UB Buzz

What's On Your Mind?

We're here at the EDUCAUSE conference in Orlando, Fla.
Some of the sessions include "discussion sessions," which give leaders an opportunity to come together and share problems and solutions from their campuses.
Around 40 people attended the session for Community Colleges.
In the order they were called out, here are the top things on the minds of Community College IT leaders:

1. Funding IT
2. Implementing IT initiatives to support education without growing staff
3. Keeping technology current and relevant
4. Security
5. Advisory board/governance in a strategic manner
6. Who the CIO reports to
7. Staffing (finding and retaining)
8. Business continuity and disaster recovery
9. Providing services to students

Although many of the challenges community colleges face sound the same as those at four-year institutions, they also reflect the unique demographics at community colleges.
Regarding keeping technology relevant, one leader said, "Our students reach the work force before those at four-year institutions, we don't have time to catch up." There is more of a need to provide real world computing experience at a community college, especially for students looking to reenter the work force with increased skills.
Of course, many of these topics are addressed regularly in the pages of University Business.

Dorm of Distinction Receives Green Distinction

The 10 West Street residence hall at Suffolk University in Boston -- which earned a runner up designation in the University Business Dorms of Distinction competition -- has now been awarded LEED Gold certification by the U.S. Green Building Council.

Suffolk acquired the historic, partially-renovated property, located in the Downtown Crossing neighborhood, after a developer's condominium project failed. Sustainable highlights of 10 West Street include:

• Its location in a high-density urban area that's readily accessible via public transportation.
• Reuse of an existing building to prevent demolition waste and reduce the amount of new building materials required.
• Recycling of more than 75% of construction waste.
• More than 80% of the regularly occupied spaces being daylit.
• An HVAC design with direct digital controls for centralized monitoring, adjustment, and alarms for each piece of equipment.
• Low-flow plumbing fixtures.
• Low-emitting carpets, paints and coatings, adhesives and sealants, wood, and furnishings to protect indoor air quality.
• Local and regional building materials and furnishings.
• A green housekeeping program.
• Signage to educate occupants and visitors of environmental features.

CBT Architects deserves kudos for transforming the fixed individual condo configurations with minimal demolition into a residence that now houses a far larger number of people per unit and per floor than the condos would have. The hall was designed to hold nearly 270 students and will no doubt continue to be a popular on-campus housing option for students.

Creating a Working Capital and Cash Flow

Like businesses, higher education institutions are implementing strategies for coping with a weakening economy and limited resources. It's crucial for them to maintain a positive cash flow.  How does an IHE maximize its availability of working capital in these tough times? In a University Business web exclusive, Jeff Spetrino, portfolio management manager and chief operating officer - Public Sector for KeyBank, explains how to employ specific cash management strategies focused on optimizing receivables; maximizing liquidity; controlling payments; and mitigating risk. Read here.

Words Fail Them

Framingham State College (Mass.) is getting some heat for a fundraising letter mailed to alumni and signed by Timothy Cornely, president of the school's alumni association. The letter read:

"With the recent economic downturn and loan crisis, it has become even more important for Framingham State College to receive your support. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah."

Many alums were understandably miffed over the letter, for which the school has since apologized. But there were some who enjoyed the absurdity of the letter. About $2,000 was raised from some 60 alumni who had previously not given to the association.

30-City Tour for New Prez

Rock Jones, president of Ohio Wesleyan University, is using his unique first name to drum up excitement for the changes in store for students attending the school. Starting this week, he's embarking on a 30-city "In Concert with Rock" tour to meet alumni, parents, and friends and discuss their thoughts about the university and its future.

During his inaugural address on October 10, Jones challenges the campus community and others to look for ways to enhance the educational opportunities already offered to Ohio Wesleyan's 1,850 undergraduate students. Since he took office on July 1, the president has initiated a review of the university's programming. Enhancements may include additional summer research and internship opportunities, increased opportunities in the fine arts, and expanded mission trips for service learning. (No word yet on new A/V equipment so that the campus can become a regular stop on other multicity rock concert tours.)

As part of Ohio Wesleyan's inauguration celebration, the university also hosted a national forum titled "Whither the Liberal Arts,” to examine the role of a liberal arts education in today's society and in the future.

Jones wrote the End Note column for this month's issue of University Business on lessons learned from Ohio Wesleyan's intergenerational living complex.

Win a Raffle, Blow Up a Building

Nicholls State University (La.) will let a lucky raffle winner send off a landmark building with a bang -- the chance to detonate the charges that will bring down a residence hall in a cloud of dust.

Hopeful contenders can purchase raffle tickets, priced at $10 each, for this “Bringing Down the House" ceremony, scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 22, at 11 a.m. After a drawing at 10:30 a.m., the individual who purchases the winning ticket--and is present for the drawing--will press the button that sets off the explosive charges. On that day, the Huey P. Long Hall, a facility that has housed Nicholls students since the late 1960s, will be no more.   

However, Nicholls officials will not have the hall's legacy fade into oblivion. They decided to create a new Huey P. Long Hall Endowed Memorial Scholarship, to be given to a student living in on-campus housing. Proceeds from the raffle will fund the new scholarship.

Ticket orders are now being accepted by four campus offices. Sales will continue until just prior to the event.

Nicholls is in the middle of plans to demolish outdated dorms and replace them with new housing facilities catering to today's college students. Long Hall will be the fourth and final obsolete residence hall to be demolished this fall. The university is also getting rid of Meade, Millet and Zeringue residence halls and plans to have those projects completed by the end of the semester.

There Goes the Neighborhood

Most often than not, a new building project causes friction between an institution and its neighbors. Officials at Lesley University (Mass.) found a fair compromise with a group of active residents over plans for two new residential halls and adjoining retail space. They let the locals help with their design.
Called the neighborhood working group, seven citizens huddled with Lesley administrators and the architecture firm of Bruner/Cott over blueprints for several months to make certain the project met the standards of both sides.
In covering the progress, the Boston Globe reported some changes made to the original plans. The two buildings were to have a contemporary style, which neighbors felt was boxy and harsh, so officials gave way to a layered facade.
It is the first ground-up construction project for Lesley in three decades, hoped to be done by next September. So far, little grumbling was mentioned.

Academic Star Trading Cards

"I'll trade you my Glaciologist Richard Alley for your Entomologist James Tumlinson... and an anthropologist to be named later."
That might be the conversation taking place in the halls of Penn State University (or it is in my mind anyway) as the 2008 edition of Penn State Academic Star Trading Cards starts circulating among the die hard FOF (fans of the faculty).
The cards are the brainchild of Penn State President Graham Spanier, who said that the Penn State faculty "are surely worthy of the accolades our society often lavishes on athletes, coaches, and celebrities in the entertainment world."
The 10-card sets cards were designed to honor the work of some of Penn State's world class researchers. About 3,000 sets of the glossy trading cards were produced--paid for by The Penn State Alumni Association--to be distributed free at football games. The cards feature a photo of the Academic Star on the front and career accomplishments on the back.

Presidential Thoughts

On the evening of October 2, as the U.S. House of Representatives took time in Washington to mull over the financial rescue bill passed by the Senate the night before, it’s not surprising that a conversation among higher education presidents and the media in New York City focused mainly on the economy.

Thirteen college and university presidents and 24 members of the media broke bread at The Penn Club of New York for the 21st annual National Higher Education News Media dinner. President Michael M. Crow of Arizona State University moderated the discussion, which immediately started on how the credit crunch was affecting higher education.

Textbooks to Fund Scholarships

It's a pricing model any student would appreciate: Use a textbook all semester for free, and then at the end pay for it what you think it's worth.

By that point, of course, students could say it was worth nothing. But making fair payments will only help their peers to afford college.

That's the situation that students of Noel Capon, a professor of international marketing at Columbia Business School, are finding themselves in. Through his independent publisher, Wessex, Inc., Capon is making his acclaimed marketing textbook, Managing Marketing in the 21st Century, available for free reading online. At semester's end, students will be asked to pay what they think the book was worth, with 50 percent of payments donated to college scholarship funds.

"The traditional textbook industry has always seemed to have an implicit agreement not to compete on price. Instructors who care about their students' pocketbooks will surely take a serious look at alternatives," says Capon.

Wessex offers a traditional printed version of the book for $45.