By Kenneth Newton - EvoLLLution. Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education is critical to the success of NASA’s strategic plan, as well as President Obama’s STEM policy. As the NASA strategic plan outlines, “To maintain a globally competitive Nation, our education programs develop and deliver activities that support the growth of NASA and the Nation’s STEM workforce, help develop STEM educators, engage and establish partnerships with institutions, and inspire and educate the public.” More...

By Evan Duff - EvoLLLution. 1. Why is operational efficiency so important for CE leaders?
Operational efficiency is no different in higher education than it is for non-profit and proprietary organizations. As the leader of a college or university, you want to produce a high-quality product (education) in the most efficient way possible to protect the bottom line and to provide the best possible services to students. More...

By Kathleen Bienkowski - EvoLLLution. 1. Why is it critical for institutional leaders to get buy-in from staff and faculty when undertaking a major initiative to create efficiencies across the institution?
The success of an SSO is ultimately dependent on the satisfaction levels of their customer base. No matter how well the SSO performs against operational/objective metrics, if the customer-set data is negative, the SSO will not succeed. More...

By Brendan Aldrich - EvoLLLution. Believe it or not, the vast majority of public and private organizations across the country are structured in the same way when it comes to data … and it’s wrong. More...

By Dennis Jones - EvoLLLution. 1. Why is increasing operational efficiency a top-of-mind priority for higher education leaders today?
There are two or three very obvious answers to that question. First of all, there’s an increasing level of expectation about higher education attainment in the States. So far, about 37 states have identified increased education attainment as a statewide goal or priority. They vary enormously from state to state, but it’s the single goal shared by the states when they established their public agendas and as part of that, there’s an increasing awareness that an individual’s life chances in the absence of some form of postsecondary education are not very good. More...

By Jeffrey Camm - EvoLLLution. 1. What are some of the most significant areas of inefficiency higher education leaders struggle with in institutional management?
There’s a lot of pressure on presidents and boards of trustees to control costs, and not surprisingly so, because the cost of higher education if you look at the last 10, 15 years, has far exceeded inflation. There’s extreme pressure to bring the cost of higher education down. A lot of the focus on efficiency is cost driven and, if you think about how universities work, especially state universities, you know they try to be all things to all people. More...

By Michael Stearney - EvoLLLution. 1. Why do institutional leaders look to reengineering organizations as a mechanism to improve operational efficiency?
There are several reasons for this. External forces sometimes drive reengineering. In higher education, we’re facing increasing pressure to achieve operational and cost efficiencies through automation, better integration of services, more sharing of resources — which includes people, data and information — and so on. We simply have to find ways to do things more efficiently within a static or shrinking resource space. More...

By Ray Schroeder - EvoLLLution. 1. What are some of the biggest challenges higher education leaders face when they look to improve the back-end efficiency of their institutions?
The pressure is on from federal and state governments, consumers at large and industries to reduce the cost of higher education and to better achieve outcomes consistent with the needs of students seeking employment. More...