Academic leaders face higher-ed management challenges every day. Some have relatively clear-cut solutions, while others are more complicated and require critical thinking and innovation.
From meeting the demands of a new group of traditional students to juggling recruitment and retention at the community college level, there’s always something testing higher-ed leaders’ mettle.
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Here are five higher-ed management challenges facing leaders each day:
1. Understanding adult learners. Adults are quickly taking over a larger and larger part of the student population at colleges and universities–and understanding adult learners is key to institutional success. The idea of the “traditional student” who graduates high school and enrolls in a university, graduating in four years, is transforming. The majority of today’s learners are adult learners–those juggling school with work or family responsibilities, or those seeking new skills or a complete career change. Many institutions are focusing on adult learner programs to help boost their growth and revenue as enrollment projections decline.