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.
Third party vendors can provide a wide array of expertise, specifically in increasing the enrollment and capacity of universities’ online offerings. However, extracting the most value from these partnerships requires developing an effective and lasting framework. Diligent preparation and a comprehensive approach allow your institution to take advantage of vendor partnerships while avoiding unnecessary costs. Join us for an online training to learn strategies that will help you develop a framework for successfully partnering your institution with third party vendors. We will discuss: Institutional readiness Negotiating the contract Partnership management
Learn how integrating information literacy into your first-year experience programs can improve student success. Agenda After providing a brief overview of the first-year experience movement, our expert instructor will share practical tips and advice on the following aspects of information literacy programs: Developing shared goals Information literacy outcomes Role of the entire campus Student development theory Integrating creative partnerships Institutional examples Involving parents and advisors Designing your curriculum Faculty-lead seminars Embedding librarians in first-year seminars
It may seem difficult to both balance space management in your academic library and continue to cultivate a thriving general collection that meets the needs of 21st century faculty and students. However, strong weeding and storage policies offer an effective way to meet both aims. The key is to move beyond just reviewing circulation data and integrate user input to inform your general collection management. Join us for a webcast that explores how to seamlessly integrate data and user input into your library’s storage and weeding policies. You will leave with five key takeaways and a plan for establishing policies that ensure the viability of your general collection in a way that nurtures the relationship between your library and its most important stakeholders.
Learn how you can create social-media-based experiential learning activities that improve student engagement. Agenda Friday, October 25, 2013 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. EDT Integration of social media into curriculum and privacy concerns Creating experiential learning using different types of social media Best practices and effective uses of social media Live discussion Google+ for conducting office hours Google Hangouts for guest lecture/incorporating expert speakers Facebook Streaming media Spreaker for experiential exercises SoundCloud for weekly podcasts updates YouTube Content curation Pinterest/Scoop.it Storify Real Time Networking Twitter Facebook
As institutions increasingly leverage mobile learning, certain critical questions are emerging as to how to best manage, distribute, and maintain these mobile devices. Join us online to examine different models and determine which ones may work for you. Using several institutional examples, we’ll answer these important questions: What are some institutional business models for procuring mobile devices? How do you ensure quality and set standards for these devices? How might management strategies differ depending on the mobile devices being used?
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.
Advancement shops are increasingly turning to predictive models to assess their donor pools and ensure that their most valuable donors are receiving the appropriate level of attention. Despite this trend, many front-line fundraisers are still unclear about what predictive modeling is, how it can be leveraged in their everyday work, and how to calculate a return on investment from the use of predictive models. Join us online to learn the fundamentals of predictive modeling and how your shop can use this model to guide your fundraising strategy. You will hear case studies from institutions across the country that have successfully integrated predictive modeling into their operations.Included in your registration fee is a comprehensive glossary of terms commonly used when discussing predictive analytics.
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.
Empowering students to mentor and advise peers can reduce staff workload and free up resources to be leveraged elsewhere on campus. However, detailed planning is required to ensure that your peer mentor programs seamlessly integrate with your first-year student programs. Before launching a program of your own, you must learn how to effectively: Identify where peer mentors can influence first-year persistence Recruit and train peer mentors Assess your program’s effectiveness Join us to learn how to build a peer mentor component into your first-year student programming. Centered on Longwood University’s model, this webcast will prepare you to design a program that utilizes a team of peer mentors to engage first-year students and positively affect student persistence.
Do you have limited resources for your planned giving program? Students are a low-cost and effective option for reaching out and connecting with your most loyal donors. Join us online as our expert instructor introduces a student calling program that consistently uncovers current leadership giving members and exceptional prospects. Along with gaining a thorough understanding of how to begin such an initiative at your institution, you will learn tactics for: Selecting, motivating, training, and retaining the right student callers Communicating your effort internally and externally Managing handoffs between student callers and professional staff Getting started in a variety of shop settings
To accommodate increasing demands for flexibility from students, many institutions offer online orientations. However, not all online orientations are effective retention tools, and they may be inferior to in-person orientations. Is your online orientation interactive, assessment based, and conducive to learning? You can increase the effectiveness of your online orientation programs by implementing research-supported online instructional strategies. This webcast will help you develop or improve your online orientation with a learner-centered approach to programming for new students. Showcasing sample online orientation activities, our expert instructor will provide tips based on research and practice, so you can develop a more effective and engaging online orientation at your institution.
Learn how students can serve as effective philanthropic ambassadors for your shop. Agenda How are you currently using students in your shop? Institutional context: K-State’s program creation Role of student foundation Primary functions Recruiting and retaining members Breaking down student roles and responsibilities Needs assessment Nominations and application process Interview and selection process Membership retention Professional development for students Creating and shaping your messaging for your program First five steps for starting your own student foundation
Creating a compelling capital campaign brand takes detailed planning and skilled timing. Agenda Branding 101: Understanding what a brand is Linking your institutional and campaign brand Which comes first? Do people give to an institution or to a campaign? How can a campaign brand resonate with and challenge the institutional brand? Examples of complementary institutional and campaign brands 9 creative principles of campaign communications, including: Keep it simple Tell stories Get a personality Getting started: Planning and deploying a brand for your campaign Resourcing a campaign brand Answering three fundamental questions
Mid-career faculty members (tenured-system faculty members) form a large and important component of the academic workforce who experience unique challenges. Academic life has a short career ladder, and many tenured faculty members reach a plateau where opportunities for advancement decline. Further, there has been relatively little research on tenured faculty and on best practices to support tenured faculty members through this extended career stage. Join our expert instructors online to identify the needs, interests, and challenges of tenured faculty members as well as productive practices and recommendations to address them. Featuring the award-winning work done at Michigan State University, this webcast can serve as a starting point for an important conversation within your faculty leadership team.
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
