Office Hours With EAB

EAB’s Earl Sires and Mike Laracy examine the “digital sprawl” problem that plagues many college campuses and discuss tips and tools for cutting through all that complexity. Rather than relying on overworked programmers and statisticians, the two urge campus leaders to use an education data platform to tame the sprawl and facilitate direct access to the data by those tasked with making strategic decisions. They also demystify terms like predictive modeling and identify use cases that illustrate how critical advanced data analytics can be to establishing a more effective, data-informed culture at your school.

Joel Spiess explains how the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee uses retention grants to close equity gaps and offers tips on how other institutions can establish similar programs.

EAB’s Lilia Shea and Lauren Edmonds examine factors limiting the growth of undergraduate and graduate-level nursing programs despite strong demand. The two urge leaders to build partnerships with regional healthcare providers as a way to supplement faculty ranks and help secure clinical placements for students. They also discuss the value of recruiting future instructors from among the student body and suggest creative ways to recruit, reward, and retain preceptors.

Allison Akalonu joins Matt Sheldon to discuss ways to fix the broken transfer system. The two point to data showing the precipitous decline in transfer enrollments and explore ways to identify and fix institutional barriers that frustrate students and cause them to look elsewhere for a more receptive landing spot. They also offer guidance on better ways to engage students at every stage of the transfer funnel by using technology and human touch points more effectively.

Dr. Brian Reed and Zach Rossmiller from the University of Montana join EAB’s Pavani Reddy to discuss a new initiative their institution has launched to help Native American students succeed. The three discuss initial learnings from the project, dubbed “Data for Student Equity,” which is funded in part by a grant from the Gates Foundation. The project enables university leaders to access and analyze data creatively to identify institutional and financial obstacles preventing Native American students from earning their degrees. While there is still much work to be done, new approaches are being developed at the university that could be replicated by other institutions to positively impact enrollment, retention, and career success for all students.

EAB’s Brooke Thayer is joined by Dr. Janet Greenwood who leads an executive search firm that works primarily with higher education institutions. The two discuss the talent management “whiplash” that higher education leaders experienced as they moved from a cost-containment mindset at the outset of the pandemic to today’s full-on battle to retain and attract employees. Dr. Greenwood touches on everything from leadership transition planning to the unique benefits that higher education institutions can leverage as they compete for talent against private sector enterprises.

The California-based organization, A2MEND, was recently awarded $1.1M to expand their student mentoring program across the state’s 116 community colleges. Dr. Edward Bush and Dr. Abdilmalik Buul, both representing A2MEND, talk to EAB’s Meacie Fairfax about how institutions can create the conditions where Black students, and Black male students in particular, are more likely to succeed both in and outside of the classroom.

EAB’s Sally Amoruso hosts a wide-ranging discussion with influential Arizona State University President, Michael Crow. The two discuss the role of technology in helping institutions serve more students and the value of challenging the kind of antiquated thinking that pervades higher education. Dr. Crow also reminds university leaders that their institution should not be judged by how many students they exclude but by how many they accept and help to succeed.

Keith Ramsdell, VP of Enrollment Management and Marketing at Ashland University and a NAGAP Board member, joins EAB’s Pam Royall to discuss the findings of a new joint survey of graduate admissions leaders. The two highlight things that institutions should be doing differently to recruit students and staff, including giving staff greater flexibility and diversifying their graduate program portfolio to better align with workforce trends.

Northern Arizona University President José Luis Cruz Rivera talks to EAB’s Tom Sugar about creative approaches to narrowing the college access and affordability gap. Under Dr. Cruz Rivera’s leadership, NAU is redoubling its efforts to enroll students from historically underserved populations across the state. NAU also announced plans recently to offer a tuition-free college education for every Arizona resident with a household income of $65,000 or less.