As costly as tuition and textbooks can be, poor planning and time management can raise the prices even higher. Richard O’Connor, director of financial aid at American International College in Massachusetts, says students at that institution have several options for saving on books. “About half of our students are low income, so just paying tuition […]
The University of Akron in Ohio has selected Scott L. Scarborough, now provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at The University of Toledo, as its next president. At UT, he directed the development of a new strategic plan, "Imagine 2017," and organized a system of "portal colleges" designed to meet the needs of […]
Business office leaders need to balance affordability and access with protecting their institution from bad debt. Reducing student accounts receivable is possible, even when increased enrollment and graduation rates are a priority. This web seminar, originally broadcast on November 14, 2014, featured Loretta Chrzan-Williams, director of student accounts at SUNY Monroe Community College (Rochester, N.Y.), […]
When its credit card fees hit $1.6 million in early 2011, Missouri State University officials decided there must be a better way. “Because it became so common for students and their family members to pay by credit card, the fees became unmanageable,” recalls Doug Willson, the bursar for the 23,000-student institution based in Springfield, Mo. […]
The Education Corporation of America (ECA) is a privately held company which operates private accredited colleges across the country, including 26 campuses and an online program of Virginia College. ECA provides diplomas, associate’s, bachelor’s and master’s degrees in professional programs designed to prepare students for direct entry into the job market. By 2008, the leadership […]
For the students, staff, alumni, and others at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, Calif., remembering multiple user IDs and passwords to log in to numerous applications was a cumbersome experience. Resetting the inevitably forgotten passwords was time-consuming and frustrating as the help desk was not open 24/7. The beginning of each semester, when many people […]
Maintaining frequent contact with student loan borrowers is a challenge at any institution, regardless of size. At the 725-student Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology in Tulsa, Okla., the three-year cohort default rate was commonly between 25 and 27 percent. “Our rate was so high because we had no easy way to communicate electronically with […]
By now, big data and learning analytics are familiar buzz words for anyone working in higher education. Thanks to student information systems (SIS) like Banner and Blackboard, universities collect an ever increasing volume of data about campus life and student performance. But knowing what data to collect and leveraging it for better outcomes is not […]
As violent crime has steadily increased on college campuses in the last three decades, institutional leaders have reacted by creating more stringent policies to restrict visitors from entering their academic, administrative and residential buildings. Along with technology—including surveillance cameras, building access systems and even ID badges with proximity chips that could allow officials to track […]
Around 4,000 boxes of paper records fill the shelves in Central New Mexico Community College’s storage area. And many of these boxes—those containing employee personnel files, for example—must remain in storage for up to 55 years before they can be destroyed. It’s a big reason why CNMCC has embraced electronic records management, says Rebecca Turner, […]
