This research focused on identifying a series of successful practices relating to administrative talent management within the higher education setting. The field study included a thorough examination of seven small to mid-size private colleges and universities that have incorporated employee development strategies. These strategies were aimed at…

This study explored the relationship between the degree to which top administrators of four-year colleges and universities that have been effective in implementing and sustaining assessment view the use of assessment and seven components of institutional sensemaking at their institutions. The underlying premise is that outcomes assessment…

Given the prevalence of alcohol and other drug abuse and violence on campuses and in communities, programs and coalitions developed to prevent or intervene in these problems are faced with a challenging and long-term task. While the development of coalitions or campus-based prevention programs is a healthy start, these efforts must be sustained…

Planning from a strategic perspective has been a mainstay of organizational management for decades. Founded in the private sector, strategic planning is now embraced by the nonprofit world as a catalyst for sound resource allocation, transformative decision making, and motivating staff. Student affairs professionals who think, plan, and act…

This concluding chapter provides an example of one institution's strategic plan: mission, vision, values, measured accomplishments, and future goals. The plan was written in 2002 with a five-year time line. Thus, it is possible to assess the results of strategic planning in student affairs.

If a district head or state superintendent wanted to intensify the focus of his curriculum on 21st century skills, he would do well to pay a visit to Tucson's Catalina Foothills School District (CFSD). There on the Arizona city's northeastern edge, educators and administrators have decided to go all in on 21st century skills, and in so doing have…

Higher education institutions and their departments are facing increased demands to document the effectiveness and efficiency of their academic programs, research, and engagement. These demands arise from the various constituents who have vested but not always "compatible" interest in the quality of the work and outcomes of these institutions. The…

This article describes how a school district's use of a transparent tool coalesced support for systemic improvement. The author was looking for a way to push improvement in his 4,000-student school system when he discovered the balanced scorecard, a strategic tool for performance management. The author details how the balanced scorecard helped him…

The purpose of the United States Department of Education's (the Department) Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 "Agency Financial Report" (AFR) is to inform Congress, the President, other external stakeholders, and the American people on how the Department used the federal resources entrusted to it to promote student achievement and preparation for…

Establishing school-based professional learning appears so simple and straightforward during inspiring presentations at summer workshops, but keeping collaborative work focused on teaching and learning in such a way that it produces consistent results is a highly underestimated task. Investigations and experience from a group of researchers at the…

This thesis examined the role of strategic marketing in organizational adaptation to a rapidly changing and competitive external environment among institutions of higher education. Colleges and universities adapt to external pressures as open systems operating within a broader external environment (Bess & Dee, 2008; Keller, 1983). How does…

In recent months, some legislators, government agency officials, segments of the media, and campus administrators have called attention to perceived and proven instances of abuse of the federal student financial assistance programs. Concerns have focused on students enrolling in courses primarily to secure student financial aid funds rather than…

In times of economic uncertainty, community colleges have consistently turned to the experience of past generations as an avenue toward innovation and the modernization of their programs and services. Community colleges have been able to continuously reinvent themselves to serve the ever-changing needs of society. With President Obama's increased…

In accordance with Ohio Amended Substitute House Bill 153, the Chancellor of the Board of Regents submitted to the state Legislature and the Governor an action Plan, developed in consultation with Shawnee State University (SSU) that assures the Shawnee State Supplement will be used to promote the goals of improving course completion, increasing…

The developing field of academic analytics seeks to turn data from educational systems into actionable intelligence for the improvement of teaching and learning. This paper reports on the implementation of analytics in a new medical school with an integrated curriculum and clinical focus. Analytics addressed two challenges in the curriculum:…