with Careers

The majority of career services programming targets either traditional-aged students approaching graduation or young alumni. However, the recession has driven increased enrollment by returning adults who have already spent some time in the workforce but who may now have been displaced from their jobs or who are hoping to boost their career with some further […]

Rethinking Your Approach to Corporate Donors

Corporations are giving less frequently this year and in smaller amounts, and in many cities the corporate landscape has changed dramatically during this recession due to mergers, consolidations, and bailouts. In an editorial this week, the CEO of Western Union suggested that universities and other nonprofits need to seek out more holistic and intentional partnerships […]

Contract Training in a Changing Economy

An Inside Higher Ed article this week noted that with fewer large businesses influencing workforce training, many colleges engaged in contract training are shifting their approach away from serving larger employers and toward serving as a training “hub” for numerous smaller businesses. We reached out to Leah Kier, community outreach and custom training director for […]

Speaking with Applicants and Admits About Financial Aid

The 2010 Student Poll published by the College Board and Art & Science Group, LLC confirms that most college applicants are dismissing colleges from their list on the basis of sticker price, without considering net price. The study also finds that applicants are nonetheless willing to attend a higher-priced school for: In this article, W. Kent Barnds, […]