More and more institutions are facing scrutiny over the accessibility of their websites, and now, that same conversation is turning to social media. While the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) doesn’t currently offer guidance related specifically to social media, the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) is calling out institutions that aren’t ensuring posts and content are accessible. Join us online to learn how you should begin integrating accessibility and inclusivity into your social media channels – greatly improving the way all people can receive your content and key messages. You’ll hear from Erika Boltz, social media coordinator from the University of Florida Health, who’s already worked through OCR reviews in her career. She’ll share what it takes to craft proper image descriptions, captions, and inclusive language.
After a supportive first year, many sophomores return to campus the following fall with a feeling of “What now?” It’s easy to make assumptions about why sophomores feel this way—maybe they’re lacking a major or are still seeking social belonging. But how regularly are you collecting data to understand more objectively why you’re losing sophomores? And how can you use this data to design targeted programs and initiatives? Join us online to learn how Duke University’s collaborative Sophomore Year Experience (SYE) program is targeting and improving the top transitional issues facing sophomores. Through surveys and studies conducted by a working group of faculty, administrators, and students, Duke analyzed their students’ social relationships, academic engagement, and well-being to identify key challenges their sophomores face. You’ll leave with strategies to help navigate roadblocks around funding, staffing, and resources.
In large part because of the funding opportunities it occasions, interdisciplinary research—and finding ways to facilitate more of it –is high on the priority list today for many institutions. But because academe has historically prized discipline-specific research and individual scholarship over collaboration, facilitating more interdisciplinary research opportunities on campus can be challenging. This report is meant to explore some of these key complications and suggest strategies to help academic leaders and research development professionals navigate these challenges. It will be of most benefit to institutions, centers, or departments that are just getting started in the interdisciplinary research space, and who want to gain a better understanding of the challenges and barriers they are likely to encounter.
Open educational resources (OERs) are teaching, learning, and research materials that offer alternatives to traditional textbooks. They permit free access, use, adaptation, and redistribution by others. According to one research study, 30% of faculty (from 3,000 surveyed) were very aware of open educational resources (OERs). But only 13% of faculty from the same survey are using OERs in at least one of their classes. So, while OERs may offer affordability and flexibility, many people still question the quality of these resources and the time needed to adopt them. Join us online to discuss the benefits and challenges of OERs and hear first-hand what it takes to implement them. A faculty member from Chippewa Valley Technical College will show you how high-quality OERs have been incorporated into their curriculum, and she’ll discuss the impact OERs have had on teaching and learning. In case you decide to implement, we’ll offer tips for getting started.
Having a position of authority is only one small piece of being a leader. A more important aspect of being a leader is exercising your influence. The savviest leaders know that behaving in ways that influence the feelings, thoughts, and actions of others is the piece that will ultimately give them traction. Join us online to learn the signs and symptoms of influence. We will focus on the difference between influence and authority, and you will leave with advice on how to use your relational capital to influence up, across, and down.
Non-traditional badges represent a growing market full of opportunity. However, you may not be pursuing badges of this type, because you’re not sure how to work with industry partners in development and management. Don’t let that stop you! Join us for this webcast to learn tips on how to engage with industry partners for non-traditional badge development. We will profile a typical relationship with industry partners and share common pitfalls to avoid. Non-traditional badges are badges that align with professional development and partnerships with business and industry. For example, a community college can partner with a business who needs to train its employees on how to use a software tool necessary to work on pumps.
When it comes to choosing the badges to pursue at your institution, not all badges are created equal. You’ll be able to maximize your potential in badging by carefully considering the merits of these 3 types: Academic badges – Badges that correspond to courses and can stack to equate to a certificate or degree Enhancement badges – Badges that correspond to co-curricular activities Non-traditional badges – Badges that align with professional development and partnerships with business and industry Which badge types are right for you? Our advice may surprise you. Join us online to learn the value of all three badge types and how they can contribute to your institution’s badging strategy. You’ll leave with ideas around how to refine the scope of your badging initiative.
The unique pressures and demands that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) professionals experience often lead to burnout, exhaustion, and frustration about the lack of change they see on their campuses. Many feel the pressure to manage this stress alone, fearing that they’ll lose their professional credibility and reputation otherwise. However, this behavior can often result in decreased productivity and morale. How can these DEI professionals create the tools and put the plans in place to manage their own self-care, and what can their peers and supervisors do to best support them? Join our expert instructor Sara Furr as she discusses social justice fatigue, why and how this physical and emotional toll occurs, and what wellness strategies DEI professionals can use to achieve a balanced and sustainable self-care routine. You’ll have the opportunity to reflect on where you currently stand, put next steps in place for implementing your wellness plan, hear tips and strategies for following through, and get to know the most common barriers your peers face when implementing such plans. In addition, we will also cover some simple ways non-DEI professionals can adopt to support their colleagues engaged in social justice work on campus.
Many institutions look to online programs as a solution for improving student access and increasing degree completion rates. However, very few are strategic when planning and developing these programs. This webcast will walk you through a process for making high-level decisions to ensure that your institution is ready to expand its online offerings. In doing so, we will concentrate on areas that are critical to ensuring your institutional success. In addition, our expert speaker Vickie S. Cook will discuss the most critical questions you need to consider and answer throughout your program development process. You will leave with a workbook to use with your own programs.
All alumni-student mentoring programs connect students to alumni for professional development and engagement purposes. But while some programs aim to serve as many students as possible, other programs try to foster meaningful connections by being highly personalized and selective. Join us online to learn about Leadership OU, a highly selective, award-winning program at Oakland University. This program pairs only 15 promising students with mid-career alumni mentors while also connecting those students to alumni guest speakers who are prominent in their fields. While Oakland chose to serve only a small number of students because of limited resources, they’ve successfully channeled the selectivity into one of the program’s greatest assets. Through their year-long professional development curriculum, they’ve inspired $90,000 in mentor giving and $108,000 in speaker giving.
Academic chairs and deans require different playbooks than other higher ed administrators in order to be successful. This resource will introduce you to 2 philosophies that will help you increase effectiveness as an academic chair or dean.
Approaches to retaining men of color are never single-pronged. Successful strategies might encompass academic skill development just as much as social-emotional development. The University of Central Florida’s Multicultural Academic and Support Services (MASS) initiative is especially notable as a retention strategy for men of color, because it tackles 5 different components of development – including leadership development. Join us online to learn more about UCF’s MASS Initiative, which has increased retention for African American and Hispanic students from 85% to 91% over a 10-year period. You will learn the various elements of a successful retention strategy to help you customize your own approach, and you’ll hear first-hand from a student how the program has helped him.
A donor survey effort can improve the quality of your fundraising by helping you to: Look beyond dollars raised to measure success Prioritize future investments Evaluate programmatic success Join us online to learn how to design and deliver donor surveys that will help you challenge your assumptions and learn more about your donors. You will leave with advice on how to use the survey responses to tell a better story and improve your overall operation.
Whether you’re looking to start a student mentoring program or are already running a successful one, you’re likely hoping to reach as many students as possible. Wake Forest University is expanding its reach by providing guidance, training, and resources for mentoring relationships through a central office. The Mentoring Resource Center empowers faculty, staff, alumni, and peers to fulfill their mentoring roles successfully; however, the programs themselves are still housed in the departments or offices that created them. Join us online to learn how Wake Forest aims to offer every student a mentor by working in a decentralized model that builds the capacity of others. They have scaled to serve over 2,300 mentees each year in formal mentorship programs, and they train over 700 each year on effective mentoring practices.
Why You Need This Resource As the number or size of your classes grows, you’ll likely find it increasingly difficult to meet the variability of your learners. Since research says neurodiversity is the rule (not the exception), one-off changes and accommodations will become tedious for both you and your learners. If you’re ready for a better way, use these resources to start serving many types of learners simultaneously through Universal Design for Learning (UDL). You will learn simple changes you can make today to both course materials and the overall learning experience. You Will Learn: How to apply UDL principles to digital course materials Simple changes to make your classes more supportive of diverse learners You Will Get: Downloadable Resources Instructional Videos Interactive Activities
Agenda Gain momentum for larger goals and aspirations around DEI by planning intentional events and initiatives. Using three cross-campus initiatives from the University of Victoria, we will show you how to: Present the case for DEI Build and enhance the capacity of others to advance DEI work Enlist leadership commitment and integrate DEI into policies, procedures, and practices Ensure your efforts are working even after delegating DEI work to others Resources Looking for a good read? Our speaker suggests these: Raelin, J., Leadership as practice to leaderful practice in Leadership. Vol. 7 no. 2 195-211 “The Equity Myth: Racialization and Indigenity at Canadian Universities” Henry, F.; Dua, E.; James, C.E.; Kobayashi, A.; Li. P.; Ramos, H.; Smith, M.S. 2017, UBC
Mental Health Resources for the Campus Community Create a “network of support” on your campus by training faculty and staff to recognize and engage with students experiencing mental health challenges. Why is a cross-campus approach to mental health so critical? Watch Anne Browning from the University of Washington make the case for faculty and staff involvement in mental health prevention and promotion. [h5p id=”61″] Click for Transcript Find Your Resources Do you want to better understand the current mental health landscape in higher ed? Are you prepared to support your students in the moment? How can you proactively support the mental health of your students? Connect to Issues and Conversations Student Mental Health in Higher Education All-inclusive members have access to the Academic Impressions’ research brief that inspired this collection. After you’ve followed the link, click “View Now” to access the report. The Role of Higher Ed in Providing Mental Health Services Listen to this podcast to hear 3 expert opinions on the appropriate scope of service and legal considerations for mental health services in higher ed. Learning About Online Mental Health Tools Download this handout to learn about 3 types of online mental health tools institutions are […]
To consistently engage students and compel them to give back, you must offer student philanthropy programming that builds — helping students progress in their philanthropic education. “One and done” is not enough. Join us online to learn how a professional school is managing to build affinity and impressive patterns of giving through a 2-week student philanthropy campaign each spring. In the first week of Florida State University’s College of Law campaign, student leaders spread the word about giving in a silent phase. In the second public week, leaders, faculty, and advancement staff issue challenges that give students the chance to access events, generate matching funds, and earmark funds for certain purposes. While individual components of this campaign may not be unique, this is a very intentional model that emphasizes participation rather than dollar amounts. We can’t promise that you’ll be able to replicate FSU’s success, but you’ll leave with tangible ideas about how to proceed on your campus.
As a fundraising professional, you may feel unsure of how to move a prospect forward. In the early stages, how can you get the prospect’s attention and ask questions that fuel your next moves? Later in the cycle, how can you assess motivations and strategize visits that will support your asks? Join us online for a 4-part online training series that will help you create rigor in each phase of your process and offer new approaches to raise more dollars. If the following statements from each phase of the donor cultivation cycle resonate, then this series is for you: Outreach – “Getting in touch with prospects and donors is so much harder than I thought it would be, especially without a mature portfolio. I need to increase my successful contact rates and secure more visits.” Prospect Qualification – “Qualification is tough. I don’t know how to do the right research or ask the best questions in order to get the best yield from a prospect. I want to know as quickly as possible if I should include this person in my portfolio or move on.” Visits – “I have plenty of wonderful meetings with donors and prospects, but they don’t […]
Change is a constant in higher education – whether in the form of an individual role change or a change in the broader direction of the institution. Emotions like shock, denial, anger, or frustration commonly accompany these changes. But as a leader, you can grow in how you manage these processes to help ensure smoother, more successful transitions. Join us online to learn how to manage your next change process more effectively. Through common examples of changes within higher education, you will learn how to move individuals and teams more effectively through the four stages of change. Session 1 will help you manage changes that involve one person, while Session 2 will help you address changes that affect whole teams.
