The smartphone has become ubiquitous on college campuses. In the U.S., some estimates indicate that 95 percent of 18- to 24-years-olds have a smartphone, and that number will continue to grow. Students and instructors use their smartphones every day to communicate with friends, family and colleagues, manage their schedules, consume content, and much more. Their […]
According to a recent survey of auxiliary directors conducted by the National Association of College Stores, we know that the top reason (41 percent) for outsourcing the campus store is to eliminate operational headaches and simplify processes. Those are valid reasons. Managing a retail operation is a complex business—and quite different from other higher education […]
The bold headlines written about free tuition and college debt relief this election season signal that higher education occupies a more prominent place in the 2016 presidential campaign than it has held in past races. The reason? The economy’s better-paying jobs demand more highly skilled employees, while the public and its elected officials expect a […]
All higher education institutions offer employee training and skill development in some form or another. Workshops. Webinars. Mentoring. Coaching. It’s the same-old same-old—but does it have to be? Some schools have observed identical practices for decades. But others believe professional development must constantly evolve, just like employee skills do. They are finding new ways to […]
Programs to help employees purchase housing near campus have gained favor in the past decade, both as an employee benefit and as a tool for community development. Efforts such as Wayne State University’s involvement in Live Midtown in Detroit inspired Eastern Michigan University to develop its own “LiveYpsi” program to boost neighborhood revitalization in Ypsilanti. The […]
A recent survey of alumni of institutions confirmed what every university president knows: when asked who set them on a constructive path, at the top of the list are professors who made them excited about learning, professors who cared about them as persons, encouraged them, mentored them, and directed them in projects—what we call “high touch.” […]
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 […]
The free lunch for marketers is over on social media. Now that Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and, more recently, Snapchat can boast millions of daily users, they can set the prices—and encourage users to pay through the algorithms ruling user feeds. Social media might be about the people, but for the top players it’s about business. […]
It has been demonstrated amply that financial aid leveraging can, under the right circumstances, increase enrollment and net tuition revenue. For some, however, that isn't the case. Enrollment leaders must therefore assess other aspects of recruitment to determine how effectively they are working to build larger, more committed applicant and admit pools, especially when increases […]
There’s a special relationship between decision-makers and benchmarking in higher education. Whether in information technology, marketing or even academics, rarely does anything get done before knowing what other institutions did. In higher education, benchmarking data is often one of the first steps on the path to action. Digital marketing isn’t an exception to this rule. […]
