Category: higher education

Too much sharing about file sharing?

Inside Higher Ed reports that the results of a U.S. General Accounting Office survey about college and university policies on file sharing may not be kept confidential. Usually, such surveys include a statement that the information will be kept confidential. But not in this case.

According to the report, “Congressional aides have insisted that the agency in this instance report not just on the file sharing landscape in the aggregate, but on how individual colleges responded to the survey.”

Higher ed leaders, such as Terry W. Hartle of the American Council on Education and Mark A. Luker, vice president of Educause, are concerned. Hartle contacted GAO officials and “was told that that aides to the Judiciary subcommittee had insisted that the GAO collect and report back to the panel on the responses of individual institutions.”
As for Educause, Luker said that organization is alerting its members to the fact that their responses to the GAO survey will not be kept confidential, since the survey materials themselves don’t make that clear.

Recruiting the MySpace generation

Heather Hollingsworth of the Associated Press recently wrote about how schools like the University of Missouri-Columbia, North Dakota State University and Calvin College are using blogs and online journals to help them recruit prospective students. The story succinctly addresses why so many college administrators fear the power of the blog.

“Providing students a less edited view of campus life creates challenges for school officials worried that typos or inappropriate material might harm the school’s image.”

It’s all about the loss of control. And we marketers love to be in control, don’t we.

The story also quotes Michael Stoner, a consultant who works with colleges and universities to improve their electronic communications. Stoner says the risk is worth it. “Enrollment managers and admissions people have had to get used to the fact that they are going to give up some of the control and give it to 17- and 18-year-olds.”

HigherEdBlogCon: April 3-7

HigherEdBlogCon 2006, a weeklong online conference, got under way today with two virtual presentations about podcasting in the classroom:

This virtual conference is geared mainly toward the academics interesting in Web 2.0 apps in the classroom. But a couple of sessions look promising for higher ed PR/marketing folks. The Tuesday, April 4, case study on how integrating blogs and Blackboard can improve a PR course (not yet posted), might be worth tuning in for.

Battleground U

A recent USA Today article discusses the changing nature of the nation’s major universities as they continue to morph into businesslike entities. The article, “Are campuses becoming battlegrounds?” by Jim Hopkins, says the new academic environment pits “traditionally powerful professors against a new generation of business-savvy presidents hired to control costs, boost research and make classes more relevant in a global economy.”

“Last month’s resignation of Harvard President Larry Summers after a faculty mutiny is adding fuel to the simmering tensions, and could slow long-sought reforms in higher education across the USA.”

Pressure on presidents is rising: Tuition, room and board jumped 67% in the past decade. Competition for donations and federal funding is brutal. Trustees want schools to help economies grow.

“It’s the toughest job I’ve ever seen,” says James Hardymon, head of the University of Kentucky’s board of trustees and former CEO of conglomerate Textron.

The article cites Kentucky as a case study of these changes. There, President Lee Todd “was given a mandate to boost the school’s standing,” USA Today notes. “Goals in the next 14 years include adding 625 faculty and more than doubling research spending, to $768 million a year. Lawmakers and trustees expect Todd to use his business experience to reach these goals.”

Todd knows university life demands a different approach. In business, he says, communication was “vitally” important, but could be focused on three constituents: investors, customers and employees. In academia, he juggles donors, faculty, staff, students, parents, alumni, athletics fans, community leaders and lawmakers.

As one academic quoted in the story noted, the balance of power has shifted from a faculty-centric entity to a business enterprise.

Blogging and PR

PR blogger Robert French points out that the Florida PR association is hosting a blog week next month to promote the value of blogging to PR practitioners. Brilliant idea — and one that French himself has been involved in on a more global scale through Global PR Blog Week.

Alas, such events are rare indeed. So are PR organizations that use blogs as a means of connecting their members. As French points out, the FPRA is one of the few statewide public relations organizations with a blog. My own professional organization, the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), is still groping with this whole blogging thing, and precious few folks in academic PR or marketing are communicating through the blogosphere.

I’d love to see more PR practitioners blogging. What’s holding us back?