That Best Most Imperfect Place
A long, tough week has ended -- more or less -- in Boston.
Preventing Evil or Reacting to Evil at the Front Door?
The evil that arrived at the front door of Sandy Hook Elementary School in December 2012 was horrible tragic and morally unbelievable. This tragedy also provided an extremely scary lesson in reacting vs. preventing.
The Risks Ahead
As the federal government, encouraged by the media, looks more closely at college and university sticker prices, the American higher education community must be ready to cooperate where possible and defend itself when necessary.
Four Tech Tools to Increase Student Retention by Fall
What does it take to retain students for four years? There’s probably thousands of ways to optimize your recruitment and post-matriculation processes to keep students from dropping out or leaving your institution for another, in their eyes “better,” school. To start, check out the following software as a service (SaaS) options, and look forward to some excellent ROI.
Larry Penley, President, Thunderbird School of Global Management
Dr. Larry Penley recently became President of the Thunderbird School of Global Management. He's also be come a good friend and supporter of Today's Campus. Larry was one of our first video guests as a panelist speaking about potential implications of gainful employment regulations.
Taking Stock
It has been interesting to watch the reaction to my blogs on higher education each week. Almost all of the comments have been useful. As expected, some deal with the specifics of the topic – the role of alumni and trustees, the need for stronger career centers, and how the election will shape the future direction of higher education – to name a few. Other readers speak more narrowly along political and ideological lines. I thought it might be interesting this week to take stock of what we learned.
College Marketing -- Use Website Analytics to Get More Value From Your Admissions Page, by Barry Lenson
You have a great-looking admissions page on your college website. But do you know how hard is it working for you? How many people visited your page in the last month, for example? Where did they come from? How long did they stay? Did they send you an email from the page or click to download a special report? All college admissions officers can benefit from knowledge like that. And the good news is, that information can be yours if you invest a little time to understand the basics of website analytics.
How to Get More Applications from Every Admissions Email You Send, by Barry Lenson
In today’s post, I would like to share some of the “best practices” that I have learned from leading companies that are generating more profits from their email marketing campaigns. Your admissions office can use these same tactics to generate more inquiries from the emails that you send and, ultimately, more applications too.
Time To Step Back-- The Future of Penn State, by Dr. Brian C. Mitchell
Much has been written lately about Penn State. The crimes committed are horrific and egregious, the administration was arrogant, insular and imperial, and some of the alumni are apologists. A beloved university that defines who they are and what they have become in life has humiliated others. There is no sufficient explanation for the crime, the way it was handled, or the impact that it will have on Penn State's athletic reputation. The media feeding frenzy will undoubtedly continue as the case and its aftermath play out in the court of public opinion on the global stage. There is no escaping what will happen nor in many respects should there be. In short, it is what it is.
Building a Senior Staff: The Burden of Support
As I prepared to take over my duties as president, I sought the advice of a distinguished senior colleague who had experience outside academia and who was used to managing staff as a successful sitting president. I inquired about how best to proceed as I prepared to assume the leadership of an institution. His recommendation intrigued me. My colleague suggested that I seek the resignation letters of each member of the senior staff and place them in a desk drawer until I could make an informed decision about whether they fit into the new team that I would take forward. When asked if he had done so, the president smiled wearily and said simply, “no, but I wish I had.”
How to Attract More Top-Tier Students
As a college admissions officer, you already know how difficult it can be to make your school the final pick of highly qualified students – those who have been accepted by a number of top-tier schools and who have the luxury of choice. How can you become the top choice of those “plum” applicants?
D.A. Benton, President of Benton Management Resources, has spent years helping top executives and politicians improve their effectiveness and impact. In her latest book, The Virtual Executive, she gives practical advice for individuals who want to lead effectively in today’s digital world.
Rob Rokoff is the Vice President of Business Development for LeadiD, where he drives business and channel partnerships for the LeadiD Platform. LeadiD is focused on identifying what Rokoff calls “the missing piece—“ the origination point of leads. Here, Rokoff shared with us the process involved in finding this missing piece, as well as who can benefit from LeadiD’s Platform.
The Need to Lead, by Dr. Brian C. Mitchell
A senior official at a large foundation asked me recently why college and university presidents fail to exert their influence as opinion makers in American society. It is a good question and an important one. Why do higher education leaders govern but seldom lead?
One definition of a president is that they live in a big house and carry a tin cup to search for money. A more accurate analysis might be that presidents have a corporate title working as a 19th Century political boss trying to manage a medieval craft guild.
And therein lies the problem – the job has evolved but...
Dashboard Metrics: Boards of Trustees Grapple with Assessment, by Brian C. Mitchell
Boards of trustees at many American colleges and universities often confuse governance and oversight. They argue that boards have a responsibility to be informed and establish a committee structure that reaches into every aspect of college life. In some cases, committees are under populated because their number exceeds the capacity to populate them based on the size of the board. In other cases, a lack of board discipline overpopulates key committees like Finance because of the professional experience, interest level, or presumed importance of a trustee within the pecking order. Set within the broader parameters of shared governance, however, the overall effect is to create a hodgepodge of protocol and practices likely to produce dissent, confusion and institutional inertia within shared governance.
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