Doing More With Less: Scaling Higher Ed

Today’s students expect their entire experience with an institution to mirror what they see from major online retailers and service providers; personalized, supportive and flexible. However, institutions are having to deliver on these heightened expectations with smaller budgets and less capacity to increase prices than ever before.

Scaling is absolutely critical for higher education institutions in today’s marketplace. Through scaling, institutions can “do more with less”—they can meet the sky-high expectations of today’s discerning students while keeping their costs and prices low.

This Feature highlights some of the approaches today’s institutions are taking to achieving scale.

Using a Service-Centric Cloud Strategy to Maximize Enterprise IT Value

Betsy Tippens Reinitz | Director of the Enterprise IT Program, EDUCAUSE

Higher education IT leaders need to focus on growing the efficiency of their institutions while leveraging enterprise services to drive institutional strategy and value.

Achieving Economies of Scale in Higher Education

Terry Rawls | Executive Director of the Division of Educational Outreach and Summer Programs, Appalachian State University

Creating economies of scale is critical for today’s colleges and universities, but there are four central conditions that will impact the success of institutions in achieving scale.

Policymakers and Leaders Need More Timely Measures of Student Progress

Nate Johnson | Owner and Principal Consultant, Postsecondary Analytics

Without timely data or incentives to react to current institutional conditions, it’s immensely challenging for higher education leaders to make the changes they need to improve student outcomes and create wider accessibility.

Designing an Educational Innovation to Achieve Scale: Five Critical Concepts

Chris Dede | Professor of Learning Technologies in the Graduate School of Education, Harvard University

Context is everything for college and university leaders who are focused on identifying innovations and applying them to their own institutions.

The Scale of Change in Higher Education: Using Technology and Impacting Student Success

Timothy Renick | Vice President for Enrollment and Student Success and University Vice Provost, Georgia State University

By scaling through technology, institutions can provide the personalized service today’s students need to persist through their educational programs and succeed, regardless of their background.

How Technology Makes a Difference in Scaling Personalization

Lige Hensley | Chief Technology Officer, Ivy Tech Community College

Higher education institutions need to leverage technological tools and systems to deliver the personalized experience today’s students expect.

Leveraging Technology and Partnerships to Achieve Scale

Carolyn Young | Director of Continuing Studies, Western University

By fostering a culture of change, staying on top of industry-wide changes, leveraging technology and forging partnerships, institutions can scale and take advantage of the numerous opportunities available across the postsecondary space in spite of top-level resource constraints.

Scaling Up in Higher Ed: Important Scaling Principals and Overcoming Roadblocks to Success

Vi Bergquist | Chief Information Officer, St. Cloud Technical and Community College

Maintaining quality and buy-in from staff and faculty can be a challenge for leaders during scaling processes, but the improved impact on the student experience makes the effort worthwhile.

Scaling Online Learning: Obstacles on the Way to the Summit

Marie Cini | Provost, University of Maryland University College and Matthew Prineas | Associate Provost of the Undergraduate School, University of Maryland University College

Increases in scale no longer equate to a decrease in quality. It’s absolutely critical for today’s institutions to transcend the most common obstacles to scale in order to drive growth in today’s postsecondary environment.

Effective Service Strategies for a New Generation: Meeting Today’s Customer Service Expectations

Christine Blakney | Managing Director of Student Business Services, Texas Tech University

A commitment to creating a strong customer experience, and making use of technology to deliver on that commitment, can help institutions stand out in what’s becoming an immensely competitive marketplace.

Scaling Up for Adult Students Requires Focus and Creativity

Alfred Ntoko | Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs, Empire State College

Scaling to serve greater numbers of adult students requires institutions to focus on serving this demographic at a strategic level; it’s not possible to simply bolt adults onto existing approaches geared toward 18- to 22-year-olds.

Scaling Degree Completion: Increased Links Between Completion Colleges and State Systems Critical

Shirley Adams | Provost, Charter Oak State College

Though it would be challenging for traditional colleges to transition to fulfilling the mission of a completion college, improving the linkages between the two entities could help to drive degree completion toward the nationally set goals.

Scaling Allows Institutions to Grow Enrollment and Improve Experience Simultaneously

Craig Maslowsky | Chief Marketing Officer, Excelsior College

Expanding institutional reach and responding to the expectations of students is critical in the modern era, and scaling is the best way to achieve these ends.

Reaching and Serving New Student Demographics: Berklee’s Strategic Approach

Lawrence J. Simpson | Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, Berklee College of Music and Jay Kennedy | Vice Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Berklee College of Music

Berklee College offers unique and niche music education programming but access to that programming is demanded across the United States and internationally, making it imperative for the university to find ways to scale access to its offerings.

Netflix and Higher Education: Leverage, Leadership and Talent Development

Chris LaBelle | Director of Professional Development and Training, University of New Hampshire

Institutional leaders need to take note of the levers Netflix has used to dominate its marketplace and apply some of that business’s key lessons to the postsecondary space.

Incentivizing Faculty to Make Scaling the Educational Environment a Reality

Albert Powell | Director of Learning Technologies, Colorado State University

While faculty still tend to be resistant to new technologies, institutions need to invest in and support faculty using technology to enhance their academic product—either online or in-class—to incentivize their adoption.

Four Levers for Scaling Higher Education

Elisabeth Rees Johnstone | Executive Director of Continuing Education and Professional Learning at OISE, University of Toronto

In order to successfully scale, every institutional leader must understand the importance of – and have in place – their Purpose, Prospects, Programming and Partnerships levers.

Scaling Education To Serve the Rest of Them: A Personal Journey and the “3M” Realizations

Soma Chakrabarti | Director of Continuing Studies, University of Delaware

Creating international accessibility demands significant investment in technological scaling and growth, but the outcomes of these efforts are incredibly important.