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From UB

Some are skeptical about the ability for any school to be need-blind, because anyone viewing an application can surmise financial need without reading a student’s FAFSA form.

The answers to common questions about need-blind policies sheds light on why they’ve been adopted whether they work and whether other enrollment diversity initiatives can be just as effective.

How can freshmen who may not even be able to find their way around campus during their first weeks in school learn to lead others? The question may sound like a new riddle of the Sphinx or the beginning of a joke.

But the concept of 18-year-olds learning to lead should not be a riddle and is no joke.



In regard to desktop virtualization, what aspects of implementation do higher ed institutions tend to overlook?

“It’s easy to overlook security when implementing new technologies, and a good example of this is desktop virtualization. It’s an efficient way to deploy the same functionality across multiple machines, however, you’ll most likely need to adjust security practices to fit the new virtual environment.”

—Slawek Ligier, vice president of Security Engineering, Barracuda



Before a campus goes virtual, there are real issues to consider.

Virtual desktop technology allows students and staff to access sophisticated software on a laptop or mobile device. It also can strengthen network security and lower expenses by reducing the need for actual computers and lab space on campus.



College boost: Students in Housatonic Community College’s Family Economic Security Program attend retreats to learn career skills such as public speaking and networking.

An act as simple as handing out bottled water and granola bars before a long evening class can change the course of a college career—especially when the student on the receiving end is a single mother who has just rushed over to campus after a full day at work.


While it’s still too early to rule on the performance of paid social media marketing to drive measurable actions beyond the media platform, it’s time for schools to start testing to optimize paid social for higher education marketing. 

Poorly designed websites can turn students off to a college or university, a new report warns. ( Anatolii BabiiI)

When it comes to website design, universities continue to make common key mistakes that turn away potential students. A report says schools often miss the mark when trying to appeal to a generation raised on short, easy-to-digest communication popularized by social media.

Eugene L. Anderson has been named vice president for the Office of Access and Success for the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU).

He will be involved with the Council of 1890 Universities and the Commission on Access, Diversity, and Excellence, and also support other APLU initiatives focused on increasing degree completion for minorities.

In his new role, Anderson will continue the mission of advancing historically black colleges and universities and Hispanic-serving institutions.

Some low-income high school students in Adams State University’s service area, the rural valleys of southern Colorado, live up to 50 or 60 miles from campus. Thanks to a new federal pilot program, these students there and 43 other institutions can now use Pell Grants to take dual-enrollment courses.

Robert Miller is vice president for enrollment management of Centenary University.

Ubiquitous in the business world, big data is being adopted by higher education, particularly in the area of recruitment. With stagnant or declining recruitment budgets and increased competition for students, leveraging the data most colleges capture is a cost-effective approach that can yield significant results.

Niagara University, steps from the Canadian border in upstate New York, has been an international university with students and faculty members from our neighbors to the north. Recently, the university expanded its international focus by actively recruiting students from many foreign countries, particularly Vietnam. Why Vietnam and how does this relationship benefit the university?

Higher education is in the business of learning, but all too often institutions fail to extend learning to staff members by failing to provide professional development opportunities. With the aging workforce and the higher turnover ratio of millennials, it is more critical than ever to provide professional learning opportunities that maximize employee potential and foster leadership skills, creating a pipeline of talent that can also enhance succession planning.