As Carol Moore notes in her article, “Advising: Meeting Student Needs?”, “only 22% of colleges have the advising function staffed by professional advisors.” At schools with professional advisors, students often encounter a well-oiled machine of advising that transitions them from their first years of college with a general advisor to more focused work with a […]
Boosting retention and graduation successfully requires a whole-campus approach coordinated across enrollment management, student affairs, and academic affairs. But what often stands as a barrier to a more a coordinated whole-campus approach is that institutions typically compartmentalize the stages of the student life cycle, encouraging different divisions or offices to manage things like recruitment, curricular […]
While the news has been largely positive about the state of finances in higher ed, the damaging effects of raging inflation present another darkening cloud that higher ed leaders will need to navigate. Two reports from Moody’s Investment Services project that wage inflation, labor shortages, and a nationwide hiring push will send institutional expenses skyrocketing […]
Service is often a significant part of faculty members’ contributions to the institution and overall workload. Yet, it remains hard to define both what counts as service and how to measure it as part of personnel reviews (e.g., promotion and tenure, post-tenure reviews, merit reviews, term faculty reviews, etc.), and promotion and tenure progress, and […]
There is an urgent need right now to talk about the experiences of employees in higher education. Faculty, staff and administrators — at all levels — are experiencing meaningful levels of burnout and are leaving the academy at unprecedented rates. Join us online to explore key insights gleaned from Academic Impressions’ national study on professional […]
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, faculty and staff struggled to engage Gen Z students and help them to create a robust sense of connection to campus. Gen Z students do not want to replicate the financial challenges faced by millennials—they are more concerned with making their college experiences practical and purposeful. Today, with the expansion […]
On June 23, 2022, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) released proposed changes to the existing Title IX implementing regulations. These proposed changes shed light on and clarify how this current administration’s Office for Civil Rights intends to change existing obligations under the May 2020 Title IX regulations. However, regardless of […]
As an academic administrator, you know better than anyone that academic program quality and faculty success both fall squarely in your purview and can have a vital impact on your bottom line. You may be less aware of the ways in which the shifting higher-ed enrollment landscape has become a driving force that is key […]
Over the last two years, the COVID-19 pandemic shifted the way many advancement professionals approached their work with donors. At the same time, the pandemic also impacted employee hiring and retention in advancement shops. Today, advancement leaders are searching for ways to stabilize their fundraising and staffing needs and are considering questions like: If you […]
Although institutions had already struggled to address the student mental health crisis before the COVID-19 pandemic, data shows that in the past two years, students have reported increased frequency and severity in mental health challenges. Adding to this challenge is the fact that, for many students, their only available options for mental health services or […]
Out of all of the academic leaders in higher education, Deans are arguably the ones who are closest to the challenges and potential solutions of higher ed. Some of the most pressing challenges keeping deans up at night include: changing student demographics and the impending demographic cliff, how to ensure academic rigor and accessibility, faculty […]
It’s a perfect storm: the pandemic has exacerbated work and personal demands on many women and caretakers, stress has increased, job satisfaction has decreased, advancement opportunities are limited, and harassment and microaggressions are on the rise. Deloitte’s study Women @ Work 2022: A Global Outlook found that these are among the primary reasons “more than […]
We’ve all heard different terms for the phenomenon currently taking place across our workforce: The Great Resignation, The Great Reshuffle, The Big Quit. These terms are catchy and apropos in many ways, but what they fail to take into account are the actual reasons why people are leaving their jobs in the first place. A […]
For years, institutions of higher education have been discussing how students can gain career skills from experiences both inside and outside the classroom. But few have made clear and concrete plans for ensuring that this learning actually occurs – and that it happens for everyone. Career readiness initiatives can also end up siloed in individual […]
To keep up with the rapid changes in student demand and employment, colleges and universities need to evaluate and adjust programs more frequently. However, much of the data commonly used to evaluate programs is significantly misleading and error-prone. This webinar will help you understand which data you can rely on, which you need to be […]
As COVID positivity rates decrease and institutions progress into a semester that, for many, represents the greatest return to normality since March 2020, higher-ed leaders are finally getting the chance to breathe and reflect. In taking stock of the entire experience, many are finding that—due to budget cuts, furloughs, and/or inconsistency in communication and support […]
Developing faculty researchers is both a top-down and bottom-up process. For the administrator helping to develop faculty researchers, maximizing the potential of faculty means preparing and supporting them in the logical progression of a faculty research journey, not just in securing external funding (as vital as that may be). For the faculty researcher, long term […]
By most accounts, the pandemic has not only accelerated the pace of leadership transitions but has made them considerably more complex. Almost every new senior leader is walking into a situation with significant challenges, including financial and enrollment shortfalls, declining demographics, systemic inequities that need to be addressed and lower faculty and staff morale and […]
Recruiting faculty from historically marginalized groups is a critically important priority for faculty affairs and academic leaders. But the focus cannot remain solely on the front end: once faculty join the institution, the more challenging part—retaining and supporting their success—begins. There is no one-size-fits-all approach, but intentionality and an awareness of programs and policies that […]
Unveiling and undoing institutional practices, policies, and procedures that perpetuate racial inequity among students, staff, and faculty continues to be a central priority for Chief Diversity Officers (CDOs). However, given the long-standing history that has allowed these practices to develop and thrive in the first place, this is among the most demanding challenges for an […]
