Six Practical Solutions for Racial Tensions on Campus
Almost five years ago, the Department of Education issued its “Dear Colleague” letter on Title IX and sexual violence. The letter was a not-so-subtle reminder that Title IX requires federally funded educational institutions to prevent sexual harassment and violence. After that, the day-to-day work of many higher education attorneys and...
Using Social Media for Learning
The power of social media comes from its ubiquity and its ease of use, making the various social media platforms ideal ways to engage students in learning outside the classroom or learning management system (LMS). This can make learning a much more immediate, 24/7 kind of experience.
Starting a Pedagogy Book Club
One simple way of creating a forum conducive to professional development among faculty is the establishment of a pedagogy book club.
Using Formal Program Review for Continuous Improvement
Drexel University uses a Program Alignment and Review (PAR) process to help ensure relevance, quality, and measurable achievement of its academic programs. It’s a formal review process that includes a self-study, external review, and action plan.
Bringing Online Programs to Small Institutions
Small institutions face their own unique set of challenges when it comes to starting online programs. Here's how to succeed.
Promoting Work-Life Satisfaction
Whether it’s caring for a child or an ailing parent, participating in community activities, or pursuing a hobby, faculty members have and deserve lives beyond work. Formal policies, which vary across disciplines, are important, and academic leaders should actively promote such policies and programs because they can significantly affect faculty...
Promoting an Innovative Culture within a Department
Part of being a transformational leader is giving credit for effort and success rather than punishment. Offering faculty credit creates a sense of ownership, which can be a strong motivator.
Creating Military-Friendly Marketing for Online Programs
Members of the military are a sought-after population for distance education programs. These adult students have a built-in aid budget for taking courses, and they might be quite motivated to complete their studies. Reaching them through advertising, however, remains a challenge.
Civility on Campus: A Controversy Over Being Nice
There is a strong relationship between workplace civility climate and employee attitudes and experiences. Research on workplace incivility has clearly demonstrated that employees and organizations experience detrimental outcomes from experiencing and witnessing such mistreatment.
Purdue and Kaplan: A Good Business Deal That May Hurt Students
In late April, Purdue University, a selective-admission public university, shocked the higher education community (including its own faculty) by announcing that it had purchased a large chunk of for-profit Kaplan University. The purchase would give Purdue an immediate, mostly-online operation consisting of 32,000 students, 15 physical locations, and 3,000 employees....