flynn014

Some things to consider: ·       Traditional residential campuses face overwhelming deferred maintenance, to the point that the challenge may be literally insurmountable for many institutions. ·       Competing for students has produced enormous institutional debt, in order to have state-of-the-art residence halls, fitness centers, and student centers.   The cost of technology and technical support are a challenge everywhere.   Many institutions spend millions of dollars per year on athletic programs, with highly questionable return on that investment. ·       Marketing/recruiting costs grow higher, as institutions attempt to draw prospective students away from competitors.   In other words, institutions are fighting to maintain class size, in the face of a declining 18-year-old demographic.   Private nonprofits continue to increase the level of discounting, in order to fill classes. · ...

Last month, I had the honor and pleasure of presenting the closing keynote address at the Distance Learning Administrators Conference (DLA), sponsored by the University of West Georgia.   I am grateful to Melanie Clay for the invitation, and to Janet Gubbins, for her help and support in making things go smoothly. This year’s conference was held on Jekyll Island, GA, a terrific location I had not visited in nearly 20 years.   You can find information about the conference and program at http://www.westga.edu/~distance/dla/ , and I believe they plan to use the same venue, next year. My presentation was titled, “Challenging the Status Quo.” I argued that established institutions are especially at risk in a disruptive environment, because their assumptions, processes, and perspectives make meaningful innovation difficult to achieve.   Established institutions are built to maintain the status quo, not turn it upside down.   Incremental improvements are their strength...