Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) are often the starting places for conversations about students with disabilities in higher education. Section 504 and the ADA provide mandates for protection from discrimination and provision of reasonable disability accommodations (e.g., sign language…

Whereas campus administrators are faced with relentless demands to acquire new technologies as a means of keeping up with all that the marketplace has to offer, it is necessary to align technology acquisition with institutional goals and activities for enhancing retention, reducing time to degree completion, and raising graduation rates. Universal…

High school students with disabilities are attending colleges and universities in growing numbers, with their rate of college participation doubling in the past twenty years. Students with disabilities in the secondary educational system are protected by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) of 2004, which requires…

Many small institutions face difficulties, and the person who bears the brunt of dealing with those challenges is the college president. While each situation is unique, presidents can learn from the experiences of others, and at the very least, commiserate with each other regarding the challenges they face, especially when their institutions are…

In the late summer of 2008, after the 2007-2008 fiscal year's books had closed, the nation's wealthiest universities were confronted with an unfamiliar sight: single-digit endowment returns. Not since 2003 had Harvard University (Cambridge, Massachusetts), Princeton University (Princeton, New Jersey), or Stanford University (Stanford, California)…

The exit and entry of executive leadership presents a powerful moment. In the exit of leadership, an institution must reflect on both successes and failures. With a contentious exit, as was the case of John Bowen at Nelson College, which is presented in this chapter, the organization needs to understand what precipitated the call for change and…

The concept of actively leading constituents, internal and external, is second nature to many university administrators in most areas, except one: fundraising. For many university presidents and academic deans, it's a part of the job that is not well defined or well understood. They know there is an expectation that private funds will flow into…

At many institutions, the vice president of institutional advancement oversees the functions of development, alumni relations, and marketing and communications. University leaders expect these functions to be integrated and to work hand-in-hand to advance the institution's mission, particularly in the area of private donations. The reality is that…

In the race to be internationally present, colleges and universities seek increasing ways to partner across boundaries. Sometimes, arrangements are loose configurations including ways in which individual student or faculty study-abroad activities have traditionally been initiated; sometimes, they are more integrally connected to core institutional…

Undergraduate transfer is a fact of life. At least 40 percent of students attend more than one institution on their path to a baccalaureate degree. Some students initially attend a two-year college, so transfer is to be expected if they seek a baccalaureate. Two-year college students are not the only ones who transfer. Data from the Beginning…

Faculty members desiring administrative roles can find the structure and function of shared governance a fertile ground for growth through practical experience in institutional decision making. Typical areas of faculty governance work include departmental and degree-level curricular matters; policies on such matters as reappointment, tenure and…

Provides basic information that a college or university chief financial officer (CFO) must know about enrollment management in order to understand how to work effectively with admissions and financial aid professionals to maximize tuition revenue and enroll the optimal class. Specific suggestions for CFO involvement are outlined. (Author/MSE)

An effective college or university budget process is dependent on the culture of the institution. Different processes and budget types are appropriate to different institutions. Understanding the interrelationships of budgeting, planning, and financial modeling can help make the budget more predictable and relevant to the college's values and…

Pressure for cost containment is growing at even very financially healthy colleges and universities. Institutions need to think concurrently about cost containment in terms of temporary, mid-term, and permanent changes to institutional operations and priorities. It may be productive to reframe the issue as "funding priorities" rather than as "cost…

Rapid advances in information technology have rendered conventional approaches to planning and budgeting useless, and no single method is universally appropriate. The most successful planning efforts are consistent with the institution's overall plan, and may combine conventional, opportunistic, and entrepreneurial approaches. Chief financial…