In her 2014 State of the University of New York Address, Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher launched Open SUNY, a systemwide distance learning consortium. Over the near term, it will reduce the time it takes to complete a degree, course or certificate. What is especially distinctive about Open SUNY is that it is one of the […]
Workforce development has long been a bastion of the community college environment. But with student-loan debt topping $1 trillion and enrollments falling, many four-year colleges and universities are devoting more attention to the area, in part as a way to boost their own relevance within a challenging global economy. Because these programs tend to be […]
With funding cuts, falling enrollments and increased competition from MOOCs and other low-cost online programs, higher education has been under enormous pressure in recent years. But pressure often leads to positive change, and many schools are looking at continuing education as an ideal area for that change. Approached strategically, CE offers an untapped opportunity to […]
While details of President Obama's college affordability proposals are not fully known, what is clear is that higher education is going under the microscope to prove its value. Add to that a growing chorus of pundits who believe that a liberal arts education is a waste of time and a relic of the past. But […]
How many members of your faculty would enjoy teaching the same courses, day in and day out, throughout a 30-, 40- or even 50-year career? Not many. Staying motivated and intellectually challenged is not always possible at schools where promotions or lateral career moves are rare. Faculty may find themselves disengaged, even downright bored, teaching […]
The challenges for executives operating state-wide higher education Systems and the flagship research universities within those Systems have grown more baffling with each passing year. From UMass and UNC to LSU, Wisconsin, and Oregon, we hear regularly about frustrated and embroiled leadership. Public Systems have always been subject to strains, both within themselves and beyond, […]
In the epic Hunger Games trilogy, Katniss learns that to survive, it is not enough to know where to be—it is just as important to know where not to be. For higher education, this means knowing what programs to curtail, and what markets to stay out of. Many institutions need to reduce their reliance on […]
The high and rising cost of education, coupled with a vast range of low-cost options flooding the marketplace, has impelled much of higher education into an "adapt or die" mindset. This is relatively uncharted territory for many institutions. But what they may or may not realize is that a pocket of wisdom might be found […]
The tenure process remains instrumental to universities in maintaining academic freedom and in soliciting the country's top minds to forgo employment in industry and seek employment in higher education. However, the system has evolved overtime, and so have the requirements for making and holding onto tenure. At the same time, the economic crisis of the […]
Many small institutions wrestle with the annual assessment of how to manage routine capital projects. A backlog of deferred maintenance items can further complicate planning. And the process often feels next to impossible when you consider ongoing discussions of how to add, renovate or replace student centers, housing, wellness or recreation facilities and academic buildings […]
