Imagine being several years into a hardware-based, enterprise Voice over IP phone system installation and still in the first phase of the implementation process. That is exactly the troubling situation the University of Advancing Technology, located in Tempe, Arizona, found itself in spring 2015. “The system was expensive, difficult to configure and had a clunky […]

In the movie The Perfect Storm, a group of intrepid fisherman found themselves in the midst of a colossal and historic storm—a true worst case scenario. Deluged by the overpowering surf, the ship goes down with all hands on deck. Scores of small, faith-inspired tuition dependent colleges are now sensing the turbulent waves under their […]

The purpose of a college education is to give students the wherewithal to thrive in the future. We know that certain skills can quickly become obsolete. We also know, as former President Bill Clinton said, “We are currently preparing students for jobs that don’t yet exist using technologies that haven’t been invented in order to […]

The traditional model of course content creation and distribution—textbooks written by faculty and publisher-produced—is being disrupted. New digital players and learning content formats—such as courseware, open educational resources and adaptive (or personalized) learning—promise lower costs and better outcomes. Based on a recent analysis of the course content ecosystem by the National Association of College Stores, […]

It’s so easy to hit “send.” But experienced human resources professionals know better and are implementing creative strategies to share important news with employees while preventing them from overdosing on information. Although employees are responsible for reading and acting upon messages they receive, some HR professionals are helping them better manage that information. There’s good […]

Pom-poms; a marching band; cheering students; a four-by-two-foot, $25 million ceremonial check—all part of college football halftime. At least they were in November when Micron Technology CEO Mark Durcan presented the check to Boise State University President Bob Kustra, other officials and several delighted students on the 50-yard line. The Micron Technology Foundation’s gift, which […]

As faculty members at a small, tuition-driven private college in the northeast, the familiar refrain of contemporary higher education in shambles rings in our heads. How will our college’s low-endowment—combined with less than optimal name recognition—reconcile with the declining number of high school graduates in our region? How will the arms race of amenities and […]

Remember IBM’s Watson, the star of Jeopardy! a few years back? The computer system learns by examining data and earlier results it provided, then formulating even better answers and results for the next problem. Watson is probably the most well-known example of artificial intelligence, which has come out of research labs and onto college and […]