#inside higher ed

Bob Jones University might be the lynchpin in current "Christian" colleges seeking to discriminate against their LGBTQ students:

What Miranda is illustrating is intention and choice. The writer intends to have a specific effect on the audience and then makes choices in order to try to achieve that effect. The different dimensions that Miranda is working in simultaneously are pretty astounding, but he is a musical genius.

However, even musical geniuses create their works one element at a time.

If you walk into a school campus right now, you will notice a very interesting story. You will find a modern campus, polished buildings, and a diverse-looking program. But if you delve deeper inside higher ed system, the image changes immediately.

You are likely to find groups of administrators, busy with straightening paperwork or typing furiously in an effort to collect data from manual files. The academic backend teams will probably be seen attempting to track students’ progress. This is not a broken system. But this is a system that calls for a high-end K-12 online school system. 

Decoding The Underlying Problem

The problem lies in a mismatch. The higher ed landscape has evolved rapidly in the last few years. More courses, more students, higher studies, students from abroad, more data, and higher expectations are the common factors of modern education systems. 

However, the inside higher ed backend operation running this dynamic system has remained the same. This creates a misalignment, and the entire administrative work suffers due to this. 

Work overload

Disconnected platforms

Limited visibility

Increasing reporting pressure

Uncertain and delayed decision-making

These are the results of the system friction. The backend operation requires growth to handle the outside expansion. When this does not happen, schools run in haste and overwhelm. 

Point Where Things Break Down

In every organization, there comes a time when the system breaks when left unattended.  The higher ed system also has its breakdown point. It does not happen due to one single issue. Unfortunately, the breakdown takes place due to a fragmented system. 

Multiple programs create confusion

Transcription and GPA management consume time

Data is not always visible

Data exists, but is not properly processed 

Most schools don’t lack organized effort or growth strategy. They lack a smart system that will support the growth plan and the expansive volume of data.

The Much-needed Shift

A new era cannot run on an old dogma. Similarly, a new operation cannot run on an old process. To keep pace with the demand of the education landscape, you need an automated backend system that is smart enough to support your growth strategy. This is why most schools are leaning toward a student information system, SIS. 

What is SIS? How can schools maximize the benefits of SIS?

If you want to maximize the ROI of SIS systems, you need to begin with the features. Let’s be real, SIS comes with hundreds of features. You will not need all of them to run your operation. 

The wise decision is to pick what will support your administrative work and your long-term growth plan. There is no reason to complicate an already running operation by selecting fancy features. 

What features of SIS should you focus on?

If you are new to K-12 online school systems, you may find the process of feature selection a bit complicated. To make the best out of SIS, look for –

A true centralized tool

Multiple program tracking 

Transcripts & GPA

Real-time academic progress visibility

Advanced data analytics tools 

SIS implementation is not an operational system upgrade. It is a system simplification. Centralized data will minimize the need to switch between systems. Similarly, multiple program tracking will erase the hassle of data processing at the end of the school year.

SIS Implementation – A Progressive Evolution

Systems like openSIS are transforming school operations by offering multiple benefits. When you implement a virtual high school management system, you will notice –

Less operational confusion

Faster decision-making

Better student outcome

Faster report generation

Heightened data security

Scalable system growth

The shift to SIS is not a simple software implementation. It is moving toward a smart system that understands and uses data for growth and scalability. With AI-powered insight and smart automation, you can expect a swift upgrade inside your higher ed operation. 

“Women are 60 percent of all professionals in higher education and have been earning the majority of master’s and doctoral degrees for decades. Yet women represent just 24 percent of the highest-paid faculty members and administrators at 130 leading research universities, according to a new study from Eos Foundation’s Women’s Power Gap Initiative, the American Association of University Women and the WAGE project. Women of color are even more grossly underrepresented, at just 2 percent of top core academic earners.”

“According to the Women’s Power Gap study, women are just about one-quarter of the most highly compensated core academic employees among R-1, or very high research activity, universities as measured by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions. Women hold just 12 percent and 7 percent of top-compensated positions within academic medical centers and athletics programs, respectively. Perhaps most significantly, women were just 10 percent of the top faculty earners within the data set of about 2,000 employees total, even as faculty members represented one-fifth of top earners over all. Many faculty members even held No. 1-earning spots as their institutions or were near the top, according to the report.This ‘severe lack of women among the highest-pay rungs is essential to lessen the gender pay gap,’ the authors wrote.”

“Among other interventions, the report urges institutions to ensure that women and people of color are hired on at pay levels equivalent to white men. ‘Ban the use of salary history as a component of the interview process and for pay-setting...Ensure any pay negotiations do not result in unequal compensation...Eliminate bias in all university processes and procedures -- hiring, advancement, and retention, among others. Conduct regular audits to root out unconscious bias. Hold staff and hiring committees accountable to equitable outcomes, not just hiring processes.’”

Inside Higher Ed, February 24, 2021: “Academe's Sticky Pay-Parity Problem,” by Colleen Flaherty

Eos Foundation, February 2021: The Power Gap among Top Earners at America’s Elite Universities, Full Report: (91 pages, PDF) Presentation: (11 pages, PDF)

“Military Friendly” Exposed as Higher Ed Pay-to-Play Scheme Targeting Veterans

Kutztown University likes to advertisethat it is a Military Friendly® school. One thing that has bothered me for years is that little trademark symbol next to the term. As an Iraq veteran and someone who works closely with young students who served in the military, I have an obligation to protect their interests and my school’s. I had some suspicions about that trademark. So I started digging and…