Posts Categorized: Economy

Collaborating to Cut Costs in Higher Education

Tuition prices at colleges and universities are high. On that, pretty much everyone—from parents to students to college administrators—can agree. It’s also true that salaries and benefits are the single biggest chunk of every higher education institution’s (HEI) budget. And one of the largest and most difficult costs to contain is group employee health insurance. In fact, health insurance ...

Four Dimensions of Brand-Focused Research

Not long ago, “brand” was an unmentionable word in the higher education landscape—one that came with suspicious connotations of consumer packaged goods and retail. Today, however, there’s increasingly broad acceptance that a higher education institution’s (HEI’s) brand is critical to attracting and retaining the best students and faculty, as well as engaging alumni in meaningful ways. ...

Bringing Good Things to Life

University's purchase of GE site means opportunity for the region and Connecticut ... Sacred Heart University (SHU) has purchased General Electric’s (GE’s) former global headquarters site in Fairfield, Conn. This 66-acre parcel will become an extension of SHU’s nearby main campus, as well as its Stamford Graduate Center. The acquisition is a strategic and practical move for the university...

Economists Look Ahead to Trump Era and See “Boatload of Uncertainty”

The New England Economic Partnership (NEEP) explored "What’s Ahead After This Historic Election?" at the group's outlook conference held Jan. 17 at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Their general conclusion: New England's economy will stay robust through 2017 and 2018 ... but then watch out! (And that's just economists—groups of scientists, multiculturalists, educators, philosophers and oth...

Lyndon, Johnson Will Seek and Accept a New Term as Northern Vermont University

Protecting public mission requires the courage to change ... Despite the serious headwinds buffeting small, rural, tuition-dependent public colleges, they can survive—and even thrive—where leadership is proactive, courageous and doubled-down on our mission to serve. Unfavorable demographics, inadequate state funding, disruptive technologies and increases in costs can either choke us or m...

For Colleges and Universities, Complex Networks Require a Layered Approach to Security

Colleges and universities experienced something of a wakeup call in 2010, when hackers breached an Ohio State University system containing the social security numbers, dates of birth and physical addresses of 760,000 people. Though it was unlikely that data was released, the investigation and remediation effort was massive and incredibly costly, including offering 12 months of free credit-monitori...

Sanctuary … and Other Notes from the NEJHE Beat …

Sanctuary? How will higher education fare under a President Donald Trump? The campaign’s misogyny shouldn’t sit well with a student body that is now majority-female. Its disavowal of climate changes won’t impress research universities. And the xenophobia won’t help economies and cultures bolstered by foreign enrollment. The number of foreign students in the U.S topped 1 million in 2015-16....

Can-Do-Hub: The GitHub of Competencies

In September 2016, I wrote an op-ed for Harvard Business Review called “We Need a Better Way to Visualize People’s Skills." In it, I describe a Github of competencies for the workforce, but here’s how the same idea would translate into higher education. George McCully wrote recently in “Pushing Back on Higher Education as Trainer for High-Tech Jobs” (The New England Journal of Higher Ed...

Life after College: Retirement Security for Higher Ed Employees

The relationship between employer and employee has changed significantly over the past 40 years. One of the greatest changes in this relationship is in the nature of employee retirement. While pension reform at public and private colleges has helped ensure institutional financial viability, retirement security for employees has declined. With the redirection of retirement plans from defined ben...

Race and Class on Campus

Colleges and universities have a significant role to play in shaping the future of race and class relations in America. As exhibited in this year’s presidential election, race and class continue to divide us. Black Lives Matter movements, campus protests and police shootings are just a few examples of the proliferation of intolerance. It seems like we understand each other less each day. Higher ...