bodner089

Continuing my end-of-the-year observations, I urge you to spend a lot of time studying your budget.   Take a close look at the gross revenue generated at your campus, as well as your direct costs of delivery.   (By direct costs I mean actual costs of instruction, local staff and facilities.   Do not include any overhead or other charges levied by the main campus.)   In most cases that I’ve seen, the net revenue per student credit hour is significantly positive.   In fact, generally, the net revenue is higher at branches than at a residential main campus, precisely because the branch has a more focused, limited mission. Your main campus finance people may insist that you consider allocated costs from the main campus, such as for admissions and financial aid support, registrar, and so on.   For some purposes they are absolutely correct, but at the same time, you should know that the overhead you pay (or the branch income they keep) probably...

I post infrequently on this blog, especially since the publication of my book, Out on a Limb .   I’m pleased that people are finding the book through Internet searches and word of mouth, as well as through their connection to NABCA ( www.nabca.net ).   For that matter, I’m also pleased that I occasionally hear from someone who has discovered this blog and found it useful. As I continue to scan the environment, visit various campuses, and think about branch campus issues, I will occasionally comment on what I observe, although I may wind up repeating ideas I’ve expressed before.   Thus, here are a few end-of-year observations. First, I feel increasingly frustrated by the failure of most institutions to fully exploit the strategic potential of their branch campuses.   (Check out this post: http://branchcampus.blogspot.com/2013/04/revisiting-revenue-sharing-and.html .)   The branch campus audience is not the same as that on a residential main cam...

I consider myself to be an advocate for branch campuses.   At their best, branches create access and opportunity for individuals and contribute to the economic development of the communities they serve.   In Out on a Limb:   A Branch Campus Life I go into much more detail about why branches matter, but for present purposes the key point is that branches serve an audience that is different than the audiences served by a traditional main campus or by a fully online program.   There are excellent opportunities for campuses and programs to partner in multiple ways, but it is a mistake to overlook the differences. Institutional leaders certainly recognize that the world of higher education is much more complicated and more competitive than it was just a few years ago.   Count me among those who believe that the financial/business models are broken, and the impact of technology has forever changed delivery options in ways that are exciting but also...

The second most viewed post on this blog is titled, “Revenue Sharing and Support for Branch Campus Growth.”   ( http://branchcampus.blogspot.com/2010/02/revenue-sharing-and-support-for-branch.html ).   I tend to write shorter, more focused posts, these days, but so it goes.   Among other things, I described the approach to funding in Ohio, which worked well for a very long time.   Unfortunately, recent changes may make things harder for university branches; I am concerned about the long-term implications for enrollment. In the same month, I also wrote a post titled, “On Being an Entrepreneur in Higher Education.” ( http://branchcampus.blogspot.com/2010/02/on-being-entrepreneur-in-higher.html )   That post stemmed from my frustration with institutional leaders who claim to be entrepreneurs, but do not appear to understand what it means to empower innovation, especially in a disruptive environment. Good information is available on how to develop...

A few years ago, I wrote a piece for this blog titled, “Rate of Change and Predicting Which Institutions Will Thrive in the Future.”   You can find it at http://branchcampus.blogspot.com/2010/05/rate-of-change-and-predicting-which.html . The post was based on a quote from Jack Welch:   “I’ve always believed that when the rate of change inside an institution becomes slower than the rate of change outside, the end is in sight.”   Sobering words, but the logic is compelling.   Over and over again, we have seen that established organizations in a wide range of industries lose out to more innovative, nimble organizations with an idea that disrupted the status quo . I am revisiting this topic, because the rate of change in higher education clearly accelerated in recent months.   The stories are stunning, as the availability of MOOCs and other online options are expanding.   The emergence of “free” courses has rapidly spawned remarkably low-cost...

Through most of my career, I both enjoyed and benefited from the fact that people at the main campus paid little attention to their branches.   For all the frustration and difficulty of getting programs or courses approved, the circumstances worked to our advantage.   In addition, because we were financially separate from the main campus, we developed a deeper understanding of higher education finance than most of the chairs, deans and vice presidents with whom we worked.   (Not bragging; just sharing the facts.   My experience with finance or budget administrators really was no different, because they tend to focus so strongly on cost control and risk avoidance that we found negotiations usually worked to our advantage.   Keep in mind that I am a devotee of mutual gains bargaining, so our success was mostly a matter of careful listening and addressing the interests of others, but with a strong understanding of our own interests.   Thus, i...

When I suggest that most institutions of higher education are in trouble, I am in good company.  Many people say the same thing, and most point to the remarkably rapid emergence of very low cost alternatives for earning credits, especially in the lucrative area of general education, as well as alternative ways of certifying learning that tie to the needs of employers. For example, at StraighterLine, one can earn a full year of general education credits for about $1000, and those credits will transfer to many institutions.   Companies, community colleges and a few universities are breaking new ground by providing free non-credit options that can be turned into transferable credits, through exams that may cost less than $100.   In short, the higher education financial model is breaking down. Moreover, because leaders are convinced that spending on “amenities,” (athletics, additional buildings, etc.) is necessary in order to compete for residential students, they are i...

Today (February 4, 2013), there are several stories in Inside Higher Education that illustrate the point of my last post, and I want to use two of them to express a relatively strong statement of concern.   I simply do not believe that many leaders in higher education understand the train that is bearing down on them. The first piece is titled, “Free Course, Inexpensive Exam” ( http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/02/04/free-online-course-providers-pair-credit-bearing-exams ).   The story describes the decision of a student to take a free online course, and then receive three credits at his home institution by taking a CLEP exam, for just $99.    The piece then discusses some of the many options that more and more students undoubtedly will choose over paying much higher tuition at a university, or even at a community college.   The course was a general education course in psychology, and the student makes a perfectly understandable point t...

I start most days by checking email and reading/scanning various newsletters.   I work from what I like to think is a holistic, almost intuitive sense of direction, and that seems to require immersion in information.   I wish I did a better job of retaining specific sources and details, but at this point in my life I’m going to roll with my strengths and not worry too much about my deficits.   (That’s a shout-out to all my strengths-based leadership friends!) I realize that most people lack the time to invest that I do in exploring ideas, whether through reading online newsletters, networking, or otherwise pursuing new developments.   I hope to provide a brief series of posts, here, to capture a few key elements, as I think they might relate to administrators at branch campuses or other small public and private institutions. I recommend that anyone interested in emerging change subscribe to at least two online resources that I check out every day. ...

I love competition and the challenge of growing enrollment and budgets.   I enjoy all the elements, at least as I’ve experienced them.   Marketing releases lots of creative energy, and the challenge of continuously improving institutional processes appeals to the puzzle solver in me.   I also believe that branches tend to do best when they develop strong internal and external partnerships, and partnership development has been one of my most enjoyable experiences. In this context, I’ve been thinking about the competitive pressures faced by those branch campuses that have been around for a while.   For several generations, institutions created branch campuses as a vehicle to expand access and draw additional enrollment.   I’ve often said it is a holy mission, providing opportunity to people who otherwise would not be able to realize their educational dreams. These branches tended to be in small cities or either in the suburbs or the downtown are...

Back in August, I recommended that readers take a look at a video posted online by my friend, Bill Sams.   If you haven’t watched it, check it out at www.epic2020.org .   On the Epic web site, you’ll find links to other sites of interest. In the Epic 2020 video, Sams drew on recent and current events to forecast a radically different environment for higher education, by the year 2020.   Regardless of your personal point of view, and certainly regardless of what you want the future to be, I think Sams captures trends that deserve attention.   The video has been viewed over 40,000 times, so lots of people are paying attention. Now, Sams has posted a new video, providing a “…concise view of what has already happened.”   The video, which is a brief, Ted-type lecture, leads to the conclusion that 2012 may actually be the tipping point, following which traditional higher education will be forever changed.   Check the video at http://epic2020.o...

I’ve written before about credit for prior learning.   Last week, Inside Higher Education had a piece about a significant partnership between 14 universities in the Pennsylvania State University System of Higher Education and the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) that will facilitate the assessment of prior learning, through CAEL’s Learning Counts service. You can read about the initiative at http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/08/23/pas-public-universities-open-doors-prior-learning-credits .   Note that, like most reputable prior learning assessment programs with which I’m familiar, it is portfolio based, and with CAEL’s strong reputation, there is no reason to doubt that prior learning can be matched to specific university courses in a reliable manner. Understanding how credit for prior learning fits into a comprehensive strategy to serve adult learners is important.   Remember, other than flagship public institutions and elite pr...

Some things to consider: ·       Traditional residential campuses face overwhelming deferred maintenance, to the point that the challenge may be literally insurmountable for many institutions. ·       Competing for students has produced enormous institutional debt, in order to have state-of-the-art residence halls, fitness centers, and student centers.   The cost of technology and technical support are a challenge everywhere.   Many institutions spend millions of dollars per year on athletic programs, with highly questionable return on that investment. ·       Marketing/recruiting costs grow higher, as institutions attempt to draw prospective students away from competitors.   In other words, institutions are fighting to maintain class size, in the face of a declining 18-year-old demographic.   Private nonprofits continue to increase the level of discounting, in order to fill classes. · ...