A revelation from the trips that we have made to campuses to present findings to academic departments: the key is the assumption of ownership for their role in this thing we call “Student Success.”

 

For many, this step was taken long ago. We have met a lot of people in academic departments who have already done everything that they can to study their course fill rates and the impacts of offering time/campus/room size on enrollments. For these people, more information regarding student demand for their courses is enthusiastically welcomed.

 

For others, problems are generally attributed to factors outside of their control: space/faculty availability, unprepared/unmotivated students, statistical anomalies, poorly coded data, etc. We are the first to point out that changes to schedules must be made gradually and within an institutions ability to provide space/faculty resources to offer needed courses. All schedules, however, could use a realignment – small or large – to more closely match student need.

 

While other barriers to student-friendly schedules exist, the most important one appears to be key players at a school taking stock in the importance of their role. Offering what faculty members like to teach when and where they like to teach it is not a formula for success. Funding issues also impact an institution’s ability to meet student needs, but – on average – the states have more than kept up with inflation in per-student support. What’s lacking is a broad acceptance that all schools can do a better job managing their academic resources. Operational efficiency and student success can both dramatically impacted by how this is done.

 

We have been inspired and encouraged by the many people who see their job as – above all – serving the academic career needs of their students. Now that we’re offering up more information than was ever before available to support these model members of academia, the onus is back on their peers to follow their lead and take ownership.

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