Decades ago, U.S. Sen. Claiborne Pell eloquently stated: "The strength of the United States is not the gold in Fort Knox or the weapons of mass destruction we have, but the sum total of the education and character of our people." Shortly thereafter, Pell backed up his statement by sponsoring legislation to provide grants to […]
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 […]
Community colleges have achieved the goal of providing broader and cheaper access to higher education. Now, experts and administrators say, the focus must turn more aggressively toward student success and completion.
In an era when prospective students and their parents can learn about hundreds of schools from the comfort of their homes, the in-person campus tour offers a golden opportunity to tip the scales in your favor. The tour is also the most influential factor in enrollment decisions, according to a 2012 Noel-Levitz study. But too […]
Located in downtown Manhattan, the 23,000-square-foot Innovation Center at The New School is an AV-intensive facility that's open 24/7. The flexible space has become a hub for collaborative, cross-disciplinary learning for the institution's nearly 10,000 students, who are spread out on a fragmented urban campus. CHALLENGE New School officials wanted to create a destination where […]
Criminal justice professor and public safety expert Robin Engel's extensive background working with both law enforcement and community advocates should give plenty of credibility to her leadership of the police reform initiative launched by University of Cincinnati after an officer-involved shooting near campus this summer. Engel was promoted—to vice president for safety and reform—so she […]
The notion of doing more with less—less budget, less time, fewer resources—has been the mantra in many IT departments for some time. But the institution leaders gathering at this year's EDUCAUSE Annual Conference are now more concerned with: "How can I do something different to get more value with the resources I have?" This shift […]
Academia's cyber preparedness (or lack thereof) has received less media attention than that of certain retailers and financial institutions, but nonetheless the cyber risks confronting universities are pervasive and alarming. Consider recent breaches suffered by educational institutions. At the University of Maryland, an outside source gained access to a secure records database that held information […]
In an effort to best serve a population of over 60,000 students on four campuses, business office leaders across the University of Colorado system (CU) recently decided to evaluate their options to determine if a more efficient payment plan solution existed. They needed a program that could meet the diverse needs of individual students, who […]
Ten years ago Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and many other Gulf coast communities. Homes destroyed. Businesses underwater. Tulane University's uptown and downtown campuses were flooded, dispersing students, faculty and staff around the country. Yet, within months the university opened its doors to more than 12,000 students and 5,000 faculty and staff for the spring […]
