A group of universities have banded together to offer a low-cost course management software alternative; commercial vendors compete with new applications.
"On a lot of campuses, purchasing is the whipping boy," says Victoria Windley, director of Procurement Services at University of Delaware. "But not here."
Many institutions today realize that they have to utilize technology to go beyond service and more towards personalizing and extending their relationship with students. The ambition now is to create an environment that strengthens the connection to students and other clients that is open and alive. And, it requires the judicious use of two-way communications, coupled with the database and information processing power to keep track of the relationships.
Rising energy prices are spurring university and college administrators to take steps to cut costs, ensure adequate power, and implement energy-saving initiatives in an increasingly technological-dependent campus environment.
If online education is such a lucrative opportunity, why do so many distance learning projects fail? That's the key question many universities are struggling to answer as they prepare their budgets for the 2004-2005 academic year.
In spite of rising food costs, off-campus competition, and finicky students, dining directors are finding innovative ways to please their 'customers' while making a healthy profit.
Keeping students well fed can add significant revenue to an institution's bottom line. However, before food service can be the cash cow that everyone expects and desires it to be, experts say it must be operated as a business and not as a peripheral auxiliary service.
