A vibrant leadership annual giving program not only serves as the core of a successful annual fund, but it can be one of the best tools to build the pipeline to major gifts. Yet, institutions struggle with how to create a separate identity for their leadership giving programs, and how to best communicate the opportunities available and their impact on the institution. In this online training, our expert instructors will show you how they strategically restructured their leadership annual giving program communications with enhanced branding, specific and targeted solicitations, and a more robust stewardship strategy.
First-Year Student Experience (FYSE) programs have been identified as a high-impact practice for increasing student persistence and success. Yet, many student populations remain at risk for attrition because they aren’t getting connected to critical resources when and how they need them most. Are your FYSE programs doing everything they can to strategically support at-risk students to ensure they return to campus for their second year? Join us for an online training to learn how to maximize your FYSE program’s effectiveness for at-risk student populations. Our expert faculty will walk you through national trends and how to create a localized plan of action on your campus. In addition, you’ll learn how to measure, evaluate, and report outcomes data to ensure your FYSE program is having the greatest impact on student success.
Are you able to measure how your social media efforts impact recruitment and admissions for your institution? Agenda Setting social media metric benchmarks and goals Research / Case studies Connecting activities and department goals Auditing your efforts Establishing a baseline Tracking time investment Identifying what to measure and track and when Qualitative measures Quantitative analytics Reporting styles Quarterly and annual reports Calculating ROI Establishing communication benchmarks How to calculate the “cost†of your social media efforts Tracking the impact of your social media efforts Linking “cost†and impact to determine worth How to use this information to make efficient social media choices going forward Allocating resources Refining content strategies
Many institutions report that retention and graduation rates for students are declining due to a “stop-out” phenomenon. Employment, family, and financial issues are just some of the complex logistical concerns contributing to students’ suspension of study. Institutional stop-out programs offer the support, counseling, and procedural engagement that help these students return to school and complete their degrees. However, implementing a stop-out program carries challenges from gathering the right data to strategic outreach and creating campus-wide buy-in. Learn about the University of North Carolina at Charlotte’s 49er Finish Program, an effective stop-out project in action; start taking the steps to create a program on your campus.
Approximately 25% of students begin college at a time other than fall term, yet many institutions don’t reflect this in their onboarding processes. Recent research suggests that students starting in non-fall terms encounter substantially different challenges in campus orientation, socialization, and academic performance. These challenges pose a direct threat to both student retention and success. The onboarding process for spring admits begins well before the term itself and is critical to building strategies for student success. Join us to learn about current research and hear practical examples for implementing suggested best practices.
Are you meeting the customer service needs of your adult students? Agenda Identifying adult students on your campus Communication essentials: Accurate and timely information Maintaining “high touch†service delivery Simple changes to your in-person service Considerations for online touchpoints Identifying metrics for success Assessing and reporting your customer service efforts Aligning your efforts with the institution’s mission and vision Summative and formative reporting Wrap-up and final Q&A
Improve your student recruitment efforts by optimizing your website for mobile devices. Agenda Audience needs and expectations: Now and into the future Identifying the web design tools Developing strategies to meet your goals: Reaching potential students Developing admissions functionality Measurement and analytics Prioritizing staff and resources Making the pitch for funding
Instructional designers and course developers are facing new design challenges amid increased demand for high-quality blended courses and programs. When executed properly, blended courses provide a high level of engagement from learners and establish measurable learning outcomes with the means for achieving them. How are you ensuring that the blended courses you are designing combine the best components of both online and face-to-face classes? Join us online as we discuss blended course design principles and how they align with instructional strategies. You will learn how to: Use instructional design strategies for online courses Organize content into instructional modules Align course objectives, activities, and assessments
Pursuing international markets in online education can bring in new revenue and a more prestigious global image. However, efficiently expanding these programs to reach or meet an international need in education can be difficult. In order to capitalize on your programs’ competitive advantage, specific processes and support structures must be designed to target and align with the potential market. Join us for an online training where our experienced instructors will discuss the expansion of online programs for international audiences. Using a SWOT Analysis approach, we will discuss the competencies needed to find the right fit for your program and the building of an internal support model to meet the distinctive needs of an international audience.
Managing and engaging aging donors is a sensitive issue for both development officers and donors’ families. Many development officers are not properly trained to recognize signs of dementia and Alzheimer’s, and soliciting gifts from donors when they are not of sound mind or body can result in lawsuits and other reputational issues for an institution. Join us online to learn how to recognize signs of dementia, and gain 10 tools for managing and engaging donors who are exhibiting these signs. Our expert instructor will share a variety of case study examples, leaving you equipped to deal with any delicate situations you encounter with your aging donors.
Many campuses only become aware of hazing issues after a crisis, prompting a reactive approach to fix the problem. Hazing prevention initiatives are not new, but often fall flat because they do not take into account the underlying cultural change that must occur to address this systemic challenge. Join us to learn how to implement a framework that encompasses a community-based, long-term, comprehensive approach to hazing prevention. Using a case study format, we will highlight an award-winning program that was able to address the roots of hazing activities to effect a campus-wide shift in culture.
Are you losing students because your value proposition to prospective students and parents simply communicates price? Agenda Introduction Value defined Key perceptions of value (considerations for prospective audience) Key components of value Data gathering Internal sources (surveys, post-graduation plans) External sources (organizations, 3rd party studies) Applying value and data to message 10 key strategic questions in value communication Venues for message delivery Stories that convey value Communication tactics from a variety of institutional contexts Final thoughts and keys moving forward
Online instruction continues to thrive, but instructors and designers struggle to develop effective forms of online assessment. How can an instructor know if students are meeting course objectives or achieving area competencies if tests and quizzes are not primary assessments? How can you ensure academic integrity and curb online cheating? What other forms of assessment are particularly effective in an online environment? Join us online to learn how to design and develop assessment tools in online instructional environments. Our expert instructor will share examples of assessment questions and how to improve them.
Don’t waste your institution’s time and resources. Lay the groundwork for a successful MOOC offering. Agenda Introduction of Experts and Institutional Objectives Vanderbilt University The University of Texas at Arlington – Undergraduate Nursing Program Developing a Plan Institutional goals and objectives Obtaining internal buy-in Identifying measures to success Selecting instructors, courses, and term structure Selecting a partner (or not) Financial cost and sustainability Preparing Your Institution Academic governance Administrative connections Accreditation Technology Course development and compensation Takeaways
Once you have defined your institution’s strategic messages and found your leader’s voice, the next task for your speechwriting assignment is to get words on the page. But knowing how to keep your listeners’ attention can be especially challenging when you aren’t a full-time speechwriter. Join our expert instructor, Chuck Toney, online for easy-to-implement tips on how to effectively incorporate technical and rhetorical tactics into your next speechwriting assignment. You will learn how to prepare the physical text of the speech and how to add impact through devices such as repetition, alliteration, rhythm, and emphasis. You will also leave the session with three types of speeches every campus speechwriter should have ready for delivery.
The human and technological resources needed to ensure student success online are expensive to acquire and difficult to maintain. Consequently, institutions must make data-driven decisions about where to invest their resources. However, the data needed to inform such choices can be hard to isolate and are subject to misinterpretation given the complexities and constantly changing characteristics of online education. Examine how you can use metrics to better support retention efforts and improve the success rates of your online students. This webcast will address the use of data for modeling and prediction, and evaluating the effectiveness of interventions, including: Data available to your institution Mechanisms for obtaining data Conclusions that can and cannot be drawn from data about your retention and success initiatives Identifying at-risk students through analysis of predictive behaviors Using interventions to help reduce the risks Monitoring the interventions for effectiveness
Selecting a learning management system (LMS) is a complex endeavor that requires spending hundreds of hours vetting different options; balancing the competing needs of faculty, students, and administrators; and making a multi-year commitment. Join us online as our instructor walks you through the crucial steps for selecting an LMS on your campus. Having recently selected a new solution for his own campus, Tom Cavanagh will share a collaborative process for vetting, evaluating, and selecting the right LMS for your institution. You will leave this webcast with proven approaches and key considerations to effectively guide your selection. While this program will help you better understand the process for selecting an LMS, it is not intended to help you evaluate your current system or explore features within specific platforms.
Career services are one of the most requested resources from alumni. Capitalize on this interest by expanding your online offerings to include a live and recorded webinar series. Join us online to learn how you can develop a low-cost, online, career programming series that engages your alumni as both participants and presenters. Through a showcase of the program at Georgetown University, our expert instructor will share information and advice around the key components of an alumni career services webinar series, including: Choosing a platform to deliver your webinars Selecting the right topics to interest your alumni Recruiting and managing engaging presenters to deliver your content Marketing your programming appropriately Assessing your programming
Effectively balancing both the immediate and long-term institutional goals of space efficiency requires a sophisticated understanding of all campus space. Yet, many space administrators continue to work with rudimentary databases that reveal little beyond room type, location, and square footage. Administrators who are able to redefine and allocate space according to room condition, technology specifications, occupancy, and other telling characteristics possess the sophisticated data necessary to cut through challenging political barriers and become better advocates for the existing space on their campus. Join us for an online training that walks through the process of building and implementing a robust space database that provides the information to drive data-informed decisions on your campus. You will leave with key considerations and an overarching framework for transforming your space tracking techniques in developing a strategic space model for your institution.
Does general education represent a canon of knowledge, a set of skills, readiness for a student’s major, or simply a certain number of credits? These questions, along with increasing employer demands and student expectations for developing necessary competencies make it imperative to carefully assess your institution’s general education program. However, general education is difficult to assess because students’ core competencies can be obtained through various pathways. Join your colleagues in this webcast to discuss various methods for assessing the goals and quality of general education. Our expert instructor will focus on using low cost, low effort, turn-key tools to assess general education. This assessment approach, if done effectively, leads to improved student learning and addresses the skills gap that employers demand.
