Wepps' Blog on Higher Ed

Keep your head up smartphone users

2011-08-27T07:53:00.001-04:00

Ever seen some, typing away on their smartphone, walk into a post? Have you ever done that? With the rapid growth of smartphones we are bound to see it happen more often.

After watching the first Shift Happens video three years ago I was a big fan. The videos were produced by a US high school teacher to show the impact that technology was having in the world now and in the future. You should find a few minutes to watch these videos if you have not seen them. Five different versions now exist.

Version 4.0, which was uploaded in 2009, was the first in the series to have a significant amount of content on smartphones and mobile technology. It now seems that everyone has a smartphone on their hip or in their hands. Its amazing how much influence these devices now have in our lives--and funny when we are so focused that we forget how to walk!

Not surprisingly, research from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) published recently indicates that the rapid growth of smartphone use will continue over the next few years. Key findings of the research shared by Marketing include:

Canadian web traffic is set to quadruple from 2009 levels by 2014
From 25.8 million people in 2010, mobile subscribers are projected to increase to nearly 30 million in 2014
Mobile internet subscriptions are predicted to go from 5.5 million in 2011 to 14 million in 2015

You obviously use technology if you are reading my blog and my guess is that you will have some form of smartphone so personally you can appreciate the power of mobile technology.

How have you adapted professionally to smartphone use is the question that intrigues me. I would love to hear how smartphones are impacting your work in student affairs or more generally in higher education. Please share your comments and questions... but watch where you walking though ;-)

Working (Too?) Hard

2011-08-25T04:00:00.001-04:00

Ever heard one of your peers tell you how many hours they are working? How 'bout a student? Does someone you know, peer or student, view NOT taking vacation as a badge of honour? John Ibbitson's We work hard, they enjoy life may provide some insight into this phenomenon and I wonder if it contributes to the mental health trends we see as student affairs professionals.

Ibbitson profiles the time people take off, in the form of government mandated vacation days and statutory holidays, from several countries around the world. Here are countries he profiles and the number of days off citizens typically receive in that country:

Brazil - 41
Lithuania -41
Ireland - 29
Australia - 28
USA - 25
Canada - 19
China - 21
France - 40

This data, along with a listing many other countries, comes from the Employee statutory and public holiday entitlements - global comparisons, produced by the consulting firm Mercer.

Interestingly, Canada and the US are the lowest in the list of more than 40 countries around the world. I'm left wondering the impact this has on our health. Is it possible that our vacation ethic could partially explain the increasing number of mental health issues we face in our society? My instinct says yes. Do you agree? Either way making change won't be easy as this quote from Mercer's press release explains " “Public holidays tend to be rooted in local tradition or religious beliefs, so it can be difficult to change practices."

Many of us are now in the middle of student leader training or welcoming a new crop of students to our campus. This typically involves working long hours and forgoing time off like weekends. After reading this article, hopefully, you realize its ok to take a little time away. Others around the world do ;-)

Returning for more

2011-08-23T13:55:00.000-04:00

'tis the season for student staff training. Last week I had a chance to spend an hour with the returning residence student staff on their first day of training. The returning student staff experience is different. These staff have experience, more advanced skills and they expect more. Harnessing these factors can kick start community development and enhance the experience of other students, especially new student staff.

To help guide the session I created this presentation using Prezi. My approach was to expand the traditional view of education to include a more holistic view. From their past involvement returners can appreciate that education is more than books and classrooms. Acknowledging this at the outset formed a foundation for our hour together and identifies what the returners already know or feel.

Making meaning of their past experience and outlining future actions was the goal in the second part. The seven skills identified by Tilling & Fadel in 21st Century Skills, which they call the seven C's, provides this structure. Using some reflection and discussion time gave the returners an opportunity to map their experience to the 7 C's model so the returners could recognize areas of strength and areas needing development.

This year marks 20 years since I started university. To help relate to the returners I shared some pictures and yearbooks from my time as a student staff member in the session. Fortunately, I did not hear too many chuckles ;-) Weaving my story into the session gave me a chance to apply personal examples to the model and show how one path, of a former returner, has played out.

Students Going International

2011-08-07T23:43:00.000-04:00

Student seeking out international study opportunities has grown steadily for more than three decades and signs would seem to indicate that the trend will continue for years to come.

Education at a Glance 2010, produced by OECD, contains two charts which show the steady upward trend of students from around the world seeking out opportunities to study outside of their native country. One chart shows that in 1975 about 800,000 students studied abroad and as of 2008 that number had grown to 3.3 million.

The next chart shows which countries attract the greatest number of international students. The USA, United Kingdom and Germany topped the list in both 2000 and in 2008.

It is interesting to note that the share of international students in the USA, United Kingdom and Germany is shrinking as more countries and institutions get into international student recruitment. Ontario is one region that has taken an aggressive approach, as I noted in two earlier posts: Ontario Gov't Takes Action for International Students and The Competition for International Students Begins.

Life Changing Moments

2011-08-07T22:32:00.002-04:00

You usually don't realize when a life changing moment is happening until well after the fact. In Milwaukee Wisconsin in the summer of 2005 I had one of those moments. It was at the ACUHO-I Annual Conference & Exposition (ACE), and Tracey Mason-Innes, who was the Canadian District Representative on the ACUHO-I executive board at the time, stopped to talk with me. She was one year into her two year term and she suggested I should consider running to succeed her.

At the time I was only a few weeks into being the OACUHO President and it had never occurred to me to serve on the ACUHO-I executive board. Fortunately, the seed Tracey planted with me began to grow and a year later I was the Canadian District Rep. Serving on the board has, without a doubt, been one of the most powerful professional experiences I have encountered in my career. Not only did I greatly expand my knowledge of student housing and my network of colleagues considerably, but I was able to participate in the tremendous growth that ACUHO-I has undergone recently. In a little over five years ACUHO-I has been transformed into an association that has become a model for others.

Being actively involved in this transformation has made me a more effective professional. The benefits have far outweighed any costs in time, energy and resources. To be recognized by my peers on top of what I have already received has been humbling. Last month at ACE in New Orleans I was fortunate to receive the Global Initiatives Award. Its quite an honour to be recognized by one's peers. Thanks Kate, Chad, Dima and Tracey for nominating me.

One common piece of advice we offer to students is to get involved. Join a club, a choir, a team or anything that will allow you to develop and get more out of going to college or university. I believe the same advice applies to being a professional, especially those who are newer professionals. Join a committee, run for a board, present at a conference or anything to develop and maximize your potential as a professional.

Lastly, for those of you who follow my blog I apologize for the gap since my last post. A wonderful new addition to my family has meant the time usually devoted to blogging has instead been spent changing diapers, making funny faces and melting at each and every smile :-)

Wepps' Weekly Wreads - March 5, 2011

2011-03-05T09:43:00.001-05:00

Interview with CACUSS Executive Director - Jennifer Hamilton - studentaffairs.ca

AACSB Urges B-Schools to Adapt to a Global World - Bloomberg BusinessWeek

The importance of student support services - Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance

Today's Students Need Leadership Training Like Never Before - The Chronicle of Higher Education

Parental education key determinant of who pursues higher education - Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario

Wepps' Weekly Wreads - February 19, 2011

2011-02-19T11:13:00.003-05:00

Inspired by Break Drink's Daily Dose I thought each week I would share some of my readings from the past week that are related to student affairs, student life and (Canadian) higher education. Here goes week one:

For profit residence to be built at U of T

Universities on the Brink

Canadian Klout. Top 10 Influential Canadian Schools

The Most Influential Colleges on Twitter (in the US)

An intriguing idea to improve access in Niagara

How to: Keep Up with Social Media News

"Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers." - Harry S. Truman

Technology Enables Sharing with those Nearby

2010-12-19T11:09:00.000-05:00

A few months back as I was wrestling with ways to better inform students about services available to them when I had an idea. No plan for how to make it happen mind you, but the idea seemed pretty cool.

Different thoughts were converging as I recall: The rise of mobile (smart) phones, students walking by services as they moved around campus and images of Minority Report. The vision that resulted from these random thoughts converging was that of messages popping up on a student's mobile phone as they walked by an office designed to support students. It was somewhat like the futuristic stores in Minority Report welcoming customer's by name after scanning their eyes... but less intrusive ;-)

Eric Stoller highlights in his latest blog post that this vision could become reality through emerging technology called Near Field Communication (NFC). Stoller highlights that "Information is exchanged/retrieved when an NFC-enabled device is placed next to another NFC-enabled object." Thankfully, their is no mention of eye scans! Check out his blog to find out more about NFC including ways the technology will directly support student affairs.

Use Twitter? Connect with me via @Wepps

The Time has come for Leadership Programs to Thrive

2010-12-19T09:00:00.000-05:00

"[Students in school today] will need to be equipped to make their own opportunities. They need the skills, knowledge, and qualities that leadership programs cultivate: self-reliance, social and cultural capital, appreciation for lifelong learning, creativity, conflict-resolution and team-building skills, ethics, understanding of economics, and more."

This quote is from Richard Greenwald's recent article in The Chronicle where he argues that students need leadership skills now more than ever. He points out that leadership programs started slow on college campuses and leadership as a concept is challenging because it is amorphous. Despite the history and challenges he points out that today's students are seeking out leadership programs, "the career ladder of old is broken," and post-secondary education is in the best position to provide leadership education.

Given the state of our economy and how the public views our political and corporate leaders today a great opportunity exists for post-secondary education, especially those of us in student affairs. Greenwald does a nice job of laying out the opportunity that exists so I would encourage you to check out his article.

Twitter: A New Way to Serve Students

2010-12-18T09:39:00.000-05:00

What methods do you use to answer students' questions? Chance are that Twitter never crossed your mind. You most likely would have thought about answering questions over the phone, through email or face-to-face in your office.

Twitter provides a new forum in which to find and answer questions from students. A growing number of organizations are leveraging Twitter to provide customer service. For instance Jet Blue Airways, Dell Computer (Canada) and recently the City of Toronto's 311 service have all incorporated Twitter into their service strategy. You can follow @JetBlue, @DellHomeSalesCA and @311Toronto to see how Twitter is being used by these three organizations. You can find more case studies on the Twitter 101 website.

As a way to help students at Ryerson the staff at the Student Services Front Desk have added @AskMeRU to their tool box of customer service options. To enhance the service they provide the staff are searching for comments, questions and problems on Twitter by following tweets that contain "Ryerson" or "#Ryerson" in the text. In many cases this allows the staff to proactively address concerns that are posted on Twitter. The staff use HootSuite to monitor comments made on Twitter.

To find out more all you have to do is follow the groups above on Twitter. If your school or department uses Twitter to serve students please share your @username so others can learn from you.

Strategic Planning Using the TEDx Approach

2010-12-06T05:03:00.000-05:00

TED, TEDx and TEDTalks have been gaining attention rapidly in recent years. Understandably so given the inspiring nature of the presentations. Several schools have been adding life to their campus thru TEDx and I recently adopted the TED approach in strategic planning to leverage its ability to share ideas and stories.

Given that my role as a Director is smack in the middle of the management structure I see my purpose as providing clarity for my staff. Using well know models when managing is one way to provide clarity, especially when examples are readily available, popular and relevant to a wide variety of people. TED satisfies all of this criteria and the model seemed to be ideally suited as a way for my staff to share ideas, generate dialogue and help us with our strategic planning efforts.

My responsibilities involve overseeing four areas - Student Housing Services, Tri-Mentoring Program, International Services for Students and the Office of Student Community Life. In my first two years overseeing these four areas, which includes over 20 full-time staff and 150 student staff, we did not gather as a large group often. My strategic planning focus in year one and two was on each unit, but the time had come for a wider discussion. In general, staff understand a lot about their own unit, but little about other units so the logical place to start was exchanging ideas and raising awareness of the issues affecting each unit. I wanted staff to be engaged in this process which made the TED approach ideal.

My staff were given more than three months to plan and told that we would be using the TED model. To reinforce some of the TED principles I stressed that each unit had 15 minutes to present, the material had to be relevant to their work and the sessions must encourage dialogue and the exchange of ideas.

Our TEDx Student Community Life or TEDx SCL, which was the name we adopted, was held this past Friday. The sessions were impressive. Historical video was used in one case and hours of video captured of current students in another case Staff spent hours in deep discussion about their purpose in third area while another group orchestrated a well choreographed presentation that allowed everyone to contribute to the unit's story. TED is known for its "extended breaks" to allow for dialogue and discussion to take place and TEDx SCL was no exception. In fact, one of the highlights of the day for me was seeing staff interact and exchange ideas in the first break. Everyone was engaged and people that did not know each other prior to our event were exchanging ideas. There was a buzz in the room.

Pre and post event surveys are being used to assess the event and help us learn how well the TED approach worked. My instinct is that the event was well received given the effort that staff put into preparing and the interest everyone exhibited throughout the day. If you are looking for a model to help your staff exchange ideas for strategic planning then I would certainly encourage you to consider using the TED approach.

Web 2.0 is Not Scary

2010-12-04T10:53:00.000-05:00

Snakes, spiders or one of those centipedes with a what seems like a million legs can bring genuine fear to many people. Facebook, YouTube or Twitter never generate fear, or so I thought.

A few weeks back I was telling a colleague about a new feature my staff set up on a Facebook page. The conversation when something like this,

"Are you on Facebook?" I asked
"Nope" she responded as her eyes widened and a nervous smile crossed her face "My kids are on it all the time" she added hastily
"Setting up an account is easy" I said trying to alleviate her emerging fear, "All you have to do is go to Facebook.com and click the Sign-up button"
"Well, I'm not sure I would use it and I don't really have time at work to use Facebook" she said

I was surprised to encounter this resistance. She was not anti-Facebook. Her resistance was different. It was only after I left that I began to realize that she was afraid. It is natural to be afraid of something new.

Those feelings of uneasiness, or fear, are long forgotten once you gain experience using something or knowledge about the subject. To that end, the Digital Community program at my school has set up a blog to help people in the Ryerson community become more comfortable using Web 2.0 tools.

The blog, called RU 2.0?, is meant to provide basic information and instruction on Web 2.0 tools for students, student groups and service program staff in the Ryerson community. The content posted on RU 2.0? is easily found elsewhere online as there are several excellent resources that explain how to use tools like RSS feeds, a Wiki or a blog. RU 2.0? centralizes the information so it is easily found.

By providing this resource we hope to prove that not only is Web 2.0 not scary, but that it can open up new and exciting possibilities.

Adding Life to Your Campus Thru TEDx

2010-11-28T09:57:00.001-05:00

Take a moment to imagine your community without ideas or discussion. People would be present, but emotionally distant. Daily routines would be followed... day after day after day. Dialogue would not stray beyond "How are you?" or "Nice weather eh?"

Hardly an inspiring place.

And certainly not the thriving, vibrant community envisioned by the organizers of yesterday's TEDxRyersonU, which was held at the Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University in Toronto. Sharing ideas that generate discussion is what TED strives to achieve and several Canadian universities are taking advantage of this popular idea exchange.

You will likely recognize TED through TED Talks which showcase videos of presenters at the annual TED events or the many TEDx events that take place around the world. The 'x' indicated that the event is an "independently organized TED event."

A large group of students, lead by Parvinder Sachdeva, organized TEDxRyersonU - the first TEDx event at Ryerson. Some other Canadian university TEDx events include:

Now imagine your community with a wide variety of activities, full of people that are mentally excited having deep meaningful conversations.

Feels different I bet. A TEDx event can help create this feeling.

Great job TEDxRyersonU Team!

Ontario's Education Prime Minister

2010-11-21T10:59:00.000-05:00

Two thoughts may come to mind when you read the title for this post. The first is that I made a typo by using the term Prime Minister. The second is that one or both the names Dalton McGuinty or William Davis may come to mind as they have both been described as Ontario's Education Premier.

If you thought any of the above you would be wrong. Up until William Davis took office as Ontario's 18th Premier in 1971 the title for the leader of Ontario's government was Prime Minister. Davis changed the title shortly after stepping into the role. William Davis and Dalton McGuinty are significant Premier's when it comes to education in Ontario, but not as significant as John P. Robarts.

Robarts was a Minister of Education in Ontario and Ontario's Prime Minister from 1961 to 1971 which is a period of time that saw significant change to the educational landscape in Ontario. (Davis was Minister of Education during much of Robart's time as leader) The entire Ontario College system and several universities were opened during Robart's reign. Brock University, the University of Guelph, Nipissing University and Trent University all started as universities in the 1960's.

After leaving government Robarts served as Chancellor at both the University of Western Ontario (his alma mater) and York University. The Robarts Library at the University of Toronto is named after him along with the Robarts Research Institute at the University of Western Ontario.

No leader of the Ontario government can match this list of achievements for education in the province.

For more on Robarts you can read Steve Paiken's Public Triumph, Private Tragedy: The Double Life of John P. Robarts.

Getting to PSE Biggest Challenge for First Gen Students

2010-11-07T13:46:00.001-05:00

"Parental education does not appear to be a particularly good marker for determining which students are inclined to leave post-secondary education without graduating" was the most significant finding from a recently published report from the Measuring Effectiveness of Student Aid (MESA) Project.
The MESA Project was exploring how family income, the timing of funding for students and regional factors impact a teenager's decision to pursue and persist in post-secondary education (PSE).Here are the MESA Project Report's major findings:

First generation students are much less likely than non-first generation students to say that they always knew they would attend PSE and are more likely than others to make their decision to attend PSE during their final years of high school.
First generation students are less likely than non-first generation students to have family members who saved for their PSE.
First generation students are not very different from non-first generation students when it comes to their opinions of whether they receive support and inspiration from their parents.
First generation students spend somewhat fewer hours studying than non-first generation students and have moderately lower grade averages.
First generation students are, perhaps surprisingly, not more likely than non-first generation students to leave PSE in first or second year without graduating.

The findings support the general belief that the biggest challenge for First-Generation Students (FGS) has been gaining access and that once in PSE retention and success is on par with non-FGS. Two unexpected points for me in the report are that females are more likely to be FGS and "students from rural communities are considerably more likely to be first generation students compared to students from larger communities."

(Inside Higher Ed highlights the MESA Project in this November 11 article: Canadian Study Finds Lower Dropout Rates for Immigrants and Minority Students)

Higher Education's Uncertain Financial Future

2010-11-01T09:53:00.000-04:00

Could student services withstand a 40% cut to higher education funding? Watching what happens in Britain in the coming years could provide answers to that question. Massive cuts in British higher education are coming.

Inside Higher Ed reports that "The Comprehensive Spending Review unveiled [in the middle of October] includes a reduction in the higher education budget of £2.9 billion – from £7.1 billion to £4.2 billion – by 2014-5." The government has indicated that future funding priorities will centre around science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

The article does not provide any details on how student services will be impacted, but the full Browne Report, or the Independent Review of Higher Education Funding and Student Finance, can be found here.

Aside from understanding the Browne Report's recommendations, an area I am interested in exploring more, and will do so in the coming weeks, is to understand how the British higher education funding model compares to other countries around the world. That being said, it is widely known that many governments, including the Canadian federal and nearly every provincial government, are struggling to manage large debts so its quite conceivable that cuts on a similar scale could be made elsewhere. If that is the case then I cannot help but wonder how student services will fair.

Setting Student Services up for Success

2010-10-31T10:48:00.000-04:00

Student services at Mohawk College is well positioned for success. The recently posted Vice-President Student Services (VPSS) position at Mohawk College has one of the broadest sets of responsibility I've seen for an executive level position that includes student affairs, but I believe this will benefit the successful candidate, the college and ultimately the students.

The areas the VPSS oversees include:

Recruitment,
Admissions,
Registration,
Financial Aid and Awards,
Enrolment Plan Management and Reporting,
Student Life,
Counselling and Disability Services,
Student Success Services,
Health Services,
Athletics,
Campus Recreation,
Career Advising,
Student and Graduate Employment,
Marketing,
Immigrant and International Services,
Aboriginal Education and Student Services,
Convocation, and
the Foundation, Fundraising and Alumni services

Most, if not all, schools would have the areas listed above reporting to two or more executive level positions. Mohawk's approach of grouping together the departments that take a student from application to alumni and everything in between is not done as frequently as it should be in higher education, and it demonstrates Mohawk's visionary leadership.

Numerous opportunities exist in this structure to enhance a student's experience by connecting students with alumni to improve learning and by strengthening the bonds between people in the Mohawk community. Furthermore, the structure streamlines responsibilities and by grouping services under one leader Mohawk can focus on being a life-long "learning advisor" to students, which is what a college or university should be in a knowledge based society.

What Goes Up, Must Come Down?

2010-10-31T09:31:00.000-04:00

University Affairs stated the following about university enrollment in an article this week, "The trend continues to be up, up and up for university enrolment in Canada. According to numbers compiled by the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada, there are 32,000 more full-time students enrolled at Canadian universities this fall compared with the fall of 2009, an increase of 3.7 percent. Enrolment is up in every province."

One of Ryerson University's student newspaper's, The Eyeopener, published an article that paints a different picture about the future of post-secondary education (PSE) enrollment in Canada. The article quotes David Foot, author of Boom, Bust & Echo, who predicts that in three to four years enrollment across the PSE system will decline.

Foot would argue that demographics will play the biggest role in how the enrollment projections actually play out, but other factors will influence the numbers. Immigration rates, adults upgrading or taking additional courses and international student recruitment are some of the other factors that will impact enrollment in the years to come. For a more comprehensive look at enrollment projections you should check out this research paper from Statistics Canada: Postsecondary Enrolment Trends to 2031: Three Scenarios.

International Generation

2010-07-20T20:30:00.000-04:00

If Michael Ignatieff, leader of the federal Liberal party, has his way he will "'internationalize' an entire generation of young people." This idea adds another layer to the emerging discussion of international activities that can benefit students and the post-secondary education community in Canada. The Ontario government announced in the spring it wishes to see the number of international students increase by 50% in the next five year.

Hearing stories from friends that took advantage of the opportunity to study abroad I now look back on my own student experience and wish I had given traveling abroad to study more thought. Perhaps the increased attention of these international activities will entice current and future students to consider the opportunities of connecting with an international student on their campus or going abroad to enhance their own student experience.

Student Housing's Next Evolution?

2010-07-19T08:47:00.000-04:00

Over the last half century Canadian student housing has evolved many times. Some of the milestones have included: a major residence building boom beginning in the 1960's, the introduction of the RA position and the eventual adoption of professional staff to supervise student staff , a suite style building wave began in the 1980's, the first Living Learning Communities were seen around 1990 and about 20 years ago private developers began constructing and operating residence buildings.

The next evolution in Canadian student housing seems to be upon us. A struggling economy combined with rising government debt means schools must seek out new solutions when new construction is considered. Last week, an article in the Globe & Mail highlighted that several schools, including University of Toronto, Trent University and Simon Fraser University, are exploring the P3 model (public-private-partnerships) as a way to add student housing without taking on debt. My school can also be added into the mix.

With university and college executive along with developers not being intimately aware of the factors involved in operating a residence an opportunity exists, at this early stage, for student housing professionals to point out a set of values important to creating successful residence communities where student success is maximized. OACUHO and RLPA are in a great position to take a lead on communicating this set of values and they have the advantage of looking south to use the US as a guide since the P3 model is further along the evolutionary path.

"In order to ‘engage’ we must ‘be engaged’"

2010-07-17T14:03:00.000-04:00

Want to engage students? The University of Waterloo believes that students can be engaged more effectively if staff and faculty are engaged first. Be Engaged has been set up by UW to help promote staff and faculty engagement. To kick start the initiative staff organized a student panel for a recent staff conference. A book club has also been set up. Student Affairs staff on any campus can benefit greatly by starting projects, like Be Engaged, that promote dialogue as it will lead to a deeper understanding of student engagement and promote collaboration between different stakeholders.

The Competition for International Students Begins

2010-06-10T04:14:00.000-04:00

Now that members of the university community in Ontario have had time to digest the throne speech I expect that we will see an adjustment in strategy by some schools and new initiatives by others. Competition for international students is sure to heat up though as Premier McGuinty hopes to see a 50% increase in the number of international students over the next five years.

Recently, Western President, Amit Chakma, set a new standard for UWO to reach in a speech at London's Rotary Club. The London Free Press article about the speech highlights that Chakma wants to "open up" Western to the rest of the world and he intends to do this, in part, by bringing international student enrollment in line with some of Canada's top schools. Chakma stated that 6% of the students at Western are from outside Canada and he would like that number to increase to 10%, which is where the University of Toronto currently sits. McGill's international student population is about 20%.

A greater number of international students will bring opportunities and challenges. Doug Owram, in a University Affairs article, points out that "universities need to invest in the students’ success after they arrive on campus. Most universities have created some level of support, and international centres and special orientation programs are common. However, these programs vary considerably in length, resources and substance. All too often, support for international students seems to exist outside the main academic mission of the institutions."

The Premier set the stage and now the players are jockeying for position. Student Affairs is in a strong position to do well in this "race" too.

Alex Usher: A Consultant Worth Following

2010-06-09T07:22:00.000-04:00

Over the past few months I have seen a few articles by Alex Usher that I have found to offer some keen insights in Higher Education. Usher is a Higher Education consultant and his company is Higher Education Strategy Associates.

The first article was Back to the future in University Affairs where he offers his perspective on what higher education in Canada will look like over the next 25 years.

The second article, posted yesterday, is an interview of Usher posted on the Higher Education Management group's blog. In this interview he talks about the value of university rankings, compares Canada's higher education system to other countries and he shares his views of how tuition influences access to education.

Blame Roy Giroux for My Blog

2010-06-06T19:09:00.000-04:00

Dr. Roy Giroux was a professor in my Master's program who has had quite an impact on many students and education professionals in Canada (including me). He served as a Vice-President at Humber College for many years and was instrument in bringing Central Michigan University's Master of Arts in Education program to Ontario.

Roy taught two of the courses in my Master's program and as we were nearing the end of the program, he challenged my classmates and I to find a way to continue using our new knowledge and to share it with others. He suggested we could present, publish our research or continue with our studies. Blogging was not one of the choices he suggested, but it seemed to me to be a way of extending my learning beyond my masters program while still satisfying Roy's challenge.

It was about a 18 months ago that I started blogging and I recall searching for blogs to see if I could find some examples or models to follow. I did not have much luck. It was not difficult to find blogs about education, but they tended to be elementary or high school teachers or college faculty. It was difficult to find blogs about student affairs in Canada or the US.

I was not sure what to expect when I started sharing my blogs publicly. Part of me wondered if anyone would notice. Making a contribution by writing was not familiar territory for me. Fortunately, given some time, a few people did notice. I recall being surprised to find the first comment on one of my blog posts - it took me a few weeks before I even noticed. Other surprises followed, such as someone signing up to follow my blog, and Joey Coleman, a post-secondary education reporter, sharing a link to one of my posts in his blog.

Blogging has become a new way for me to explore my thoughts about my work and education in general. It has also allowed me to engage with colleagues in a different way. It has been great to discover new blogs about student affairs, especially from Canada. If you have not read the blog Deanne Fisher started called CACUSS Reads or Ross McMillan's blog at studentaffairs.ca then I would encourage you to do so. Perhaps you will even be inspired to start your own blog. Just remember to blame Roy.

Digital Community Facilitator: A New Role at Ryerson

2010-06-05T09:04:00.000-04:00

A year ago at the Empire Club my school's President, Sheldon Levy, gave a speech where he said, "In Ontario we are moving away from manufacturing and into technology - and I would refine this by saying we are moving into digital media." The President's overall message was that Ontario has a chance to be a leader in the new digital economy and Ryerson is well placed to take advantage of this opportunity by undergoing an evolution of its role as City-Builder. To be a leader he sees Ontario designing solutions, not implementing solutions created elsewhere.

The President goes on to highlight that "[our] students are the first generation [to grow] up completely digital. So they bring a measure of real comfort and confidence to problems that rely on digital tools for a solution." Traditionally at Ryerson, and elsewhere, activities organized by student affairs units focus on bringing students together face-to-face. The internet has been used in large part to support face-to-face events. This approach will continue to have great value, but digital media is providing new opportunities to help us achieve our goals.

To take advantage of these new opportunities we are introducing a new position called Digital Community Facilitator. The idea behind this new role is to leverage Web 2.0 tools, such as YouTube, Twitter and Facebook, to create community as an end in and of itself. The hope is that we can pair the existing and emerging digital communities with the vibrant face-to-face communities that already exist at Ryerson. As a new role, with few models to compare, the position is bound to evolve over time, but I thought there would be value in sharing the responsibilities we currently envision for this position. Comments and questions are more than welcome.

Conduct periodic assessments, with input from community members, of the health of our digital media communities, measuring engagement, size of community, participation levels, fan interest and performance against university objectives.
Grow digital community followers, friends and subscribers within current digital networks related to Ryerson and by identifying emerging digital networks and platforms
Launch and manage digital communities, including applications, for networks such as YouTube, Twitter and Facebook, and provide support,encouragement & advice to students and colleagues who wish to leverage these tools to enhance community development by (a) Creating frameworks for determining when new communities should be launched and supported and (b) Making recommendations on timing, roll-out and objectives of new communities
Keep up to date with the general digital media landscape and act as a digital media evangelist in the Ryerson community for digital media and the digital media communities.
Identify and support the most relevant influencers in a wide range of digital communities
Participate in and stimulate online conversations on behalf of Ryerson to enhance student learning and the student's experience
Leading ongoing education and awareness initiatives to keep community members abreast of marketplace developments and changes in the digital media space. Provide advice and support to students and colleagues in digital media best practice and participation strategies.
Work effectively with cross-functional teams who are seeking ways to integrate digital media within their programs; provide guidance, expert advice and strategies that fit within Ryerson's overall digit media strategy and academic plan

The Difference 150 Years Makes

2010-06-04T09:38:00.003-04:00

This past weekend I finished reading Pierre Berton's The National Dream which describes the story about building a railway from Montreal to British Columbia in the 1870's. It is hard to fathom a Canada that does not reach from the Atlantic to the Pacific but if the railway was not built that could have been a reality.

My curiosity about early Canada was peaked so I picked up John A: The Man Who Made Us immediately after putting down The National Dream. I am intrigued to see how society has evolved and using that knowledge to better anticipate the future. Reading about Canada's first Prime Minister provides great insight into the foundation of Canadian society. For instance, Sir John A. Macdonald started practicing law just before he was 16 years old despite never having studied at university. Practicing law in 19th century Canada did not require a degree. Obviously, today it is extremely rare for someone to begin working at 16.

In fact, in 21st century Canada, the Ontario government predicts that 70% of jobs will require some form of post-secondary education. Interestingly, the foundation for Canada's education system was set in the 19th century by Egerton Ryerson, the person that my school is named after. (Some controversy now surrounds his approach as he started the Canadian residential school system.)

Another fact about Macdonald's time that seems unreal by today's standards is that a short speech in parliament was two hours long. Macdonald and others were known to give speeches lasting five or six hours. Obviously the 1800's was a time where electronic communications did not exist and Berton explains that politics provided for good theatre so politicians gave lengthy speeches and people listened. Newspapers would often print speeches given in parliament. Gives whole new meaning to participating in Toastmasters!

A last noteworthy point for me was the immense effort people had to put into building the actual railroad. It took more than a decade to build and all sorts of physical, personal and political challenges were encountered. An eyeopening and somewhat funny part of the story, especially by today's standards, was that people had to travel a few hundred miles just to pick up the mail - many times through the mountains. Today all we have to do is reach down to our hip and grab our Blackberry or iPhone!

Moving to Student Affairs 2.0

2010-05-24T05:20:00.001-04:00

A couple of good questions were posed by Rachel in the comments of my recent Student Affairs 2.0 blog post. I thought there would be value in sharing my response as another post as it allows me to elaborate on my thinking and explain some of the actions being taken at my school.

At Ryerson, we are in the process of creating a full-time position that will be dedicated to fostering the development of a digital student community. The student life promotions team, that we created a couple of years ago, was one of our first coordinated attempts to facilitate community development online and the thinking is that this team will become part of the responsibilities of this new position.

As for the second question, I agree that spending time together face-to-face is very important. I do not anticipate a major shift in where a student affairs professional spends his/her time over the next few years, especially at well established schools. However, the rapid emergence of new schools, like those online, dictate that different approaches must be adopted by student affairs or we risk falling behind or not being included altogether as decisions are made on where future resources are directed. It is rare in my experience to see a student affairs job posted for a school that does the bulk of its work online or interact with a professional from one of these schools at a conference. This is concerning because online education is big business now as the recent PBS broadcast, College, Inc., demonstrates.

Perhaps an even more important reason for student affairs to deliberately take steps to get involved in online communities is that our students are already there is high numbers that will continue to grow. I see no value in fighting this reality. In fact, I see tremendous upside for students affairs to accept it because it will increase our understanding of how students are interacting and learning.

My response to Rachel's questions is obviously driven by my experience and views. Please feel free to share your views so more perspectives can be added to the mix.

Student Affairs 2.0

2010-05-21T08:20:00.001-04:00

The classroom used to be seen as the only stage for a teacher to share their knowledge and promote student learning. We have witnessed a tremendous evolution in this view over the past decade with the growth of online learning. This change has allowed new higher education models to be adopted some of which are coming from business (along with new challenges as I commented on previously)

Faculty took advantage of the internet to start moving classroom learning online more than a decade ago. Now decision makers, in government or high ed administration, seem to be increasingly attracted to online learning as its effectiveness as a teaching strategy increases, not to mention the cost savings that can be achieved through the lower demand for building space.

Student affairs now has an opportunity to be integrated into this new environment by moving community development online. Web 2.0 provides the tools for this change to happen, but a new paradigm must be adopted. One where the internet is not used solely to market face-to-face activities to students, but to develop community online as end in and of itself.

Online communities are now a regular part of our lives and student affairs must do more than simply join these communities. Student affairs must actively participate online, train students how to interact effectively in these communities and find innovative ways in this new medium to enhance the student experience. To remain relevant in a new post-secondary world, where students will interact face-to-face less often in a classroom, student affairs must translate its community development expertise to the online environment.

My school has been developing some strategies aimed at making the shift I am describing above - a shift to Student Affairs 2.0. This change will impact many aspects of students affairs and I see great value in generating discussion with student affairs professionals from across North America and around the world. Because of my interest in trying to understand this future I intend to share more of my thoughts on my blog in the coming weeks and I would welcome any questions or comments.

Student Life Without Senior Students?

2010-05-18T08:54:00.000-04:00

The University of New Brunswick is undergoing a review as part of a strategic planning exercise and Tony Bates, an e-learning and distance education consultant, was invited to campus as part of the process. He published some of his thoughts, including recommendations, on his blog (found via Stephen's Web).

I am intrigued, but not necessarily surprised, by one of his recommendations as it could influence student life on the UNB campus: "A gradual move from almost entirely face-to-face courses in first year programs to hybrid or fully distance programs in the fourth year undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as develop more online non-credit certificate or diploma programs focused on the lifelong learning market."

Take a moment to imagine a campus with less senior students. For the students themselves school becomes more flexible. Money could be saved if a student has to travel less and live at home. For a school less space is needed which could also result in a cost savings and at the very least space could be reallocated for other uses. For student life I do not foresee cost savings, but having a smaller number of senior students means fewer job applications, fewer opportunities to mentor younger students and fewer students to participate in activities. In short, the student experience will change - which is not necessarily bad, but it is important to examine the implications.

I also see an opportunity to use a new model opening up if some student life activities can be moved online. For instance, many thriving communities exist online, just as on campus, and directing resources to using Web 2.0 tools to create student life has potential. With education evolving, like it is at UNB, it is important for student affairs' professionals to consider recommendations being made. Furthermore it is even more important to participate in the dialogue, whenever possible, so students, faculty and decision maker's have an opportunity understand how changes will impact all aspects of a student's experience.

More Criticism of Student Affairs Needed

2010-05-17T09:19:00.000-04:00

After reading George Siemens The Value of Critique blog I was reminded of quote I read on Wikipedia from Alan Bloom criticizing student affairs. The entry goes as follows:

"The late liberal education critic Alan Bloom wrote that the "...idea of a separate 'Student Affairs' profession in academia is pure rubbish. It is fiction. The range of work involved requires a high school diploma on the low end and a PhD in psychology on the high end. The constituent disciplines (with their quality controls) already exist and can be readily applied to students. Breeching a new 'discipline' for this purpose is nothing more than professional egotism. I see it as a spasm of self-justification for a profession that largely lacks any scholarly work, past or present. This is the worst episode of academic cheapening I have witnessed. In a continuum ranging from Nuclear Physics to Romance Languages, 'student personnel' is almost certainly the most pathetic graduate field yet conceived. It is an embarrassment..."

I cannot recall reading a more scathing review of student affairs and it has caused me to want to understand more about his view. Following Siemens advice I would be interested in hearing other criticism about student affairs. Please add a comment if you have a good quote or story to share about someone criticizing student affairs.

Receiving feedback is an important part of learning. For many of our students receiving criticism can be a turning point in understanding a particular point or concept. In my experience it has been rare to witness an open discussion about criticism of our field which could be a critique in and of itself.

Anaylsis Paralysis No More

2010-05-15T09:42:00.000-04:00

"Collecting data is one thing, making it useful quite another. And that’s the key challenge for every business in this digital era." - Data Analysts: The New Masters of the Universe by Ceci Rodgers in BNET

For those of you 35 and older you likely remember a time when you could go months without being asked to complete a survey. Today it seems like you could answer surveys all day long: buy a product and share your postal code; start a web browser and answer a survey; sit down for dinner and get interrupted by a phone call to complete a survey. Why is this happening?

The increasing access to computers, especially personal computers, through the later half of the 20th century has given people and organizations greater and greater ability to collect information. The opening quote above highlights the next step in the evolution of data: analysis.

Opportunities exist for student affairs when it comes to data analysis, like using our expertise in relationship development to help our students learn analytical skills as I suggest in a recent blog post. In order to analyze though, data must exist. I gained a new appreciation for the importance of properly collecting and managing data after reading Harper's Team last summer. One point I took away from the book, and shared in blog post, was the value Stephen Harper's team placed on data collection.

At present few student affairs divisions have staff, such as researchers, dedicated to collecting, managing and analyzing data. It would seem that the time has come for more analysts or researchers to be employed by student affairs in order to take advantage of the wealth of data that can now be accessed.

Private Universities in the Spotlight

2010-05-14T10:30:00.001-04:00

For years a common mantra has been that we are in a knowledge based economy and people with post-secondary education (PSE) earn more money then people that only have a high school education. With this in mind it should not come as a surprise that demand for PSE has grown considerably. This sequence of events presents opportunities for business and some, like University of Phoenix, are taking full advantage.

It was about ten years ago that the Mike Harris government opened the door to private universities in Ontario. While this Wikipedia listing of universities in Canada states that BC, Alberta and New Brunswick are the only provinces with private universities it would not be difficult to take online courses from from anywhere in Canada from a private school.

Private post-secondary education has been receiving some attention recently. In Ontario, this CBC report points out that the provincial government was taking action against questionable behaviour associated with private universities. In the US private universities have also been receiving some attention by the federal government of late. Frontline recently aired College, Inc. which showcases some of the issues that have become prevalent in recent years, such as large student debt. The Frontline program is generating some discussion as outlined here in a blog post by Keith Hampson.

Gaining a solid university or college education is more important now than at any point in history. Providing options on where students can access education is healthy as long schools are held accountable. The media and government seem to be doing just that.

Ontario Gov't Takes Action for International Students

2010-05-12T08:05:00.000-04:00

Here is an announcement made recently by the Ontario government to strengthen Ontario as a destination for international students: Ontario Attracting International Students. This action is meant to encourage highly educated students from outside Canada to remain here after they graduate. Furthermore, the hope is that changes like this will attract future international students. The government hopes to increase the number of international students by 50%. You can read my May 8th post, Student Affairs to Benefit from Immigration Changes, to see how Student Affairs can benefit from these changes to Ontario government policy.

The Benefits of Relationships in the Information Age

2010-05-11T21:25:00.001-04:00

An emerging line of thinking for me revolves around how we analyze information. It is no secret that society is accumulating more and more information at faster and faster rates. Thanks to some colleagues I learned recently that I could download material from iTunes, including audio books, to my Blackberry Bold. I quickly discovered that I could download Chris Anderson's Free for free. In the book, Anderson talks about how information wants to become free, but the trade-off is that the time we have available to view this information, our attention, becomes increasingly scarce. It is at this intersection of how we accumulate information and analyze it that I see an opportunity for student affairs.

Some of you may have seen the popular video called A Vision of Students Today that was created by Professor Michael Wesch in collaboration with 200 students in one of his classes at Kansas State University. Wesch recently gave a TEDTalk where he refers back to the video he created with his students.

In the TEDTalk Wesch uses his experience working with a group of people in New Guinea who were truly off the grid when it comes electricity, the internet and information from the wider world. What Wesch learns is how relationships form the basis of everything that happened for these people. The culture changed when new information was brought to the people because some members of the group became literate. The change that took place for these people in New Guinea illustrates a point that relates to student affairs because of the role we can, and do, play in fostering relationships.

At this point you might ask: How does the analysis of information and relationship development connect? In my mind an area where student affairs professionals excel is facilitating the development of relationships. Think about all of the training, team building activities and mentoring that flows from our work. The content of the relationships in our world is certainly different then for the people in New Guinea that Wesch studied, but the parallel is that they also excelled at developing relationships.

In his TEDTalk Wesch shows how the villages in New Guinea were first organized in what may appear to be a hap hazard way and how they evolved to be neatly ordered. While the structure helped provide answers for some, mainly in government, it caused problems for the people in the village. He then illustrates a lecture hall setting with its rows upon rows of seats and states that it does not benefit students. It is efficient and provides order, which has some value, but he suggests that it causes students to focus on the things that do not matter as much.

A lecture hall has an efficient set up for disseminating information, which is needed, but that information needs to be understood for it to have real value. Student affairs can play a role here in helping students develop the skills to analyze the information. To effectively analyze information students should be able to identify themes, mixed messages, gaps in the information, and how the information is relevant now and in the future. Students can learn how to use all of this to make smart decisions.

Student affairs already excels in developing relationships and this can be leveraged to help our students learn the increasingly valuable skills of analysis and problem solving. We already do this to a degree but with more and more information comes more opportunities that we can take advantage of.

Student Affairs to Benefit from Immigration Changes

2010-05-08T10:41:00.001-04:00

A colleague has helped me understand how government immigration policy is evolving and it is becoming clear to me that it will greatly influence future international students. In the past Canada viewed immigration as a way to bring people to the country to help meet a growing need.

In his book Urban Nation, Alan Broadbent points out that Canada's economy in the early 1900's required farmers so immigrants were sought who understood farming. Not surprisingly, today the government seeks immigrants with a high level of education from their home country that have experience with the modern information economy.

Rather than continuing the focus on attracting immigrants that have already received their education the government now seems to be turning their attention to attracting students from abroad, educating them and enticing them to stay here. The advantage of this new approach from the government's perspective is that the type of education the student's receive is tailored more to Canadian needs. Furthermore, a university or college student, being younger and more likely to be single, is in a place where it will be easier for them to adjust to Canadian society.

The Ontario government's recent Throne speech endorsed this approach by indicating a desire to double the number of international students in the province. Another recent example is the change made by government to allow international students to work off-campus. Broadbent points out that "the biggest single factor in successful immigrant settlement is the ability to find a good job" and giving international students the opportunity to work beyond the campus borders exposes students to jobs and employers to talent. This mix is certain to promote understanding and help develop relationships that could serve everyone in Canada well.

In March StatsCan published a report predicating some changes in the diversity of the Canadian population over the next 20 years. One point was that at least a quarter of the population will be foreign-born by 2031. A second point is that our major cities will be much more diverse then elsewhere in the country. In fact, the reports says "By 2031, according to the reference scenario, more than 71% of all visible minority people would live in Canada's three largest census metropolitan areas: Toronto, Vancouver and Montréal."

Higher Education seems to be well placed to take advantage of these new opportunities. And within Higher Education an opportunity exists for Students Affairs to play an increasingly prominent role because international students will rely on international student advisors for assistance and career centres for employment.

Own the Podium Needed in Higher Ed

2010-03-03T19:25:00.005-05:00

Being Canadian has been fun over the past couple of weeks as Vancouver hosted the world for the 2010 Winter Olympics. A popular topic of discussion was the Own the Podium program set up to help our athletes compete. Many people have interpreted "Own the Podium" to mean Canada had to finish with the most medals. Ken Read, former Olympian and one of the original Crazy Canucks, expanded on the real intent of the program in this Globe & Mail opinion piece.

Read explains that "from the get-go, it was clearly stated that [the Own the Podium Program] was a stretch goal – an ambitious target intended to galvanize our nation, inspire our athletes, focus our funding and build a foundation of partnership."

He goes on to say "Own The Podium is and must be the rallying point. It gives us the sense of mission, direction, pride, focus, energy, passion and determination to be the best we can be. It has worked brilliantly, building an attitude, a belief that we can compete."

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we had an "Own The Podium" program to inspire those of us in higher education.

I believe the opportunity is before us now to have such a program.

Preston Manning, former Reform Party Founder and past leader of the Official Opposition in Ottawa, points out the importance of innovation in an opinion piece of his own. I'll forgive him for neglecting to highlight the vital role higher education can play in building the skills and knowledge in Canadians that make innovation possible - he is a conservative after all ;-)

Manning correctly points out that innovation is needed in many sectors. He could, and should, have gone farther though. Innovation can be more than a requirement. We have an opportunity to use innovation as a concept, or vision, to rally around.

Imagine a program which inspires our students to acquire knowledge and develop skills that promote innovative approaches. A program that sets ambitious targets which galvanize students, staff and faculty and cause all of us to stretch to new heights. It should be easy now - we just experienced it across Canada.

Incubating Ideas

2010-02-18T05:07:00.003-05:00

What is the best way to learn? Its an extremely complex question, but a new and exciting approach has been adopted at two Ontario schools that provides a glimpse into the role universities can now play in the learning process. It involves creating an idea incubator dedicated to students.

Last year, the University of Waterloo's VeloCity received some attention for its innovative approach to helping student's collaborate and build on their ideas. VeloCity is a small 70 bed residence in the corner of the UW campus that was due for a renovation when a discussion took place between staff in residence and graphics that radically changed the normal approach to renewing a residence building. Those discussions lead to the creation of VeloCity which provides entrepreneurial students with a chance to innovative, collaborate and learn.

Staff at my school used VeloCity to help build on some discussions and ideas that had been happening around campus. The dialogue has lead to the creation of the Digital Media Zone or DMZ. Our video blogger recently posted a video of a tour she had of the DMZ that will help explain what happens there.

When learning is real to a student it can lead to powerful outcomes. And it does not get more real then seeing an idea grow from a thought to reality. By creating space for the purpose of incubating ideas Waterloo & Ryerson are creating extremely powerful learning opportunities for students.

Opportunity to Assess Out of Class Experience

2010-02-15T12:31:00.005-05:00

Applying Knowledge is an article from Macleans OnCampus that talks about how schools are using NSSE results to improve student engagement. UBC Okanagan's approach to providing dedicated space to commuting students through their Collegia Program is cited as one way that Canadian schools have adapted to the knowledge gained through NSSE.

The article goes on to say "Canada needs 'a more systematic data sharing and analysis exercise' that breaks down information by school and then by faculty, making cross-institutional comparisons easy." Seeking a greater understanding through comparison and benchmarking of Canadian schools is needed.

However, it should not be limited to understanding the differences in student engagement by faculty. Understanding the role that services for students, student club involvement and all the other ways students get involved outside the classroom is needed as well. Achieving this end will be a little more challenging because data on student involvement in these types of activities is likely not captured in a central database. Nonetheless, if groups manage their own data then comparing that information to student engagement data is possible. At Ryerson we have been working with our planning office to do just that. Hopefully, we will have some results to share with you in the near future.

Assessment is increasing in importance and getting involved in how data is used to study student engagement presents a huge opportunity for everyone in higher education, especially those of us in student affairs.

Reviewing the Student Experience: A Popular Strategy

2010-02-08T22:08:00.008-05:00

As the first couple of pages of this Macleans OnCampus article points out colleges and universities are seeking to gain a greater understanding of the student's experience through the use of surveys like NSSE & CUSC. Some schools have decided to go beyond survey tools to study the issue in greater depth.

Over the past few years I have been made aware of these in-depth studies mostly be chance - read an article, stumbled across information on a website or someone shared the information with me in conversation. I thought I would compile a list of the public reports that I know about and see if others can add to the list. Below is a link to reports from five schools. Please add a link if you can.

Ryerson University: President's Commission on Student Engagement & Experience
Victoria University in the University of Toronto: Student Life Review
McGill University: Principal's Task Force on Student Life & Learning
York University: Under review now (Green Paper Phase)
University of Alberta: Student Engagement: A Shared Responsibility

$ Impact of International Students

2010-02-06T07:44:00.003-05:00

Josh Lyman, a character from the hit show West Wing, said, "There are only two things that ever stopped the government from doing anything money or politics." If this is the case then presumably, money or politics will also cause the government to take action and international students traveling to Canada certainly provides money according to a report released by the federal government this past fall.

Foreign Affairs & International Trade released an article in late October called Impact of International Education in Canada which outlined that the "total expenditures by international students while they study here (tuition, accommodation, living costs, travel and discretionary products and services) resulted in a $6.5 billion infusion to the Canadian economy in 2008."

The trend toward globalization would imply that this figure will grow in years to come and its hardly a secret that many schools rely on financial contributions from students abroad to help their bottom line. However, let's not forget that international students bring a wealth of experience and knowledge to our schools which provides a "priceless" aspect to learning for all students (staff & faculty).

Determing How Best to Develop Leaders

2010-02-03T03:04:00.007-05:00

At Ryerson we are conducting a review of our student leadership development program and to help us understand our options we have been doing some reading and looking at programs offered at other schools.

One of the books we have read that has been quite helpful is Deeper Learning in Leadership by Dennis C. Roberts. The author provides some history on leadership development programs, gives an overview of some of the common approaches used at (US) schools and presents his thoughts on components of a good program.

As for programs being offered, I have found the University of Calgary Leadership (UCL) program the most intriguing. The UofC program is broken into three areas: personal leadership, team leadership and community leadership. The breakdown resonates with me because it provides a holistic view built on a foundation of student's developing self-awareness and moves them towards making contributions to their community beyond school. You should check out the link above to find out more.

Here are a few observations I've made as we have gone though this review for you to comment on:

Roberts mentions that no one model on leadership development has been found to dominate and our review reinforces this position. No two schools have the same program. This is exciting because it provides for a lot of flexibility in designing a program, but it is a little overwhelming too because its hard to know which approach will yield the best results.
There is a tonne of information on leadership and no two people have the same opinion on leadership and how best to develop the skills associated with it. Our approach has been to reach out to a fair number of people - students, staff, faculty & people/groups outside our school - to increase "buy-in" and explore ways we collaborate. We have some emerging partnerships developing with the Lion's Club and with the Canadian Centre for Diversity that could provide some powerful outcomes for our students.
Those of us in student affairs at Ryerson have talked a fair amount over the past few years about ways we can collaborate to support and educate existing leaders, but we have yet to find a strategy that will work. For instance, the staff working in student affairs units collectively hire a few hundred student staff and leaders and each unit provides training and support for those directly under their responsibility; however, the different hiring timelines, topics covered in training and job requirements have prevented us from finding a comprehensive solution that is sustainable beyond isolated activities.

Rae Report Results

2010-02-01T08:08:00.004-05:00

For those of you in Ontario you will likely recall, former Premier and current federal MP, Bob Rae conducting a review of post-secondary education in the province a little more than five years ago. His report, Ontario: A Leader in Learning (or more commonly known as the Rae Report) lead to the creation of a five year plan for the Ontario government called Reaching Higher.

With the five year period for the plan now complete the current Minister of Training, Colleges & Universities, John Milloy, outlined the results in a speech to the Canadian Club on January 18, 2010. Here are a few of the claims made and highlights from his speech:

100,000 more students in PSE than when the Liberal government first took office
$650 million in student financial assistance - an increase of 250% & a 40% increase in the number of student receiving financial support
30% increase in number of students with a disability attending PSE
$1.7 billion increase in operating funds for PSE or a 63% increase since the Liberals took office
On our way to having 15,000 more graduate students spaces
Graduation rates have increased at both college & university levels
80% or more of students are satisfied with their education
120,000 apprentices training in Ontario now which is double the amount from when the government took office

At the end of his speech the Minister pointed out the biggest wild card that will affect PSE moving forward: the $24 billion Ontario government deficit. With education in Canada being funded by the provinces it will be interesting to see how the government allocates resources in the upcoming budget to build on the foundation that was laid with the Rae Report. Many of us are watching and waiting.

C2C

2010-01-30T09:18:00.007-05:00

At Ryerson a group of student service staff have created a group we call Connections to Campus or C2C. A better name might be Connections to Colleagues though. I'll explain.

Somewhere between 15-20 full-time staff from nine student service units came together in May 2007, at our Director's urging, to find ways to "create a more vibrant campus community." We started with a full day facilitated discussion. We celebrated some of our achievements, identified some of our challenges and started to develop an action plan for moving forward together.

In our first several gatherings over six months or so we talked a lot to help us understand our purpose. Our first project, with a tangible outcome, was to support our school's community food room drive in late November. We agreed that it would be best for us to support existing initiatives rather than build something new that may (unknowingly) compete with something else in our community.

Meeting attendance in our first year was spotty at times, but in time members grew more committed and we now regularly have 12 or more people show up for our monthly 1.5 hour meetings. It is important to note that participation in the group is not mandatory.

Making progress on other projects likely helped members understand C2C's purpose and the role each member could play. For instance, we identified communication of our events, programs and services as an area requiring attention early on and it lead to the creation of our Student Life Promotions Team which now consists of six student staff that manage the content on our Student Life website.

We recently held another all day meeting to help us take stock of our progress and map out a plan for our future activities. It was interesting to note that about 75% of those in attendance were not around when C2C started nearly three years earlier.

As one of founding members of the group who has taken a leadership role in moving our agenda forward it is gratifying to see the progress we have made and the ways members have come together. The units making up our group has expanded a little as we understand others who have similar community development goals. One such group has been Alumni Relations. We have three of our five faculties represented and it would be great to see all of our faculties represented in time.

One need our group seems to be meeting is breaking down the hierarchy or "silos" so commonly found in a large organization (ie bureaucracy). All members certainly report up through the hierarchy and for the most part we report to the Vice-Provost, Students, but C2C provides an opportunity for members to work "horizontally" rather than in the more traditional "vertical" methods. Reaching across to colleagues, rather then up to management, and engaging in regular dialogue and partnering on projects raises awareness of what others are doing to create community and gives members a chance to find ways to fill in the gaps.

We identified three areas that need attention in our recent full-day meeting, as follows: (1) how we share information, (2) how we collaborate and (3) how we define success. We have had discussions about these topics in the past (and will likely continue to have them for some time into the future), but it was neat to see all of us identify the issues and determine an action plan collectively.

In my experience I'm not familiar with a similar group being used at other schools. I would be very interested in having C2C members share their thoughts on our group, hear what others outside of Ryerson think about our approach and find ways other schools use to promote student service staff to work collaboratively to "create a more vibrant campus community."

Eyes on the Horizon

2010-01-30T08:56:00.003-05:00

A friend from MUN told me about the Horizon Project earlier this month and its definitely worth sharing widely. The project "charts the landscape of emerging technologies for teaching, learning and creative inquiry." In other words, it paints a picture of how the future might unfold in the coming years for educators. The report, which was first published in 2002, focuses on the upcoming five year period.

The reports highlight key trends, critical challenges and technologies to watch. The 2010 reports highlights the following technologies to watch:

Mobile Computing
Open Content
Electronic Books
Simple Augmented Reality
Gesture-based Computing
Visual Data Analysis

Definitely worth taking a look at the report if you have an interest in understanding how our world could evolve in the near future.

Money Sense for Students

2010-01-27T08:15:00.006-05:00

I find that Money Sense magazine has several good personal financial management tips and practical examples of how people have applied the tips in their life. I had fallen behind in my reading so I've tried to get caught up over the last few weeks and in doing so I came across a few good articles that might appeal to students. Thinking back to my days as an undergraduate, as well as reflecting on some of the conversations I've had with my staff over the years on how we can help students understand good financial management practices, has led me to think that sharing these two articles might help some students out.

The first article is called Tax 101: What students need to know and it offers, obviously, tax tips for students.

The second article profiles five people from across the age spectrum and one profile was of a 22 year who had just graduated from university debt free. His story starts on the bottom of page 3.

Middle Management

2010-01-26T21:04:00.007-05:00

Early in my career I recall making the occasional comment to colleagues that began with "If I was the Director, I'd do..." acting as if I had solutions to the problems of the day that others were not privy too. Eventually I matured and began to realize that situations are typically much more complex then they may seem on the surface.

Last year I was fortunate enough to actually be given a chance to take on a Director's role so I could see how my early career thinking compared to the real thing. After a year, some ideas have become reality, some have failed and others have yet to see the light of day. Being at a Director level is an interesting place to be as I am literally in the middle of the management structure - I am two levels below the President and two levels above the students. One way I have come to think of my role is that I provide clarity for my staff and advice to my superiors. Clarity allows my staff to know what is expected of them so they can feel comfortable performing their work, while advice for my superiors provides them with information and knowledge they need to make informed decisions.

After a few stumbles, a little debate and some luck I am beginning to see what strategies will help me carry out my responsibilities. My plan for this blog post is to share a few strategies I have adopted so readers can comment and, ideally, have readers share strategies that work for them or that they have seen work for others.

Develop a Meeting Plan - I believe the highest value my team can gain from meeting together is to discuss and debate issues so different perspectives can be understood. I do not believe much time should be spent sharing simple information as that can be accomplished just as effectively in other ways. My staff and I have read Death by Meeting and used it to open a dialogue on what we expect from our meetings together.
Meet with all staff - In my current role I am responsible for more than 20 full-time staff. I have come to accept that it is not reasonable to know what everyone is doing all the time, but I believe I need to make time to get to know my staff and give everyone a chance to interact with me. I believe it is easier for people to follow the leader if they know the leader and that happens best through dialogue. When I meet with staff individually that do not report directly to me I make a point of saying "I am meeting with you so you can ask me what you want to ask me and/or tell me what you want to tell me."
Macro-manage, not micro-manage - Giving instructions versus giving direction are two approaches that seem to be at opposite ends of the management spectrum and each has pros and cons. Ultimately, as a Director I try to give direction by conveying the outcomes I expect and allow my staff to choose the methods. One of my favourite books is The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People and the concept of stewardship delegation has stuck in my mind and seems to have influenced my approach here.
Anticipate the needs of the executive - I believe that providing good advice to my superiors requires me to anticipate their needs as best as I can. To help me anticipate I pay special attention to what executive members say in public or share in writing and in the media. In addition, I try to ask questions of the executive when given the opportunity or ask those that work closest to them as they are more likely to be available. Lastly, I have come to accept that I must be open to adjusting my position because the executive may change their approach, often without disclosing the reasons for the change.

Opportunities Abound with India

2010-01-12T17:19:00.004-05:00

Globalization has been a hot topic in many sectors for nearly a decade, including education. This article in University Affairs highlights an important opportunity that Canadian universities can take advantage of if efforts are taken to reach out to India. With a rapidly growing economy, a population of more than 1 billion people and a middle class that now exceeds 200 million the opportunities must be endless.

Sadly, I have never been to India so I cannot speak to the exchange and partnership opportunities that the article points too. I do wonder how student affairs can contribute to the development of a relationship between higher education institutions in each country. Is it possible (or reasonable) for associations, like CACUSS, to play a role in finding solutions? ACUHO-I has used study tours of different countries to help professionals learn, exchange knowledge and build relationships.

Future enrollment of Canadian schools is going to be increasingly driven by new or recent immigrants to Canada according to this article in The (Waterloo) Record and many of those immigrant will be from India. Creating relationships with Indian schools could help these students or it could open the door for other students to explore the world and understand globalization first hand.

Developer's Perspective on Student Housing

2010-01-08T17:53:00.004-05:00

Student Housing professionals may have an interest in this article, written by Derek Lobo, that is published in Canadian Apartment Magazine that is targeted to private developers. Lobo is predominantly a consultant for real estate and property developers who has also provided advice to some schools on their student housing. He presented at a past OACUHO conference and I was impressed with his grasp of the student housing industry, especially since he has no experience working directly in higher education.

The article touches on several issues that student housing professionals will have to contend with as we move into the future, such as: financial factors to consider for new construction, choosing the best location, public-private partnerships and student & parental expectations to name a few.

It would appear that private developers will be playing an increasing role in student housing in the year's to come, especially when college & university budgets continue to tighten. Are dollars and cents the biggest factor affecting the future of student housing or do others see more influential factors?

UBC Student Engagement Programs Highlighted

2010-01-07T20:59:00.009-05:00

Earlier this week I attended a presentation called Using NSSE to Enhance Academic Success: Best Practices on Canadian Campuses. It was hosted by my school's Learning & Teaching Office. The session was targeted to faculty but a few student affairs professionals joined in. The presenter was Dr Debra Dawson who is the Director of Teaching and Learning Services at the University of Western Ontario.

Many points made by Dr Dawson would be familiar to student affairs professionals. For instance, a key part of her talk centered around Chickering & Gamson's Seven Principles of Good Practice in Undergraduate Education (1987), which is a key article discussed by those that study higher education.

A point she mentioned that is worth highlighting here is that NSSE data tends to be more differentiated within a school then between schools. For me this reinforces the need for student affairs professionals, or anyone in higher education really, to collect and analyze data at their school to determine which programs are having more of an impact.

To conclude her presentation, Dr Dawson shared examples of what several schools across Canada are doing to improve student engagement, but she made a point of highlighting UBC and some of the strong work happening there. The three programs/initiatives she highlighted are:

UBCevents - one common calendar for students to find information
Commuter students hostel
Terry Talks - which uses a similar approach to TED Talks

I would encourage any student affairs professionals to check out the great initiatives happening at UBC. It would also be great for people to share strong student engagement programs and initiatives happening at your school so we can learn from and support one another.

Measuring Educational Success Thru Employment & Graduation Rates

2010-01-05T08:28:00.004-05:00

As a follow up to my last blog post I wanted to share the employment & graduation rates for students that attend Ontario universities, which are the other two key performance indicators used by schools in Ontario. Employment rate could be increasing in importance as a high percentage of students attend post-secondary schools for the purpose of gaining a job. An article in University Affairs a few months back, which I'm struggling to find at the moment, suggested that 90% of students today attend college or university to get a job whereas a decade ago that number was closer to 50%.

University	Employment Rate After 6 Months⁽¹⁾	Employment Rate After 2 Years⁽²⁾	Graduation Rate⁽³⁾
Brock	94.50%	96.20%	72.00%
Carleton	89.20%	95.70%	62.80%
Guelph	94.20%	95.50%	75.10%
Lakehead	92.80%	97.00%	73.00%
Laurentian	95.00%	97.20%	64.90%
Algoma	85.70%	84.20%	49.60%
Hearst	100.00%	100.00%	51.70%
McMaster	90.70%	95.80%	81.30%
Nipissing	94.30%	97.50%	86.20%
OCAD	90.30%	97.00%	53.60%
Ottawa	93.60%	96.50%	75.90%
Queen's	94.40%	96.90%	86.90%
Ryerson	92.10%	96.50%	70.50%
Toronto	90.30%	97.10%	79.80%
Trent	93.80%	94.30%	65.60%
Waterloo	94.70%	97.00%	78.20%
Western	94.30%	96.70%	79.20%
Wilfrid Laurier	94.90%	96.00%	79.40%
Windsor	92.50%	95.90%	72.20%
York	91.60%	94.30%	67.70%
Average	92.80%	96.20%	75.60%

This information was found on the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities' website, but the Accountability Gateway at each Ontario university website or the Council of Ontario University (COU) website are good alternate locations to find this type of info.

(Notes: (1) Percentage of 2004 graduates of bachelors or first professional degree programs who were employed six months after graduation. (2) Percentage of 2004 graduates of bachelors or first professional degree programs who were employed two years after graduation. (3) Percent of year 1 students in bachelors or first professional degree programs in 1998 who subsequently received a degree between 1999 and 2005 in any program of study.)

Measuring Educational Success Thru Retention

2009-12-29T18:34:00.007-05:00

Measuring success in business tends to revolve around the amount of profit a company generates. Lots of other calculations are used to measure the performance of a business, as an investment professional will surely say, but put simply the goal of business is to make a profit.

Education has not achieved such a focal point for measuring achievement. While some would surely argue that student's grades are the ultimate measure of educational achievement, many have pointed out that grades are influenced by many factors. Simply put learning is not easy to measure.

To help provide some measures of performance colleges and universities have tended to adopt the following three key performance indicators (KPI): retention rate, graduation rate and employment rate.

I have recently become curious to know how student service programs influence these KPI's, especially since university executive (and governments) have adopted retention, graduation and employment rates as some of the primary measures of success. To help understand the KPI's one of my staff has compiled a list of KPI's for Ontario universities. We are now working to gain an understanding of how some student service programs influence these measures.

I thought I would share the retention rate information here that was collected on Ontario universities to help raise awareness and see if others in Student Affairs understand how their work influences retention rate.

Brock University (2007) - 86.6%
Carleton University (2007) - 86.7
Lakehead Univesrity (2007) - 86.7
Laurentian University (2007) - 83.4
McMaster Univesrity (2007) - 86.2
Nipissing University (2007) - 84.5
Ontario College of Arts & Design (2006) - 85.6
Queen's University (2007) - 94.7
Ryerson University (2006) - 87.4
Trent University (2007) - 81.5
University of Guelph (2007) - 90.2
University of Ottawa (2006) - 87.6
University of Toronto (2007) - 90
University of Waterloo (2007) - 88.5
University of Western Ontario (2006) - 91.1
University of Windsor (2008) - 80.1
Wilfrid Laurier University (2007) - 88.9
York University (2006) - 87.9

Book on Canadian Student Services Coming

2009-12-25T08:52:00.003-05:00

Check out this post from CACUSS Reads to find out about a forthcoming book on Canadian Student Services titled Achieving Student Success: Effective Student Services in Canadian Higher Education by Donna Hardy Cox and Carney Strange. Its due out in February.

Canadian Higher Ed Groups

2009-12-23T16:29:00.004-05:00

Most student affairs professionals are aware of the associations that help us share knowledge, learn and network. In some ways its analogous to student groups that can be found on every college or university campus. I thought I would share a list of links to some of the associations in Canada that come to mind in case some people are not aware of them:

Any additions?

Taking Orientation Online

2009-12-23T16:17:00.005-05:00

I am fortunate to work with some highly committed and innovative people who produce some great programs, activities and services. One such area that has made great strides in recent years has been the orientation program. In fact, the O-team was approached by Academic Impressions to participate in a webcast so they can share some of the innovative approaches they used to develop their online orientation strategy this past year. The webcast is being offered in March 2010. Click here to find out more.

Painting the Picture of Higher Education's Future

2009-12-22T18:00:00.006-05:00

Taken together the two article below paint one possible picture of the future for higher education. Jeffery Simpson's Tough times for public institutions provides a clear outline for one of the core challenges that colleges and universities in Canada, among other public institutions, must face in order to solidify their financial foundation. My Provost has made the same point on more than one occasion.

In Reigning in College Costs, Micheal Bassis describes a new model that he suggests will improve quality while cutting costs by leveraging new technology that is now available. Michael Bassis is the president of Westminster College in Salt Lake City.

To me it certainly seems like higher education is at the beginning or in the midst of some significant change if you consider the funding shortfalls and new technology available today that can (& will) enhance learning. One of my blog posts from this past February, called Student Affairs Needs Fundraising Staff, showed that funding for higher education in Canada has been falling for four decades and the recent recession would seem to indicate that it will not be reversed anytime soon.

The following quote from Bassis' article suggests that Student Affairs could have a place in his model because of our expertise in high touch interactions, "instruction combining online and face-to-face elements (called hybrid or blended learning) was more effective than either purely face-to-face instruction or purely online instruction. In short, the report documented that high tech plus high touch works best. " Student Affairs must make strategic choices to take advantage of this opportunity because, as Bassis points out "Ultimately, it is not the technology but the new practices that the technology enables which will revolutionize learning."

Are You Using Your Whuffie?

2009-12-22T08:12:00.006-05:00

Was watching an episode of TVO's The Agenda a couple months back titled Wired 24/7 and one of the panelists was a Saskatchewan-born Marketing Consultant & author Tara Hunt. I had never heard of her before, but I was impressed with some of the things she had to say and I discovered that she had recently published a book. Curious to find out more I ordered her book which is called The Whuffie Factor.

After completing the first chapter I thought I'd share a few of my observations and thoughts on how I believe it can be applied to the work of student affairs professionals. Hunt has clearly written the book for business, especially those in marketing, but the concepts can easily be applied to higher ed.

She talks about using many Web 2.0 tools, such as Facebook, Twitter, Flickr etc. At first I thought she was not going to introduce many new concepts or ideas, but she started to share the little things people are doing to leverage the power of these tools. To many people these subtle changes in approach would not mean much, but its becoming clear to me that they can be quite powerful. For example, Hunt used her online network of people to help design the cover of her book. At first this may not seem like any great feat, but her approach increased her confidence in the message she was trying to convey, allowed her to leverage the expertise of others and she increased the sense of ownership others felt for her project. Outcomes many of us look for in our work.

She outlines whuffie as follows, "Relationships and connections over time lead to trust, which is the key to capital formation. The capital I'm talking about, though, is not of the monetary variety. It is social capital, aka whuffie, and a social capitalist is one who builds and nurtures a community, thereby increasing whuffie." This explanation seems pretty straight forward, but if we examine our approach to increasing whuffie in higher ed using Web 2.0 I think we would realize its not as easy as it may seem at first.

Let me wrap up this post by sharing one realization I've had about student affairs professionals using Web 2.0 to increase whuffie. One of the primary roles of a student affairs professional is to develop community at their school. In general this is accomplished by getting students and other community members together in a face-to-face environment. When it comes to using Web 2.0 we use it to support our traditional approach of bringing people together face-to-face. This is all fine and good, but Web 2.0 tools have a ton of potential to do more and create community in other ways. If you look at student affairs job postings today versus a few years back you likely would not see any substantial changes. Perhaps a phrase or duty has been added about using Web 2.0 tools, but no jobs have been posted with the purpose of creating a digital community. The unfortunate part is that their are thriving digital communities all over the internet, on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, MySpace etc, but Student Affairs professionals have tended to join these communities rather than create them.

For those of you following along on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn you can also read other posts at http://wepps.blogspot.com/

Product or Service?

2009-12-21T21:19:00.006-05:00

I was recently writing a paper and I bumped into an issue that I have been contemplating ever since: Is education a product or service or should it be considered as a separate category?

This question is usually reserved for clasifying profit making companies. With the lines blurring between education and business I thought it might be interesting to share my internal debate with others to hear additional thoughts and ideas.

I usually consider a product to be tangible good that is exchanged for money whereas a service is something that is intangible that is given to one person or group for money. A quick google search reveals that service can be defined as "work done by one person or group that benefits another."

To my way of thinking education does not seem to fall nicely into either category. Nothing tangible exchanges hands, other than a degree or diploma at the end, so education is not a product. Staff and faculty certainly provide a service to learners and they share their knowledge, but students must actively participate in the process for learning to actually take place. Customers buying a service from a business do not have to put forward the kind of effort, if any, that students must put into their studies to make it worthwhile.

For these reasons it seems to me that education is neither a product nor service, but a separate category altogether. Do you agree or disagree?

For those of you following along on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn you can also read other posts at http://wepps.blogspot.com/

Expanding My World

2009-11-14T19:24:00.005-05:00

Over the last few weeks I have had the good fortune of being able to attend two very good conferences within walking distance from my office:

Prepared Minds, Prepared Places - Hosted by the YMCA
Internationalization Effectiveness: Strategies for Success - Hosted by CBIE

One of the most impressive parts about each conference was the fact that participants came from all across Canada and beyond and a large number of people came from outside higher education. For instance, the Prepared Minds, Prepared Places conference had attendees come from the US and several European countries while the CBIE conference had a large contingent come from China and others from the US, Norway, Australia and other countries.

I took advantage of Twitter to share some of my thoughts already, but I wanted to highlight two of the speakers as they were the most memorable to me. Tricia Jenkins was one of the keynotes at the first conference. She has built a very impressive program that has helped several students reach PSE that would likely never have had that chance without her work. Check out Professor Fluffy to understand a little more about the reach of her work.

Dr John Hudzik, who is the Acting Provost at Michigan State University and President of the Association of International Educators, participated in a panel discussion at the CBIE conference. The panel was discussing how the current economic situation was impacting higher education. Dr Hudzik only had 15 minutes to speak and he took full advantage of the time. I took a few notes, but it was hard to keep up. I'm looking forward to accessing his PowerPoint notes once they are posted. He made the following statement, which I believe conveys a clear, concise and powerful idea about higher education for the coming century: To be an institution of value & distinction in the 21st century requires global reach & engagement.

Adapting to a New Network

2009-09-19T10:42:00.005-04:00

How Much Are You Worth to Facebook? is an article by Adam L. Penenberg in the October 2009 issue of Fast Company. Penenberg adapted the article from his book Viral Loop where he explores how people will spread a message, usually on behalf of someone else, to their friends, family and colleagues because of their strong interest in the service/product/idea.

The article highlights how marketers use a few key pieces of information about people, such as age, gender and postal/zip code, that can found on a social network and direct a message at them. A few examples are used to highlight how effective this approach can be in spreading a message. Mark Zuckerberg, one of the founders of Facebook and its current CEO, is quoted to strengthen this point, "The message you get, in a lot of ways, is less important than whom you get it from."

While reading the aricle I tried to adapt it to the higher education environment, especially to the work that is done outside the classroom. We have a tremendous amount of information on students yet we study it very little, especially in Canada, and I'm not familar with anyone taking advantage of viral loops on a social networking site to share a message or advertise an event. This presents opportunities for those who hope to reach students in new and deeper ways. Student Life staff have a ton of experience spreading messages through networks at a peer level so it may not take much to adapt.

Learning from Harper

2009-07-12T22:28:00.000-04:00

Let me be clear from the beginning: I'm not a supporter of Stephen Harper's politics. However, he has achieved success in that he has been our Prime Minister since February 2006. As such, I believe one can learn from his rise to power. Last week I finished reading Harper's Team by University of Calgary Professor Tom Flanagan who worked for Harper as his Chief of Staff during his campaign to become leader of the Canadian Alliance and the Conservative Party of Canada.

Some points from the book can be applied to many people or organizations, including a student affairs division in a college or university. Here are some of the points I pulled from the book:

Collecting & Managing Data - Harper and his team develop a powerful set of data on his supporters which is used quite effectively to help him progress to leader and eventually Prime Minister.
Understanding Grassroots Support - In his bid to gain the leadership of the Canadian Alliance and then the Conservative Party his resources largely come from grassroots support as opposed to corporations.
Relationship Building - Harper does not have the knack for building bridges beyond his base, but he has been quite effective at relationship building within conservative circles. Flanagan points out that this has never been an easy task for Canadian conservative leaders with the exception of Sir John A. MacDonald. (We'll see if Harper can maintain his relationships over time)
Using Strategy & Tactics - Harper is known widely for his strategic skills and the book highlights some points where he used them wisely and other times where he learned from mistakes.

In recent years assessment has become a hot topic in student affairs. To increase our influence and demonstrate the value that our work has outside the classroom, we need to collect more data and study it. This analysis will allow us to show the value we can bring to higher education. Furthermore, by sharing this information with our students we can seek them as partners in telling the story of the important work that happens outside the classroom, just as Harper understood and leveraged the support from his base.

Relationship building is one of our strengths, but our focus tends to be inward and it will become increasingly important to look beyond our traditional partners. For me this includes faculty and especially people and organizations beyond a school's borders. Experiential learning is one way we are doing this already, but seeking resources, such as funding, is one largely untested area for our field.

It would be hard to suggest that we do not use strategy and tactics in our work now. Every person in our field will undoubtedly have a few good stories to share. The coming years will stretch our thinking to new levels as resources continue to shrink and the academic core of a school will continue to press their case for having the lion's share of the resources. Therefore, we must continue to adapt, support one another and most importantly share our stories widely to show the powerful impact we have on learning.

Learner Centred vs Profit Centred?

2009-07-09T06:59:00.004-04:00

Over the past couple of decades one important debate taking place in higher education has been teacher-centred education versus learner-centred education. A prominent point of discussion at the recently completed Unesco World Conference on Higher Education is the rise of private schools in the sector, as outlined in this Chronicle of Higher Education article. Several news reports highlight that a report from Unesco, named A New Dynamic: Private Higher Education, states that private higher education now accounts for 30% of the enrolment in higher education worldwide and in some countries it makes up 3/4 of the options.

Private schools certainly have a place in higher education, but for the landscape to change so rapidly is cause for concern. One reason for this concern is that one unmet goal of this gathering - and from a similar conference in 1998 - is ensuring access to traditionally underrepresented groups of people. Achieving this goal will be a challenge in an environment where profit becomes an increasing focus.

Getting involved in the dialogue will maximize the chance that important issues, like equity & access, will be considered as higher education evolves. For Canadian student affairs professional one place we should put this topic on the agenda is at any CACUSS gatherings.

ACUHO-I Continues to Impress

2009-07-04T08:40:00.004-04:00

ACUHO-I continues to be involved in an impressive number of projects that are showing some real results for student housing professionals. The 61st Annual Conference & Exposition was held earlier this week in Baltimore, Maryland and more than 1,000 people attended the gathering.

The conference highlights for me included a keynote address by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., having the chance to hear Dr. Susan Komives share her research on student leadership and to hear Dr. Gwendolyn Dungy speak on trends in the education sector.

The business meeting provided a glimpse into some of the activities that the association has focused on over the past year. The following are noteworthy for me:

Global Housing Summit & China Study Tour - Nearly 100 people gathered in Hong Kong to explore student housing issues and find ways of expand the association's reach beyond North America. Chinese higher education is expanding rapidly, with enrolment having increased 100% in four years to 26 million, so this is a crucial area for ACUHO-I to focus its growth.
Strategic Planning - The Executive Board spends a significant amount of its time on strategic planning activities (likely 1/4 to 1/3 of its time) and this year their efforts were expanded to include a Knowledge Summit and Strategic Planning Summit so input could be gathered from a larger number of people.
Fiscal Responsibility - The Executive Board & Central Office managed to find ways to cut more than $300,000 from the budget. No easy feat when the association has been pushing in so many directions and must continue to do so to remain current.

Perhaps the most impressive results come from the work of the Public Policy Advisory Committee. This group began its work less than two years ago and has already been able to influence the US federal government and legislation that would have an impact on student housing operations. Many people and groups hope to have this level of impact, but to actually make it happen multiple times, demonstrates the level ACUHO-I has been able to reach in its work.

Moving forward the work of the Credentialing Task Force on developing courses on assessment for student housing professionals will provide a depth of knowledge not previously available. In addition, the first Business Operations Conference in October will bring together staff in areas of student housing departments that have never had this type of opportunity to gather together before.

American's Studying in the Great White North

2009-05-19T11:46:00.003-04:00

My first reaction to reading this article in the Globe & Mail about an increasing number of American student's enrolling in Canadian universities was surprise. I cannot completely explain this reaction. Perhaps it has to do with the media exposure that the US generally receives in Canada, the history of the US being the destination for many students from around the world or the fact that US students on Canadian campuses receive little profile compared to students from other countries. At my school students from more than 100 countries are represented it would be difficult for students from any particular country to receive all of the attention.

Towards the end of the article I began to realize it should not be that surprising considering the quality of our educational system and the proximity to the US. Increasing recruitment efforts would certainly contribute to this increase as well. I would be curious to know the outcome of the points raised around finances and whether schools receive more funding from an international student when compared to a domestic student. The point about school's not making money on international students because of increased expenses related to recruitment or services is not new to me.

From a learning and student life point of view bringing students from abroad is a great move. The different points of view and diversity that will be added to the campus will benefit the entire community and raise the level of learning for all students.

Details

2009-05-03T08:51:00.007-04:00

Its been a while since I've posted any new material so I thought I'd share one of the projects that has occupied my time recently.

From 2006 to 2008 I had the opportunity to serve on the Executive Board of the Association of College & University Housing Officers, International (ACUHO-I). It has been one of the most powerful professional development opportunities in my career. The quality of the people I worked with on the board & in the central office was truly impressive.

When my term ended on the board I knew I wanted to stay involved, but was I was unsure of how I would make that contribution. Fortunately, I was invited to the ACUHO-I Knowledge Summit in September 2008. It was there that an opportunity presented itself - The Credentialing Task Force.

The Credentialing Task Force was created to explore new ways to provide more in-depth professional development opportunities for student housing professionals. The group has been in place for more then three years and the outcomes are becoming very real now. Assessment has been the first area of focus and a series of courses are now being developed.

Creating a course is an impressive process. The DACUM method has been adopted to develop the courses. In the fall a group of student housing professionals developed 51 tasks split into six categories that are required to carry out assessment in student housing. This past week another group of people, including me, further defined the tasks involved and we now have 189 tasks identified. Each task includes the desired outcome, the resources required, knowledge & skills required, behaviour needed, decisions to consider, cues to help guide decisions and errors that would result if the task is not done correctly.

Digging this deep into an issue is not normal work in the life of a staff member in higher education. I would imgaine that few people in our line of work have identified processes with nearly 200 tasks ;-)

"This is hard!" was our slogan as we worked toward adding content over our three days together. It was awkward work at first, but in the end we painted a very clear picture of what is involved in developing an assessment plan.

Cuts at the Wrong Time

2009-02-26T07:05:00.005-05:00

This Globe & Mail article highlights some of the issues that colleges and universities are facing currently in Ontario/Canada. Unfortunately, the writer points out (likely correctly) that student service units will likely be an area targeted.

In a recent post I suggested that fundraising is something that Student Affairs needs to get involved in. The fact that PSE institutions in Ontario had to cut budgets last year, when the economy was in good shape, and must make deep cuts this year, when demand is going to increase more then normal, reinforces the need that alternative sources of funding must be sought out.

Taking the initiative now could prevent decision makers from making choices such as contracting out services. To some this may seem like a ridiculous suggestion, but food services, bookstores and residence operations have all been contracted out for quite some time. Employment firms, counselors and health care clinics are well established outside of higher education. It is not inconceivable that one day a President could take a risk and contract out a career centre to Work opolis, a counseling unit to private providers and student health operation to a local health clinic.

One Student Database

2009-02-13T08:55:00.003-05:00

Accountability is a topic increasing in importance. With data becoming increasing easy to capture and analyze the push for one large database that contains all students, from elementary school to higher education, will intensify. This Inside Higher Ed article explores the issue a little and explains how the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation may have provided a path to a new solution.

Student Affairs staff and leaders in the field need to pay close attention to this issue in order to influence the type of data that is captured.

Creating a Creative Future for Education

2009-02-12T07:04:00.004-05:00

Ontario Premier, Dalton McGuinty, sought the advice of Roger Martin & Richard Florida from UofT on the future of the Ontario economy. Roger Martin is Dean of the Rotman School of Management, one of Canada's top business schools, and Richard Florida is a US born professor at UofT and author of several popular books. A report was prepared and made public recently.

Two education blogs I follow both put up postings about the report:

Dale Kirby from MacLeans Oncampus
George Siemens blog is elearnspace

I have yet to read the report, but I look forward to seeing what opportunities it contains for student affairs since we can be a rather creative bunch ;-)

The Road Ahead for Higher Ed

2009-02-09T06:18:00.005-05:00

Gordon Gee is President of Ohio State University which is one of the largest schools in the US. This Inside Higher Ed article, called Gordon Gee's Call for 'Reinvention' of Higher Ed points out some of the highlights of a recent speech by Gee. I see two points worth noting for staff in student affairs:

Interdisciplinary Approach
Importance of Community Colleges

The interdisciplinary comments could have a direct impact on student affairs staff in that this presents an opportunity for work outside the classroom to increase in value, especially when Gee is quoted as saying "that faculty members need to be rewarded for contributions broadly, not just those that advance their own fields."

Gee's prediction that “the drivers of our future will be this nation’s community colleges,” speaks to the increasing importance of applied learning. Again, this line of thinking supports the focus on learning outside the classroom that student affairs staff are so heavily involved in.

Student Affairs Needs Fundraising Staff

2009-02-08T18:16:00.011-05:00

My last post showed a chart outlining how the Ontario government allocates funding to various categories. Funding for post-secondary institutions in the 05/06 fiscal year amounted to 5.6% of the province's expenses. The revenue collected by a university comes from more then the province though.

As Daniel Lang, from OISE, has outlined the different sources of revenue for universities has fluctuated over time. This chart shows four points in time over a 40 year period beginning in the late 1950's:

The chart clearly shows a trend the governments are providing a lower portion of the revenue for universities in Canada. Some schools have been fortunate enough to receive major donations in the past decade from some of Canada's wealthy people such as Ted Rogers (Ryerson), Seymour Schulich (York, UWO, Calgary, McGill), George Vari (Ryerson, York, UofT), Richard Ivey (UWO), Wallace McCain (Mount Allison), Mike Lazaridis (Waterloo), Jim Balsillie (Waterloo, WLU) and others.

There is little reason to believe that the trend of declining government funding will be reversed in the near future, which means that Canada's post-secondary schools must continue to look to wealthy citizens. To date the vast majority, if not all, of the donations made to higher education in Canada have been directed to academic activities and faculties.

This last fact makes me wonder if student affairs is missing out on an opportunity. The work of student affairs staff can have a tremendous impact on a student's career and chances are that today's donors were likely heavily involved in activities outside of the classroom. For this reason it might be time that student affairs staff get involved in fundraising efforts.

(Source: Lang, D. (2004). Financing Higher Education in Canada. In Steve O. Michael (Eds.), International Perspectives on Financing Higher Education (pp. unknown). Kent, OH: Kent State University Press.)

Government Funding for Student Affairs

2009-02-05T04:32:00.013-05:00

Have you ever wondered how much money government spends on post-secondary education? College and university staff and faculty in Canada should have an interest because our post-secondary education (PSE) model is heavily funded by the federal and provincial governments.

The 2005/2006 Ontario budget included about $84 billion in revenue. Approximately 5.6% of the provincial expenses was directed to PSE & Training. By far the largest category of expenses was spent on health care which amounted to nearly 40% of the Ontario's budget.

Daniel Lang, from OISE, has conducted research on funding for PSE and he points out that a great deal has changed over the past half century. In the mid 1960's there was no formal funding formula for universities (Ontario Colleges were introduced in 1966). A basic funding formula, especially when compared to today's standards, was introduced in the late 1960's and it has become increasingly complex. Today, in Ontario, 17 different "envelopes" exist in the Ontario Operating Funds Distribution Manual (03/04):

1.1 Basic Grants
1.2 Enhanced Accessibility for students with a disability
1.3 Performance Fund
1.4 Quality Assurance Fund
1.5 Expansion Funds (Accessibility; Medical Enrolment Expansion; Nursing Enrolment Expansion; Teacher Education Expansion)
1.6 Mission-Related Institution Specific (Northern Ontario Grants; Bilingualism; Differentiation; Extraordinary Grant to Algoma; Extraordinary Grant to Hearst)
1.7 Research Overhead's/Infrastructure
1.8 Special Purpose Grant
1.9 Institution-Specific Grants
1.10 Learning Opportunities Task Force
1.11 Partnerships Grants (Access to Opportunities Program; Graduate Scholarships in Science & Tech)
1.12 Enrolment Adjustment/Accessibility
1.13 Transition Grants
1.14 Program Adjustment
1.15 Library Enhancement & Student Equipment Fund
1.16 Pay Equity Assistance
1.17 Fair Funding for Universities

None of the envelopes provide dedicated funding for student affairs or for work outside the classroom. The government would likely suggest that a portion of various envelopes is used in activities outside the classroom. With the focus on student engagement and experience intensifying in recent years an argument could be made that the work of student affairs is increasing in importance and a dedicated envelop should be created.

Several associations in the US have been organizing themselves in the last five years for the purpose of lobbying government. Their work has influenced the political agenda. For example political discussion following the high profile shootings at Virgina Tech or Northern Illinois University was modified because of the work of association staff and other leaders in the student affairs' field. Student affairs staff north of the border could benefit from organizing for the purpose of lobbying the government as well. Organizing our field to develop a more formal relationship with the government would raise the value and profile of our work and could even lead to our own "envelope" in the future.

Student Community 2.0

2009-01-11T19:34:00.010-05:00

As a Harvard student, Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook which has revolutionized the way university and college students interact and communicate. This new tool is changing the way that student's develop community which means that colleges and universities, especially student affairs staff, need to adapt.

To date staff in student affairs have created profiles on Facebook and used features like the event planning tool to share what will be happening on campus and photos to post what's already happened. Both of these features are fairly basic applications within facebook. However, the site is designed to encourage others to add features, or applications, which provides for a dynamic online community. More than 52,000 Facebook applications have been developed to date.

Ontario universities and colleges have not taken advantage of this opportunity though. A quick search for Facebook applications designed by Ontario post-secondary institutions reveal that only a handful have been developed. Some examples include the University of Western Ontario and the University of Guelph had applications that allowed users to track news on their school while the Ryerson University Library designed a tool for users to access some of its resources.

This 2006 USA Today article states that online learning has been growing more then expected. A similar trend likely exists in Canada. The Online College Education Network outlines some of the advantages that online education has over traditional education. One disadvantage, not highlighted, is community development. Students that do not having an opportunity to interact face-to-face will have a more difficult time to develop community. And student affairs staff know that students that do not feel as though they belong to their school's community are at a greater risk of dropping out.

Online enrolment numbers are destined to collide with community development practices at colleges and universities. This is an important issue for staff that work in student affairs and student life. It will be interesting to see how this issue evolves and how staff take advantage of these new opportunities.

A Vision of Students Outside the Classroom

2009-01-04T15:18:00.011-05:00

Nearly two years ago Web 2.0 became reality for me as I watched a video created by a Colorado school teacher that was called Shift Happens (here is version 2). Last year a friend and colleague from Clemson University shared a video called A Vision of Students Today that was created by a Kansas State University professor and his students.

Both videos deliver a powerful message in only a few minutes that was simply not as readily available five years ago. The videos have been a great educational tool for me so I wanted to highlight them in my blog. I have used the videos in student staff training and at the 2008 OACUHO Training Institute held at Carleton University.

When searching for the videos to create this post I discovered a new video called A Vision of K-12 Students Today. It was created "to inspire teachers to use technology in engaging ways to help students develop higher level thinking skills. Equally important, it serves to motivate district level leaders to provide teachers with the tools and training to do so."

When I first considered blogging about higher education a few months ago I did not discover many blogs that focused on student affairs and/or student life. Most of the blogs related to higher education highlight the use of technology, admissions, marketing and higher education in general. Lots of blogs exist for primary and secondary education as well.

Student Life and Student Affairs staff make such a strong contribution to the college or university student's experience, yet we have not taken advantage of tools like blogs and videos like others in the education industry have.

Some new approaches seem to be emerging from our associations as can be seen with the launch of iStudentAffairs.com and the ACUHO-I Network. My hope is this will lead to more individual efforts so the story of what our students do outside the classroom can be shared with a larger audience through the various Web 2.o tools that now exist. Perhap one day soon we'll see a video called A Vision of Students Outside the Classroom.

Diversity Presents Opportunity for Higher Ed

2008-12-31T08:41:00.012-05:00

Another topic that follows the future of education theme and that college and university educators must grapple with is diversity.

The Ontario government suggests that 70% of jobs will require post-secondary education by 2013. This upward trend is likely not shocking to very many people, but if you think about it colleges and universities have gone through quite a dramatic evolution over the past 50 years.

Up to the middle of the 20th century university enrollment was much lower and colleges did not exist in Ontario. Centennial College was Ontario's first college and it opened in 1966. In the type of environment that existed 50 years ago it would have been very difficult for most students to go to university. Students that grew up in a background with some advantages, such as parents that attended university or a family with a higher income, stood a much greater chance of being able to continue their education beyond high school.

Today, in our knowledge based economy it is now generally accepted that a person's chances of being successful increase if they attend college or university. The expansion of higher education has meant students from very different backgrounds are participating in college and university. As a result our campuses are much more diverse today then 50 years ago on many measures. This leads me to wonder if we are taking full advantage of this opportunity to educate our students about diversity in its many forms.

I just finished reading Malcolm Gladwell's Blink and one part has troubled me. Gladwell acknowledged that he struggled as well. In chapter three Gladwell describes his experience with the Implicit Association Test (IAT). In this test participants are given a list of words and asked to place each word in one of two catagories. The catagories are labelled with a pair of words. In Blink one of the examples had Male or Career as one category and Female or Family as the other category. In the real test, participants are timed on how long it takes them to place each word in the list in one of the two catagories. Changing the word pairings leads to different results which brings me to the part that has troubled me.

A second example in Blink used the following two catagories: European American or Bad and African American or Good. The reader was then asked to place the following words in one of these two categories: hurt, evil, glorious, wonderful and so on. Pictures were also used. The word pairings were then changed to European American or Good and African American or Bad and the reader was asked to catagorize the same list of words and pictures again. My experience matched Gladwell's in that I was able to catagorize the words faster when the European American/Good and African American/Bad were paired.

Part of Gladwell's explanation for this outcome is that "we live in North America, where we are surrounded every day by cultural messages linking white with good." He also quotes Mahzarin Banaji, one of the IAT researchers at Harvard University, "You don't choose the make positive associations with the dominant group. But you are required to. All around you, that group is being paired with good things. You open the newspaper and you turn on the television, and you can't escape it."

In trying to understand this phenomenon I have had many thoughts, such as:

How can this information be used to help train our student leaders?
What systems or processes can we alter to benefit a greater number of our students?
What can be done so all students feel that they belong to their college or university community?

Answers to these questions are certainly not easily found, but post-secondary education has evolved to include much diversity and the IAT points out that our past decisions may have been biased.

2 Million Minutes + 2 Million Minutes

2008-12-24T11:49:00.004-05:00

A few months back I discovered this trailer on YouTube. It compares six students that are about to graduate from high school - a male and female student in the US, India and China. The title of the documentary is 2 Million Minutes which is based on the number of minutes in a high school student's life.

I duplicated the documentary's title in this post to point out that an undergraduate degree is also based on a four year period of time.

All six students plan to attend PSE and the film makers do a real nice job in comparing and contrasting the different cultures and student's expectations. Students in each of these cultures certainly spend their time in different ways. One of the (not so) underlying messages is that the US (and by default Canada) cannot take their position in the world for granted.

I would encourage anyone working in education to check out the trailer, watch the video and use it to start discussions with students. You can can also visit the 2 Million Minutes website to find out more. Enjoy.

Predicting the Future :-)

2008-12-23T06:44:00.004-05:00

I love trying to predict the future and since my field of work is education this summary article called Compressing Stephen Downes interests me a great deal. I've been following Stephen Downes for a few weeks now. His area of focus tends to be online learning, but this article about his thinking is applicable beyond those boundaries. For those of you with more time on your hands here is a link to the full article: The Future of Online Learning: Ten Years On

A random thought that I had a year or so ago that has resurfaced a few times is: How will online learning impact student life? If you know me the reason I'm interested in this question is obvious - I work in student life ;-)

I ask this question because as everyone involved in education gets more comfortable with online learning our practices will obviously move more heavily in that direction. My concern (for more then my job) is that their will be less face-to-face interaction. Without this type of interaction I worry that the ability of future students to practice their communication skills in more ways then text messaging, emails, discussion boards, blogs etc will diminish. With less experience at communicating face-to-face I worry that their relationships will not be as deep.

That said, I realize that online learning and interactions can evolve in ways we simply do not understand or appreciate now. For instance, social networking was not an option 10 years ago and I believe it has a great deal of potential to enhance the level of online communication.

Beware of Social Networking?

2008-12-22T09:34:00.003-05:00

This Inside Higher Ed article titled Frenemies on Facebook highlights a few issues for students and schools that need solutions. Basically, a marketing company created Facebook groups that targetted students. Seems reasonable. Problem was that the company acted as if they were a school and failed to mention that they were a marketing company. Fortunately, the hoax was uncovered and the company admitted that they "crossed the line."

This story points out that students (& parents) must be aware of where they get their information and schools must find ways to share their message in the Web 2.0 environment. With our communications methods changing so rapidly and with everyone, from schools to students to outside companies, having access to the same tools to share information widely it will not be easy to find solutions. In my work I'm trying to understand how we can use social networking to enhance the sense of community at our school. Any suggestions?

Dec 21 Readings

2008-12-21T08:40:00.000-05:00

Here are some readings that may be of interest:

Universities may face free market overhaul - This is a report commissioned by the Australian gov't to assess higher education down under. It reminds me of Ontario's Rae report from a few years ago.
Teaching by Lying: Professor Unveils 'Last Pirate' Hoax - A creative way to teach, but the approach pushes the boundaries of what is acceptable in higher ed.
A New Look at the Impact of Diversity - Inside Higher Ed interviews the author of The Diversity Challenge: Social Identity & Intergroup Relations on the College Campus. Two interesting findings are highlighted, which make sense as a concept, but might be harder to implement: (1) In student housing efforts should be made to places students together that are from different racial/cultural background and (2) Ideally support for groups that segregate students into racial/cultural groups should be eliminated, or at least slowed down (eg Greek societies or minority student organizations).
Facebook vs Google - This article is not directly about higher ed, but I thought I'd include it get people think about the ways higher ed can connect to these growing services.
We have to write the rest of the song - I discovered Karl Fisch last year when I saw this video and I now follow his blog. Fisch is a grade school teacher, but this article about the importance of reflection applies to both grade school and college or university.

Dec 16 Readings

2008-12-16T05:22:00.000-05:00

Here are a few brief and not so brief readings to ponder:

BBC: 'Aspiration gap' for white poor
Stats Can: Study: Leaving postsecondary education without graduation
The Nat'l Center for Public Policy and Higher Education: Measuring up 2008: A National Report Card on Higher Education
eBook: The Tower & The Cloud

Private University... Not so much

2008-12-15T07:50:00.000-05:00

Quest University in British Columbia is one of Canada's first, if not first, private university. Maclean's On-campus blog certainly does not paint it a pretty picture in this posting: Public vs private universities in Canada

Introducing some variety by way of a different model for a post-secondary institution to follow should be a good thing... in time. Quest University has not had a great start, but as long as we learn from their experience then we should all benefit. Let's hope someone is studying the Quest experience!

PSE Mergers?

2008-12-15T07:27:00.000-05:00

I cannot recall hearing of two (or more) post-secondary schools merging together into one new entity. According to this BBC article it could become reality in the UK: Uni and college in merger talks

Colleges & Universities are not known for being efficiently run organizations, but searching for answers through faculty's research or through a student's self discovery as they develop should not be measured against an "efficient"yardstick. As such, it will not be easy to find the balance between an efficiently run college or university and a place where students and faculty have the freedom to take some risks to explore.

Bright Future for Ontario College & Universities?

2008-12-14T07:00:00.000-05:00

The answer to this question would seem to be a resounding "Yes!" according to this article in the Toronto Star: Could 'mega-region' phoenix rise from economic crisis ashes?

Lots to Talk About

2008-11-21T08:03:00.000-05:00

After my posting on Monday I have been been thinking about various topics I could write about. Several thoughts have come to mind over the last few days. These thoughts have come at random times and in random places, like in the subway, walking the dog, in the middle of meeting (of course I never stopped listening to the others in the mtg ;-) .

Since I instinctively think about process I was trying to figure out a way to manage these random thoughts so I could blog about them at a more convenient time when I could actually dig into the issue (and make sure I actually kept listen in those mtgs :-) . My solution was to start saving topics on my blog, but not make the posting public until I could spend some time elaborating on my thoughts. Nothing like creating another to do list!

At some level I knew there was lots to blog about, but it was interesting to see list grow. Seeing the topics on the screen allowed me to free my mind of trying to remember the topic and start thinking more about the topic. I'm excited to dig deeper into the issues in the coming weeks and months. Here are topics I have come up with so far:

Connecting in-class learning to out-of-class learning. Put another way how can theory (in class) be applied (out of class) to benefit the learning process. In "college speak" it would be finding ways that student affairs can collaborate with academic affairs.
Over the past decade in higher education their has been increased talk of creating a positive "student experience." I have also noticed that other fields have been talking about creating a positive experience for their target audiences. For instance, business want to create a positive customer experience. Seems many people are seeking the "elusive experience" that customers, users and learners want.
Perhaps connected to the "experience" concept is the way higher education integrates students into post-secondary schools. Many terms are used to explain and communicate the practices that are used, such as transition, integration, retention and orientation to name just a few.
Assessment of higher education activities seems to be growing rapidly as governments, parents and students demand results.
Technology has always been a factor in higher education and the term covers many issues. Understanding how technology can be used outside the classroom to enhance service and develop community are just two of the areas that interest me.

Trying my hand at blogging

2008-11-17T23:08:00.000-05:00

A few months back I started using Google Reader to track several websites that published stories and news on education, especially on colleges and universities. It didn't take me long to discover that the bulk of the blogging and news about higher education originates in the US. This was not surprising because the US is the world leader in research and their is more then half a century of Americans studying their colleges and universities.

Canadians have put far less effort into understanding colleges and universities. In fact, when referencing research on higher education many Canadians rely on US studies for background information. This is ironic considering many Canadians view our educational system as superior to the US model.

The media has been highlighting for several years now that we are in a "knowledge economy" and people must go to college or university in order to get a good job. If that is the case, then it is more important now then ever before that we have a deep understanding of the role and impact of Canadian colleges and universities. My hope is to use this blog to contribute to the discussion and encourage others to contribute as well. Let the discussion begin.

Our Leaders :-(

2008-05-11T21:59:00.000-04:00

This was passed along to me recently:

Can you imagine working for a company that has a little more than 300 Employees and has the following statistics?

30 have been accused of spousal abuse.
9 have been arrested for fraud
14 have been accused of writing bad cheques.
95 have directly or indirectly bankrupted at least 2 businesses.
4 have done time for assault.
55 cannot get a credit card due to bad credit.
12 have been arrested on drug related charges.
4 have been arrested for shoplifting.
16 are currently defendants in lawsuits.
62 have been arrested for drunk driving in the last year!

Can you guess which organization this is?
It is the 301 MP's in the Canadian Parliament!

And the majority of these are sitting on the Government side!!!!
Which one did you vote for?

TAKEN FROM THE OTTAWA CITIZEN.

(Pass this on to every Canadian you know)