One of the ways we spread the word about our Models of Efficiency program stories—and honor the campus administrative departments who have recently gotten recognized for their efforts—is in person at the NACUBO Annual Meeting in July. This year’s conference was held in National Harbor, Md., and the Models of Efficiency awards dinner, hosted by program sponsor Higher One, took place at the Westin Washington National Harbor hotel’s Sauciety American Grill.
Articles: Operational Efficiencies
8/27/2012
At Rollins College (Fla.), we’re always looking for new ways to enhance student learning experiences. A signature feature of liberal arts schools is the intimacy and strength of engagement in the classroom. With this philosophy, you might assume that virtual classrooms don’t have a place at Rollins. But technology’s role in higher education isn’t synonymous just with distance learning and online courses.
8/27/2012
A third of all colleges and universities in the United States are in a weaker financial state today than before 2005, according to a new study.
Colleges have more liabilities, higher debt service, and increasing expenses without the revenue or cash reserves to back them up, as well as limited ability to pass costs onto families, according to Boston-based Bain & Co.
8/27/2012
Every college or university student financial aid office produces reports—tons of them—specific to their particular institution. However, some reports are common to all.
8/27/2012
The maxim “publish or perish” may be associated with the way faculty operate, but financial aid office administrators would likely agree it describes their situation, as well. Rather than publishing academic work, these employees are tasked with producing reports critical to their continued operations. And as anyone who has worked in student financial aid for even just a few years will vouch, the number of reports they’re running has become a veritable deluge.
7/13/2012
When applying for any of the more than 200 institutional scholarships at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, whose worldwide campus is based in Daytona Beach, Fla., students used to complete an online form and then spend time gathering an essay and 15 to 20 pages of additional hardcopy documentation. Financial aid staff then sorted and filed it all away in physical file folders.
7/13/2012
Adjunct faculty members are an important resource on campuses, supplementing full-time faculty course offerings and making it possible for students to complete required courses on time. But until the fall of 2011, adjuncts and full-time faculty teaching additional courses were causing a tremendous drain on resources at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College, located in Green Bay.
7/13/2012
Blessed by rising enrollments and increased faculty hiring but burdened by flat IT staffing, Old Dominion University (Va.) officials took a hard look at both its ERP system and itself in hopes of addressing a simple but hugely significant issue. “We framed the basic question as, Is it Banner or is it us?” recalls Bob Fenning, vice president for administration and finance.
7/13/2012
Before August 2011, Texas A&M Health Science Center Facilities & Construction office (FCO) employees frequently used hand-written notes to record and track building problems reported on its eight campuses. Faculty, students, staff, and visitors used a variety of methods to report problems, including phone calls, email, and catching someone in the hall to request help.
7/13/2012
There doesn’t seem to be anything higher education can’t break apart and dump into silos. Even technology, which was supposed to help integrate things and eliminate duplicate, wasteful efforts we all loathe, isn’t immune to the practice.
7/13/2012
The amount of money that gets routed around a campus without cash ever exchanging hands is enormous. Recording those exchanges is vital for accounting, but often cumbersome. “Universities do a fair amount of chargebacks for their operations,” observes Rich Van Den Hul, vice president for business and financial affairs at Western Washington University. “The copy center is a good example. Facilities work. IT work. So there’s a lot of transactions.”
7/13/2012
The purchase of textbooks and other educational materials before the start of the semester has numerous benefits: Students are better prepared heading into classes; faculty can begin teaching from the books immediately; and the bookstore is less crowded during that first manic week. But for students on financial aid at Western Washington University, where funding is disbursed on the first day of class, being well prepared came at a price.
7/13/2012
California State University, San Bernardino used to receive approximately 600 completed scholarship applications for the 200 or so on-campus scholarships. On average, 300 additional applications were initiated but never completed. Those were lost opportunities, in part due to the arduous application process, says Louise Jones, financial aid advisor and scholarship coordinator.
7/13/2012
There’s a reason someone coined the term “too many cooks in the kitchen.” Northern Arizona University’s Extended Campuses division—with 36 locations plus numerous online offerings—has enjoyed rapid growth in enrollment, pressuring the division’s software development team to keep up with rising demand for student services, course management, prospect tracking, and staff support.
5/29/2012
It’s no trade secret that there is a growing trend of colleges using developers to construct student housing. A number of universities, particularly public institutions, are finding it advantageous to work with large real estate developers.
However, based on my years of experience, the advantages of working with private developers go well beyond public universities and construction of student housing.
