Dive Brief:
- Every U.S. institution is looking for ways to cut costs and adjust to the reality that more public funding may not come. The first inclination of most is to cut staff or programs, but leaders from the Council of Independent Colleges have been struck by particularly innovative strategies taking place across the country.
- Hoping to reinforce the message that institutions are already adapting while simultaneously providing a guidebook for others looking for new strategies, the group released a report today detailing a number of strategies in athletics, career connections, consortial agreements, cost containment, curricular reform, new academic programs and new student populations.
- Strategies range from small, incremental changes to a total "re-thinking of institutional choices," but the authors say all of the changes listed "are purposeful and focused."
Dive Insight:
Whether an institution is going to tackle scaling back athletics participation to right-size campus budgets or, in the case of Adrian College in Michigan, where president Jeffrey Docking built a business model around leveraging athletics and other co-curricular activities to boost enrollment, or looking to establish regional or mission-based consortia to leverage the resources of each institution for the greater benefit of students, any change introduced on campus must be preceded by a well thought-out strategy driven by desired outcomes. As some have found even with selecting vendors or new technology products, allowing the process to be driven by shiny amenities, rather than being focused on a specific goal, can prove disastrous for faculty member buy-in and implementation.
Simply having a strategy is not enough; all new strategies should correlate to the institution's strategic plan to keep the institution laser-focused on achieving its goals — in the words of Claflin University vice provost for academic programs Angela Peters, "if it's not in the strategic plan, we're not even looking into it."
Bethany University in Kansas, for example, developed a Bethany Pathway program which blends curricular and co-curricular learning and reinforces the university's Missional Directions of Excellence in discovery, reflection, and vocation; servant leadership; global citizenship; and sustainable living with an e-portfolio demonstrating progress in each.