At the University of Leeds in England, students taking classes in the Roger Stevens Lecture Theatre sit at small, trapezoid-shaped tables on tiered levels, working on group projects on a laptop connected to a video-sharing system. At the University of Hong Kong, students meeting at the Chi Wah Learning Commons collaborate with classmates on joint […]
Describe how higher education HR is run today and how it should be run in the future. Brad Saffer: It is very fragmented. There is a unique range of employees in higher education. Within some of these groups—tenured faculty, adjunct staff, administrators and office staff—are both union and nonunion employees. The hiring and onboarding processes […]
When adjunct faculty assembled in November 2017 at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, it wasn't for curricula conversation. Instead, after voting to form a union earlier in the year, they were rallying for better pay. The instructors called for more advancement opportunities and greater recognition of their contributions to the institution. Adjuncts made headlines […]
Thousands of students, faculty, staff and alumni visit the Student Union at Oklahoma State University each day and take advantage of a large number of available retail services. For Mitch Kilcrease, who is assistant vice president and director of the Student Union, something was missing: a printing and parcel shop. "I felt there was potential […]
Keeping employees engaged while minimizing turnover is a crucial component of institutional success, but unfortunately many colleges and universities are hampered by a culture of disengagement. Recent studies have found that many faculty members and other employees feel they are not engaged with their work. How can higher ed leaders address this common challenge by […]
Form a benefits committee. At Lawrence University in Wisconsin, a benefits advisory committee works with an insurance broker to contain costs and determine the best plan designs while providing competitive employee benefits. The committee, which is chartered by the president, includes several administrators from finance and HR along with two faculty members. “The committee is […]
A January memorandum issued by Richard Griffin, the current general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board, has further stoked long-running debate over whether university students should be deemed "employees" who can assert collective bargaining rights under the National Labor Relations Act. The issue has particular significance for schools with high-profile football or other athletic […]
MONTCLAIR, New Jersey—Montclair State had been a university for only a few years when Susan Cole took over as president in 1998. She wanted the job—her second presidency—because she saw vast, untapped potential on the campus of 12,000 students. She also felt certain that she could, pretty quickly, ensure the institution lived up to its […]
American higher education in 2016 faced increased pressure on performance—from students with high expectations and an economy in need of qualified workers. Colleges and universities were also being pushed to eliminate administrative and academic silos to help students of all ages and backgrounds succeed. Here’s a look back at what made headlines in higher ed […]
Over the last three years, adjuncts at 46 colleges joined the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Among the latest are those at Duke, University of Southern California, Northeastern and Hillsborough Community College. Problems involving adjunct salaries and benefits have been festering for years. Compare tenured professors who command six figures to adjuncts who average $2,700 […]
