Thirty percent of higher ed students today are the first in their family to attend college, while 24 percent—4.5 million—are both first-generation and low-income. That means a significant portion of students is at risk of dropping out, as National Center for Education Statistics data shows that only 11 percent of low-income, first-generation students graduated within […]
While some schools operate aging HR systems that can't perform key tasks, others are looking ahead to their next technology purchase. Towers Watson, a global consulting firm in Dallas, conducted two surveys last year looking at human resources technology trends. In the first survey, 41 percent of the 1,000 responding organizations (including colleges and universities) said […]
You've tamed Twitter, made inroads with Instagram and finessed Facebook. Now you can take a break from keeping up with the social networking habits of college students, right? Think again. While a few colleges are still trying to grasp the intricacies of the top social platforms, early adopters have been exploring other platforms for communications […]
There's an old joke about business schools, which see more than their share of facility upgrades: As soon as the b-school vacates its old quarters to move into a new building, every other school in the university is vying for the vacant space. The attractions are many. There are the technology-rich, active learning environments designed […]
Students and faculty at higher education institutions prefer to access information about courses and the campus community on-the-go. And the best mobile apps are seamlessly integrated with all of an institution's information infrastructure. This web seminar, originally broadcast on May 6, 2014, featured an enrollment administrator who discussed the major considerations when connecting the campus […]
A public healthcare crisis thrust Southern Methodist University into the spotlight in September when a Liberian man visiting Dallas was diagnosed with the Ebola virus. The hospital where Thomas Eric Duncan was treated and later died—Texas Health Presbyterian—is less than four miles from SMU's campus. It's a facility where students are transported for emergency medical […]
Stable, reliable and adaptable. Those are the key descriptors for a successful learning management system. When the current LMS doesn't provide a needed functionality, schools can often add new features or configurations to achieve the desired outcome. But in some cases, it's time to scrap the old system. "Universities change on a dime; they're constantly […]
The temperature around higher education unionizing efforts often runs hot. Officials are reluctant to have outside labor groups on campus or to relinquish control over important personnel decisions—including pay, benefits and other sensitive employee issues. But should higher ed leaders fear unionization efforts? One primary area of worry for institutions whose employees are beginning to […]
In the 1990s, Al Gore warned the public about the consequences of global warming. Though Gore may not have been the father of campus recycling nor the Internet, he and other like minded politicians placed the environmental public policy ball in play within the executive and legislative branches of Federal and State governments. At first, some […]
Each year, the market for tenure-eligible faculty positions becomes more and more competitive, and a greater number of newly minted Ph.D. graduates struggle to find a job. The U.S. annually produces about 70,000 new doctoral graduates, representing a significant investment of time and money by both the students and their universities. Considering that cost, and […]