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From 1987 to 2017, tuition at public universities in the U.S. increased by a staggering 213 percent – and that’s after adjusting for inflation.¹ At a time when higher education costs are rising exponentially and people are debating the ROI from a degree, there is increased pressure for college and university presidents to be multi-dimensional leaders who can lead institutions safely into the future. Today, presidents are expected to have expertise in multiple areas, including academic affairs, faculty discussions, financial management, technology, public relations, and more.

How are college and university presidents juggling these responsibilities? What are they worried about, and which areas are they prioritizing? Read on to learn what presidents are focused on — and how some forward-thinking leaders are getting ahead of the curve by leveraging the power of data analytics to ensure success for their institutions, down the road.

SACRAO 2020 was a wonderful opportunity to discuss enrollment topics with colleagues from across the southern region of the country.

The Mid-America Association for Institutional Research (MidAIR) annual conference took place earlier this month in Columbia, one of Missouri’s fastest growing cities.  The theme of the conference was IR in Action. A week prior to this, the Association for Institutional Research Upper Midwest (AIRUM) conference took place in Minneapolis, MN. Institutional Research professionals from across the Midwest region were afforded many engaging conversations surrounding the state of IR in the current higher educational environment, strategies in assessment, efficiency, policy, and equity.

The 2019 APLU Annual Meeting officially kicked off on Sunday, November 10^th in sunny San Diego, CA.  Almost 1,600 attendees from public and land grant Universities across the country came together, making the 132^nd APLU Annual Meeting the largest on record.  The theme of the meeting was, “In Service”, and attendees were able to take advantage of a number of learning tracks focused on serving students, communities, the country and the world. 

Rising competition for college and university students will only continue to grow as the number of high school graduates shrink over the next decade, student demographics shift and other financial pressures persist. For many higher education institutions, understanding that each student has unique needs, attitudes, behaviors and motivations may be critical to recruitment and retention.

Newport, Rhode Island.  Home of mansions, sailboats, and for three crisp days in November, the Northeast Association for Institutional Research (NEAIR).  The HelioCampus booth outside the Grand Ballroom buzzed with energy as friends greeted each other, exchanged news, and compared notes on changes in their offices.  For me, NEAIR is home.

The ACCT 2019 Community College Leadership Congress was held from October 16-19 in San Francisco, marking the event’s 50^th anniversary.  The organization supports Trustees, Leadership Boards and Presidents of Community Colleges across the country, and aims “to foster the principles and practices of exemplary governance while promoting high quality and affordable higher education, cutting-edge workforce and development training, student success and the opportunity for all individuals to achieve economic self-sufficiency and security.” The event’s theme was “Past is Prologue;” the focus heavily on preparing for the future and the evolving roles of community college leadership in the quickly changing landscape of higher education.

As I attended the 2019 EACUBO Annual Meeting in Baltimore Maryland, I was surprised not only by the quality of the content but also by the importance of such events. I believe that large gatherings, such as this,  of like-minded people is key to disseminating ideas and highlighting where the industry is heading. I was fortunate enough to attend several sessions on topics like Cloud Migration, Alignment of Technology and Strategic Plans, Data Security, Program Margin and Program Prioritization, to name a few.

The HelioCampus team was at EDUCAUSE last week, along with a large contingent of higher education IT. We had a great time meeting with current clients and talking with many of you about your analytics plans. As in years past, data continues to be a hot topic, and was so reflected in the EDUCAUSE 2020 Top 10 IT Issues (listed below:) 

The shift to Performance-Based Funding (PBF; sometimes also known as “Outcomes-Based Funding”) as a means of determining state allocations to higher education institutions is one of the dominant trends shaping higher education today, particularly within the public sector. Over 30 states now have some sort of PBF initiative on the books, with others likely to follow within the next decade. Accounting for the impact of PBF has thus become a critical element for university leaders to ensure the financial health of their institutions.