The numbers should unsettle enrollment professionals: College and university enrollment rates have decreased for each of the last four years and nothing indicates a reversal anytime soon. A look at recent headlines reflects this trend: Mary Baldwin College in Virginia and Notre Dame of Maryland University in Baltimore each saw a drop of 5 percent […]
When the economy tanked in 2009, the trustees of Hamilton College in upstate New York made a major investment in the future of admissions practices—they shifted from need-sensitive to need-blind admissions, while remaining a school that promises to meet full need. The trustees of the 1,850-student liberal arts college provided bridge funding of five $500,000 […]
Just as websites morphed from digital brochures into versatile multimedia portals, electronic portfolios have evolved from information repositories to robust tools for showcasing student learning. Now generally referred to as "ePortfolios," these software systems house completed assignments, reflections on learning, photos, creative work and journal entries—all evidence of a student's education. "It is a personal, […]
This fall, travel funded by the student government at Whitman College in Washington state will be taxed based on emissions generated in getting to and from the destination. Passed in February as a two-year pilot program, the rule is likely the first of its kind imposed by a student government at a U.S. college. Students […]
Alumni. That's what alumni association magazines should, to a much greater extent, be about. At least they should if we want them to do better at marketing the university. Marketing is not the only purpose of these publications, of course. But the alumni magazine can be a powerful marketing tool that doesn't conflict with its […]
After six colleges and universities in the Boston Consortium launched a self-insurance program in 2012, healthcare costs at Wheaton College ceased their upward spiral. Health premiums at the small liberal arts college had been increasing by 7 percent annually, but now costs have remained flat for the past four years. "We've changed the trend line […]
Colleges or universities looking to join a higher education consortium have two major options: alliances that are regionally based or those focused on a common goal. Schools that choose to participate in a regional consortium have the advantage of being able to easily meet with other members to discuss common issues. "If I were looking […]
As the 2016 Presidential campaign heats up this summer and the nation looks inward, candidates need to come up to speed in addressing a chronic water crisis in Flint, Michigan and across America. For good reason, this water resource catastrophe has captured the attention of national media and turned Flint into the posterchild for rebuilding […]
Oral Roberts University made headlines recently with news that all first-year students will be required to buy and wear a Fitbit, one of the many fitness-trackers that have come to market in recent years. The device, worn on the wrist, uses an accelerometer to turn movement into digital measurements that can track steps taken, distance […]
Michael R. Nelson says innovation is about much more than just a good idea. It requires finding new ways to combine existing ideas, products and services into something that people will want. At the heart of that process is collaboration. "Most jobs in the real world involve working with other people, often who have different […]
