Measuring faculty effectiveness has never been a perfect science—and it has always held potential for contention among instructors and administrators. Today, tighter budgets, greater demands in terms of student outcomes and service responsibilities, and a push for hard data increase the pressure to develop fair and accurate evaluation systems. The types of information collected on […]
Every semester, hundreds of freshmen at Champlain College in Vermont gather in a campus meeting room to play the "Game of Life." It's not the traditional board game. Instead, this event simulates financial decisions students will make after graduation. Each student is assigned a salary based on their major and then turned loose in a […]
The cost of college, a daunting concern for many American families, is now the central storyline of a Hollywood movie. In a short-lived summer movie release called The House, Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler, a middle-class couple, open an illegal casino to cope with their personal gamble: how to pay for their daughter's college tuition. […]
Today's college students face stress everywhere they turn, from friend and roommate tensions to financial strains and fear of becoming a victim of school violence. Consider these stats: Nationwide, more than 8 in 10 college students report feeling overwhelmed, and the average student waits two weeks for a college counseling center appointment, according to a […]
The tragic shootings at Florida's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in February triggered a massive reaction by U.S. high school students, capturing the attention of the public and the media in ways students never had before. From rallies and marches to nationwide school walkouts and sit-ins outside congressional offices, many young people are pleading for […]
College admissions teams now go beyond zip codes and SAT scores to micromatch students who are most likely to apply to, enroll in and succeed at their institutions. In this new era, administrators consider everything from a student's interests and non-school activities to what they like on Facebook and how long they spent on the […]
When adjunct faculty assembled in November 2017 at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, it wasn't for curricula conversation. Instead, after voting to form a union earlier in the year, they were rallying for better pay. The instructors called for more advancement opportunities and greater recognition of their contributions to the institution. Adjuncts made headlines […]
Vanderbilt University, with the help of the Boston Consulting Group, conducted a comprehensive internal audit in 2015 to better understand its regulatory compliance costs. With just under 13,000 students, the Nashville university found that compliance cost $146 million in 2013-14, or 11 percent of the school's non-hospital operating budget. The University of North Carolina's 17 […]
Several years ago I participated in a UB article called "Spotlight on Procurement." The focus was on the emerging recognition of procurement as a key strategic contributor to the financial health of a university— rather than simply serving the tactical, back office transaction shop and "compliance cop" roles in which it was historically cast. After […]
Despite the big push for STEM majors and career-focused skills in recent years, the liberal arts seem to be making a resurgence. Liberal arts degree programs in 2016 ranked No. 1 for most completions as well as for the biggest increase in completions, higher ed consulting firm Gray Associates found in a recent analysis of […]
