Americans learned from the timeless wisdom of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: “Education must enable one to sift and weigh evidence, to discern the true from the false, the real from the unreal, and the facts from fiction.” One of the great challenges of Community, Technical, and County Colleges is to provide quality, affordable higher learning […]
Once meant to supplement full-time and tenured faculty, adjunct faculty were often viewed as “the others.” But times and economics have changed and this contingent force has become the majority of faculty in American higher education. One result of this shift is a new push to unionize adjunct professors for better pay, benefits and working […]
Editor's Note: University Business welcomes the insights and opinions of educators and administrators on all topics. If you would like to contribute or respond to a guest column, please contact Tim Goral at [email protected]. As an executive compensation attorney, I represent college and university presidents in their contract negotiations. As I have written in the […]
When Susan Stuebner became president of Colby-Sawyer College in New Hampshire in 2016, she faced a $4 million operating loss and a projected $2.6 million deficit for the following year. Stuebner made significant changes: She cut five majors, laid off employees and, in one of her first moves, initiated financial training for the board of […]
The growth of a 194-acre tropical rainforest sometimes forces the 48-member University of Hawai'i at MÄnoa's grounds crew to cut down branches and vines overrunning the institution's Harold L. Lyon Arboretum, just 5 miles away. "Everything grows faster here and does so 365 days a year," says Roxanne Adams, the university's director of buildings and […]
Where do campuses fall short on groundskeeping and landscaping, and what misconceptions do administrators outside of facilities departments have about groundskeeping? "An important piece in efficient management of groundskeeping and landscaping is getting the correct tools, equipment, parts and services in a timely manner and, ideally, staying within budget. Through cooperative purchasing programs, colleges and […]
Beyond food pantries, higher education needs more substantial changes in the structure of food service to accommodate new student populations—many more low-income students, part-time “post-traditional” students attending in new patterns, and traditional students facing increasing financial challenges with rising costs of attendance.
Annual performance reviews are shunned for good reason. Your boss tells you everything you did right—but mostly wrong—over the past year, subjectively rates your performance, and then identifies areas you need to improve. Many higher education institutions question the wisdom of this antiquated approach and are exploring alternatives. Some are abandoning ratings while others are […]
Governors State University in Illinois opened in the 1970s as one of a handful of two-year “upper division” schools for students finishing their degrees. It quickly proved unsustainable as far as attracting students and providing a complete education experience. In Leading Academic Change: Vision, Strategy, Transformation (2018, Stylus Publishers), the university’s president, Elaine Maimon, discusses […]
Continued binge drinking and destructive student behavior have driven higher ed leaders to refine off-campus behavior policies. Parents have also asked for more off-campus supervision as students post legally dubious antics online. Many policies give the institution room to discipline students for off-campus behavior, but clears them of legal obligations to do so. “In the […]
