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I have been called an "eternal optimist" on more than one occasion, a compliment which I accept gratefully but one that I reject wholeheartedly. Now, those who have said it meant it as a compliment, but I felt the immediate impetus to correct it.
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I have been called an "eternal optimist" on more than one occasion, a compliment which I accept gratefully but one that...
Fans of the podcast "S-Town" might remember John B. McLemore talking about sundials and their ominous messages. This...
Leading any team is challenging. During times of instability, it becomes much more difficult. In higher education, as...
While running errands this week, I caught a portion of a podcast - On Being.The featured guest was poet Gregory Orr,...
Higher Education budgets are inherently complicated - multiple fund sources, hundreds of accounts, and lots of budget...
New Hanover Regional Medical Center has a reputation for being a great hospital, but it would be a mistake to think...
A couple of weeks ago, we presented a statistical report to one of our clients in North Carolina profiling the students...
Institutions of Higher Education design web experiences to provide a service. In rare occasions, whenever dealing with...
Value does not exist by itself; value exists in the connections made between things. As a growing software and services...
We've written in the past that we believe authentic attitudes generate successful brands. Those that create and lead...
This article appears as part of a seven-part series on Disaster Recovery planning, regardless of institution size and...
This article appears as part of a seven-part series on Disaster Recovery planning, regardless of institution size and...
Oftentimes when working with a third party vendor or consultant, companies consider cost above all other factors,...
This article appears as part of a seven-part series on Disaster Recovery planning, regardless of institution size and...
This article appears as part of a seven-part series on Disaster Recovery planning, regardless of institution size and...
This article appears as part of a seven-part series on Disaster Recovery planning, regardless of institution size and...
This article appears as part of a seven-part series on Disaster Recovery planning, regardless of institution size and...
Each of us likes to imagine ourselves sitting beside the Gulf, letting the water lap our feet, a fruity drink in hand....
As we see campus projects underway everywhere, we are inspired by the energy that each brings to the community and...
Friday evenings in our house are typically reserved for family time, and we usually find ourselves gathering to watch a...
Car packed to the brim for a beach vacation; finally checking an item off your bucket list; barreling down a back road...
You’ve finally made it. You’re a leader with influence. You’re in the inner circle. Your ideas have inspired change...
We all had hopes that COVID-19 would be over by now. We hoped our collective actions would have flattened the curve,...
I am not a gamer. I never had an Atari growing up... no Nintendo, and certainly not a Game Boy. Some 40 years later,...
We’re IT people at our core. We live and breathe code. We know about pivot tables and dashboards and what makes...
The best way to enact your strategy is to get everyone else to support it. Do you think that's an obvious statement?...
Following last week’s article, we received some questions about specifics around college reporting, and what specific...
As we have conversations in higher education about budgeting, we try to remember to take a step back and recall how...
This year, you many have been caught off guard by budget reductions stemming from state reversions, unexpected...
Speak with almost any campus technologist in higher education today about how a chosen system is employed and how...
What is an institution to do when negative press hits right in the middle of a hot admissions cycle? The answer to this...
"Now, don't take this the wrong way." We're sure that you've heard that expression before, often just before someone...
First Year Experience, Common Reading Topics, Learning Communities, Learning Centers: These are some of the strategies...
Most people think this aphorism means you should drop some of your upcoming battles to win some for which you care...
"We need to make smarter decisions based on data." How many times have you heard that sentence? Only on a very small...
Higher Education institutions are so complex that recognition for the performance of staff members is usually personal,...
Conferences provide an opportunity to break from the weekly routine, allowing us to refresh our perspectives as peers...
Wouldn’t it be great to have enough foresight to identify, anticipate, plan, and prevent the next emergency from...
How do you get your institution to consistently deliver on that which is most important to you? To answer that...
As you increase your cost to your clients, what are you providing in return? What if you were looking for explanations...
As a CIO, I tried hard to find a path to getting rid of my data center. Today's data centers require one to maintain a...
Any business leader who chooses inaction citing "caution" as a reason is misusing that word and its meaning to conceal...
If you work for a private institution, there are three basic numbers that your institution will look for in the next...
Colleges are hard to maneuver, and the internal processes that may seem obvious and logical to those involved with...
With the abundance of information that is collected and retained in our information systems, the challenge of...
Campus leadership often asks, how do we encourage more students to complete a set of measurable tasks? With the rise of...
The summer months are very important to a campus. As a Community College, how these months are spent may impact fall...
When the position of Information Technology is misaligned with the expectations of its business ecosystem, the outcome...
Each of us likely knows someone that has had experience working with a person that never seems to be satisfied with the...
As children, our parents encouraged us to play board games at times when we weren't able to be outside, instead of...
When the time comes to run a marathon, will all of the training be enough to carry you across the finish line? Did all...
The “Can you hear me now?” Verizon spokesperson has switched carriers. In a what seems to be brilliant campaign (and no...
As a team we may rely on the strengths of the group, but as an individual we must accept the boundaries of our...
Your control of your own productivity is only partially determined by your current determination to “get something...
This morning I was intrigued by a sticker on my Eight O’clock coffee package announcing I could win one million dollars...
I often read documents that preach how IT operations should push the business structure to minimize customizations. I...
What are the pillars of superb customer service? Although it doesn't necessarily matter what industry you're in, it...
A business is only as good as the data that it has on which to operate and make decisions. Finances need to be in order...
We have experienced being in businesses that depend on another business to exist. Many businesses currently flourishing...
I’ve had the privilege of working on both sides of the aisle in higher education over the course of my profession. Most...
We’ve witnessed great professionals get increasingly frustrated about "not being heard." The ethos of this problem can...
In Higher Education, Retention and January go together like peanut butter and jelly. This month, many institutions will...
With every challenge that we face as professionals comes an opportunity for each of us to deliver improved, measurable...
A while back, there was news that Elon Musk responded to an idea from a 5th grader that he received via Twitter. In a...
Wireless network connections are simply a natural extension of any household or corporate infrastructure. These...
The popularity of reality television has altered our everyday life. This American Life's episode Frenemies draws...
It’s hard to imagine that some good might come out of all this. Obviously, we are all doing what needs to be done in...
Compliance is a requirement, not an achievement. Those who base the measure of their success on reporting how well they...
Recently, FundFive listed ways to create basic spreadsheets to help lay out your institution's income structure in a...
Information Technology needs a call to inspiration. Many technologists we know in Higher Education have been confused...
One of the most common complaints that I heard as a university administrator revolved around the concept of, “How am I...
A few years ago, I started reading articles that discussed how companies were hunkering down during the recession and...
Why do we feel as if we need to gear up to work when we leave for an extended holiday? The answer is simple. When you...
I consider higher education strategies involving reduction of tuition and fees to be environmentally inspired. Like...
How sustainable is the cost of your tuition and fees? Let’s first understand the numbers. Recent certified data...
Each year between Christmas and New Year's Day, I set aside one morning and partake in an annual exercise of managing...
As collaborative as those in Higher Education attempt to appear, when most of us get into meetings to discuss...
With the advent of wearable technology, a number of organizations have introduced fitness challenges, leveraging the...
One morning last week, I was invited to join a friend for a paddling trip out on the water. Rather than take my kayak,...
I met David Rowe while selecting strawberries at the grocery store. The strawberries looked beautiful, and the sign...
There is an adage that I often have heard attributed to Disney: "We take care of our employees, our employees take care...
Those who can’t define their value by delivering measurable accomplishments will always attempt to prove their worth by...
You can hire a great employee, but you can’t hire -- nor build -- a winning team. Reject the analogy of finding puzzle...
As a team we rely on the strengths of the group, but as individuals we must accept the boundaries of our personality...
Higher education loves to use acronyms and academic lingo in publications and on web sites - and to be fair, it’s...