APLU Announces Member-Submitted Sessions Selected for 2014 Annual Meeting

May 28, 2014—For the second time, APLU’s Annual Meeting will feature a block of sessions submitted by members. Nearly 40 proposals were submitted to APLU for the member-submitted sessions, which will be held at 3:30 p.m. Nov. 2 during the 2014 APLU Annual Meeting in Orlando. This year’s Annual Meeting theme is Progress through Partnerships, and each of the accepted proposals focus on this idea.

FORGING PARTNERSHIPS TO ACHIEVE AND SUSTAIN INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE

This session brings together panelists and meeting participants to translate, for the first time ever, university successes realized under the National Science Foundation’s ADVANCE program and the Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE) into innovations and opportunities at APLU members so far unable to participate in these projects. This panel will draw upon the lessons they have learned about how intramural and inter-organizational partnerships can improve the working environment for faculty throughout their careers, while also improving their institutions’ decision-making processes and absorptive capacity for future change efforts. Topics for inquiry and discussion include: building administration-faculty partnerships; the critical role of “translators” in effective partnerships (within NSF, within the institutions); idea generators, engines of dissemination, and organizing for adoption; and proceeding and succeeding without necessarily waiting for the “big win.” Participants will leave with actions they can take home to incubate foundation-university-research partnerships in addressing their own challenges.

EFFECTIVELY COMMUNICATING WITH STATE GOVERNMENTS

Every APLU member is subject to the pressures of the state budget process. Since higher education is different from other state agency spending items and activities that governors and legislators grapple with daily, universities must go to extremes to effectively represent higher education’s operations and needs. Meanwhile, throughout the nation there is a growing trend of governors tapping into their university systems to increase economic development and create jobs. If not thoroughly planned and without a full grasp of the intricacies of higher education budgets, it could be a waste of funds and resources for both the state and university and can leave a state behind in today’s global market. This panel discussion is designed to acknowledge and highlight that now is the time to help state lawmakers and staff better understand how higher education budgets are different from other state agencies. Participants will learn to develop methods to effectively communicate universities’ budget needs while demonstrating to state policymakers how they can effectively partner with their university systems to exploit the opportunities for STEM education, economic development, job creation, and research and product/technology commercialization.

STUDENT SUCCESS: CREATING A CULTURE WHERE NUMBERS MATTER

As student demographics and enrollment patterns continue to shift and traditional sources of revenue become less reliable, it is no secret that student success—and the metrics that define this success—are paramount to institutional sustainability. Unfortunately, ownership of “student success” is often fragmented, with key stakeholders in every corner of campus—rendering silos and impediments to cross-departmental partnership increasingly dangerous for institutions. In this session, industry leaders will share their perspectives on why quantitative leadership can help shatter silos and drive significant gains in key success metrics. Included in this interactive session will be a moderated discussion of common barriers to creating a data driven success organization, a conversation on the role of partnerships and technology, and dedicated time for each panelist to share their top two best practice recommendations and top two avoidable mistakes as they reflect on what it really takes to create a culture where “numbers matter.”

:: REGISTER FOR THE 2014 APLU ANNUAL MEETING