Fans at a University of New Haven football game might notice an odd sideline sight: medical personnel with their heads hunched over smartphones. But these athletic trainers are not checking text messages or updating their Facebook status. Rather, they are monitoring real-time data about the force of their players' on-field collisions. In 2013 the Connecticut […]
Outside the circle of higher ed facilities managers, it's the shiny new campus buildings that get all the glory. Yet what facilities insiders know all too well is that existing buildings are in dire need of attention. Aging buildings, a recent economic downturn and pressure to invest in new construction has led to rising deferred […]
Early-college high schools have inspired a new wave of close collaboration between K12 and higher education as both sides recognize the benefits of better preparing students for the rigors of college life and coursework. High school graduates who've taken college courses and experienced campus life—and who may have collected up to two years' worth of […]
Thirty percent of higher ed students today are the first in their family to attend college, while 24 percent—4.5 million—are both first-generation and low-income. That means a significant portion of students is at risk of dropping out, as National Center for Education Statistics data shows that only 11 percent of low-income, first-generation students graduated within […]
Donald Farish President, Roger Williams University, Rhode Island Topic: Tuition and financial aid Trend: Well over half of the nonprofit private colleges failed to meet either their enrollment or revenue targets this fall. Despite this, I predict that the overwhelming majority of these schools will continue to increase both tuition and discount rates next year, […]
Turbulence in the world of campus finance since the Great Recession has been starting to smooth, but the outlook is hardly pre-recession rosy. Multiple forces are pushing institutions to change from the status quo. Institutions are feeling more pressure to advocate for state higher ed funding, prove their value to students and support the simplification […]
Ohio State, Arizona State, Creighton (Neb.), Bentley (Mass.), George Mason (Va.) and Purdue (Ind.) universities are among the first that have hired Gallup to survey their alumni to gather data on their graduates' well-being and workplace engagement. Findings will be measured against the Gallup-Purdue Index, which launched in May with the goal of creating national […]
From declining numbers of traditional-age high school graduates and changing student demographics, to the overall concern among consumers about the value of a higher education, anxiety will haunt enrollment administrators moving forward. "Last year was a stressful year for many colleges, and it has just exacerbated because of market conditions," says John Lawlor, principal and […]
In many ways, 2015 will look a lot like 2014 with respect to facilities. But there are trends impacting the creation and use of physical space on virtually every college and university campus. Institutions will be curbing new construction activity, getting creative about funding, paying more attention to overdue maintenance, and planning more for mixed-use […]
Baker College is the largest independent not-for-profit college in Michigan and one of the ten largest private colleges in the country, with over 28,000 students across nine campuses, multiple extension campuses and an online program, including its flagship campus in Flint. Managing institutional data and IT systems at such a large college could be challenging […]
