NSSE’s 2009 annual report cites low participation in high-impact activities (such as study abroad, service learning, internship, undergraduate research, or senior experience) among transfer students as one measure of engagement and likely persistence. The lowest engagement was from vertical transfers (students who enter four-year institutions from community colleges). In the survey, 62% of native seniors had participated […]
An article in Inside Higher Ed featured a community college and a for-profit online university which are both using features of learning management systems to track student engagement data and alert faculty and administrators to online students who may be at risk. This is one of the advantages in online instruction: student engagement in the course […]
Recent incidents in the news — at DePaul University and elsewhere — highlight the importance of building an effective faculty evaluation and tenure review process. While some problems are specific to faculty evaluation systems at particular institutions, most often the underlying issue is a lack of clarity on the criteria by which faculty are to be evaluated. […]
By fall 2011, Title IV institutions are required by law to provide a net price calculator (NPC) that will give student applicants opportunity to understand the difference between university sticker price and net price, and to receive an estimate of potential aid eligibility. The US Department of Education has released an NPC template that colleges […]
According to a survey of chief financial officers by The Chronicle of Higher Education, the financial crisis that has caused upheavals in other sectors hasn’t prompted radical changes in how most colleges operate (with a few big exceptions). This may be a sign that the full effect of the economic fallout has yet to hit […]
A report by the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment draws attention to the fact that while 92% of American colleges and universities are now using at least one assessment tool to evaluate academic programs, most colleges are having difficulty integrating the results into a system of continuing improvement. It’s clear that often the roadblock to […]
The College Board’s recent Trends reports on college pricing and student aid have painted a not unexpected picture of rising college tuition coinciding with rising demand for student aid. In this financial climate, it becomes all the more critical for colleges and universities to communicate the value of their offerings clearly to financially concerned prospects […]
