Understanding Autism Spectrum Disorder
The fastest-growing developmental disability is Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). There is an interesting debate about whether this growth is a product of increased autism incidence or what has been dubbed “diagnostic substitution” (i.e., moving people from one diagnostic category, such as “language impairment,” to the autism category). Regardless, the number...
The Importance of Non-Cognitive Factors
The last few years have brought an explosion of interest in the role of non-cognitive factors in education, those behaviors outside of course content that make a real difference in student success. Educational researchers have begun to examine the ways in which colleges and universities can encourage students to develop...
Developing a Leadership Philosophy
In the busy, sometimes chaotic world of academic leadership, it’s all too easy to be overwhelmed by the managerial tasks of the position and not give adequate attention to the broader, more important leadership duties. To be an effective leader, it helps to have a set of principles—a leadership philosophy—to...
Helping First-Generation College Students in Florida
Students who are the first in their families to attend college face many challenges. They’re often unfamiliar with the process of getting into a college. Sometimes their families are not supportive of their attending college. And frequently, they don’t have the financial support they need. So not only can they...
Solving the First-Year Student Puzzle
Improving student success, and thereby increasing retention and boosting four-year graduation rates, is a challenge familiar to all higher education institutions whether they are large or small, public or private. With the national four-year college graduation rate average hovering around 50 percent, the industry has an obligation to confront the...
5 Reasons to Keep Loving Your Job in Admissions
In 2000 I wrote an article for the Journal of College Admissions called “Admissions: The Job You Keep.” It was a tribute to the difference my admissions counselor made when I was choosing a college in the early 1990s and a reflection on everything I appreciated about the admissions profession after three...
What We Talk About When We Talk About ‘Faculty Buy In’
At a recent meeting with fellow community college administrators, I found myself increasingly bothered by the repeated invocation of a certain term: faculty buy-in. At this particular meeting, the term was included as part of some well-intentioned advice (“If you want this program to succeed at your campus, you absolutely...
Why Colleges Shouldn’t Focus on Failure
When it comes to boosting retention and completion, many colleges engage in predictive analysis to determine which students are “at risk” of failure—then focus most support resources on trying to turn these students’ fortunes around.
Can Blended Learning Boost Retention?
What if blended learning could do more than utilize in-class time more efficiently and increase student interest in a course? What if it could actually boost retention? Retention is a critical concern for schools such as Long Island University (LIU) Brooklyn that work with populations that include at-risk and underprepared...
Preparing for and Managing Scandals
Academic scandals can arise at any institution at any time, and a big factor in how well the institution emerges and moves on from a scandal is largely dependent on the way administrators handle the situation. In an interview with Academic Leader, Rob Jenkins, associate professor of English at Georgia Perimeter...
