Two- and four-year colleges across the nation have plugged the black hole of remediation with a range of programs designed to keep students enrolled while steering them toward greater levels of success. Some institutions have upgraded their assessment process to ensure incoming students take placement exams seriously and aren’t assigned a higher (or lower) level […]
The skill set required for today's top jobs in higher education has never been more extensive or demanding. Boards of Trustees are looking for leadership in several areas: academic authority, fundraising ability, public relations and media savvy, legal and political sensitivity, as well as ease of movement between constituent groups—alumni, students, faculty, parents, donors, business […]
One of the more demanding jobs in higher ed belongs to the provost—the chief academic officer. With ever-widening fields of responsibility, the position often consists largely of on-the-job training. James Martin and James Samels, authors of UB’s online “Future Shock” column, expect their new book will help change that. The Provost’s Handbook: The Role of […]
Higher education has a long history of collaboration among institutions. Today, colleges and universities are leveraging the power of that collaborative spirit to bring high-capacity bandwidth to the market’s most insatiable users: traditional college-age students. That technology hunger is evident in how each student not only has multiple devices but is likely to be using […]
Loan default rates and an expanding focus on student success have made strong student financial literacy efforts a higher ed norm. But as students and their parents continue to grapple with paying for school, money management lessons from colleges are becoming a family affair. “Encouraging students and their families to communicate about financial responsibilities and […]
Being recognized as a “beautiful campus” goes beyond just having curb appeal. In fact, institutions that are consistently chosen for so-called “most beautiful college campuses” rankings put a lot of resources and effort into demonstrating a correlation between campus aesthetics and academic reputation. For many, that commitment is paying off. The allure of an attractive […]
The academic landscape is fraught with risk—everything from hazardous chemicals and internal fraud, to flu outbreaks and budget shortfalls. It seems obvious that any college or university would invest effort to identify and rank its current top risks, if just to assign the right level of attention and resources to each. Yet many academic institutions […]
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 […]
Increasing enrollment is a priority for many institutions. The race is on to create a marketplace distinction in order to attract new students and to retain current students. As if this challenge weren’t enough, colleges and universities are faced with rising costs, reduced endowments and smaller budgets. As campus leaders look for ways to leverage […]
Today’s incoming freshmen who have never shared a room want more privacy than previous generations of dorm dwellers would have ever expected. And many students now are especially not eager to share bathrooms with an entire hallway of classmates. Of course, turbo-charged Wi-Fi is essential—and air-conditioning, cable TV, game rooms, kitchens, cafes and even a […]
