Editor's Note

How committed are colleges and universities to sustainability and climate change--even at a time when such things as record enrollments combined with budget cuts and furloughs top most people’s list?

As you’ll read in this month’s annual “green” issue, the sustainability movement is not only alive and well on campus, but it is also exceeding many expectations.

The story you are about to read is true. Only the names (of the schools) have been changed to protect the innocent.

My son Nick will graduate high school in June and the early months of this year have been spent applying for aid, completing applications, sending in fees, and all the other fun stuff that goes with applying to college.

Last month I had the pleasure of participating in a "Meet the Media" panel at the 29th Annual CUPRAP (College and University Public Relations Association of Pennsylvania) Spring Conference at the Hotel Hershey.

We know you do it. You've told us that you do. Wait—before you get the wrong idea, what I'm referring to is passing around your copy of University Business magazine to colleagues who don't receive it themselves. (What did you think I was talking about?)

University Business is a controlled circulation publication, meaning that it mails to a qualified list of subscribers. That enables us to continue to offer it to you free of charge.

Mark your calendar for EduComm 2010, which returns to Las Vegas, June 7-9. This year's conference promises to be more informative, more cutting edge, and more value-packed than ever.

We asked members of The EduComm Institute to help us plan the 2010 conference program and they delivered. As a result, this year more than ever, the program features the topics and speakers that you told us you want to see.

We're starting the new year by announcing a new recognition program here at University Business, a program that honors those administrative departments that have found a way to work smarter and better. We call it Models of Efficiency, and it gets to the heart of what University Business is all about, a message that is reflected in our tag line, "Solutions for Higher Education Management."

WITH THE TECHNOLOGY ADVANCES THAT have been introduced in higher education in the last decade we should be well on the way to realizing the ideal of the 21st century connected campus, right?

Not so fast.

IT MAY BE PREMATURE TO SAY for sure, but there have been encouraging signs lately from the economic world that the global economy is slowly being revived. We’re far from out of danger, but various indicators suggest that a light is faintly visible at the end of the tunnel.

THAT HEADLINE ISN’T A RIDDLE. Maybe a better question is, should there be guidelines as to what the word “college” means?

IT WAS A GREAT EXPERIENCE MEETING with many University Business readers last month at EduComm 2009 in Orlando. Attendance was strong—considering the economy—the venue was great, and we appreciated hearing your ideas and your concerns. We don’t want that interaction to end.