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Internal: Allow Faculty to Teach More Than One Overload, but Don't require It.

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Internal: Allow Faculty to Teach More Than One Overload, but Don't require It.

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Many faculty lost the income they relied on when faculty overloads were reduced to one class. This hurt impacted programs the most. Increasing the number of optional overloads for full-time faculty increases the likelihood that courses in impacted programs are taught by full-time faculty members.

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The Cliff -- We are approaching the “cliff” and will see a steep decline in traditional undergraduate students.  We need to focus on transfer students – traditional undergrad and Professionals undergrad.  Without developing robust transfer populations, we will struggle as an institution.  In addition to recruiting these students, we have to meet them where they are at – develop appropriate support systems at CLU catered to these two distinct student populations.

Online/flexible learning -- Though many students desire in-person learning, learning online during the pandemic helped many individuals who were resistant to online learning realize they could thrive.  More and more students (especially in transfer populations) are seeking fully online degrees.  Creating more online opportunities would help us diversify our “portfolio” – we would need major support for Digital Learning, ITS, and marketing.

Certificates – There appears to be a growing demand for AA degrees and certificates (in lieu of bachelor’s degrees).  Developing a robust slate of certificate programs (many that could lead to bachelor’s degrees when individuals are ready) could help us connect to a new student-type.

Bachelor’s Degrees at Community Colleges – there is a move to offer more and more bachelor’s degrees at community colleges (they are not all vocational degrees) – to compete with that we need to examine our cost and how we support transfer students.

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Investment Opportunity in post-traditional and community-based learners

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Investment Opportunity in post-traditional and community-based learners

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While incredibly important for a myriad of reasons, traditional undergraduate students are not the only scholars and learners at Cal Lutheran.  Working professionals, nonprofit leaders (board members, staff and volunteers) and the growing community of folks seeking enrichment opportunities later in life consistently demonstrate their ability to serve as champions and advocates of Cal Lutheran as their university home.  Growth and deepening impact among these learning communities has been accomplished organically for some time, largely due to capacity and resource constraints.  Imagine the growth if investment was strategic!  Life-long connection with Cal Lutheran, with intergenerational impact.  A continuum of learning, Cal Lutheran as home throughout ones life.  Future enrollment and program participation by students and learners of all types, and future donors from first-time givers to donors considering planned and deferred gifts, estate plans and endowments.  This work sets Cal Lutheran apart!

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Allocate more resources to research on clean sources of energy & introduce this topic in our learning outcomes. Using the momentum, introduce more B Corp concepts or climate finance ideas in our classrooms.

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Allocate more resources to research on clean sources of energy & introduce this topic in our learning outcomes. Using the momentum, introduce more B Corp concepts or climate finance ideas in our classrooms.

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Resources for the under-represented student types

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Resources for the under-represented student types

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Cal Lutheran needs to think about how we can make students who are not traditional undergrads feel a part of this community. From extended business hours for critical offices/services to better tracking and engagement of alumni, and more.   Oftentimes, students in the Professionals-Undergrad program, Graduate students, and those attending the satellite campuses are an after-thought or completely forgotten about in the decision making process. If we want to be an "inclusive" campus, that means ALL students, all student types, and students attending all campus locations. Making these students feel included will create a better student experience, make them more likely as alumni to give back, to tell others about Cal Lutheran, thus improving enrollment, and improve overall student engagement.

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Cal Lutheran is not a large institution, but still is segmented in a way that disconnects students and faculty within disciplinary areas. Computer Science is a good example. TUG and PROs run separate BS programs. Prior to its elimination the MS Computer Science program was run by the School of Management. Does this make sense in terms of creating a strong team of faculty with deep disciplinary expertise that can synergize and collaboratively provide the best possible experiences for the disparate set of students? Whether it is assigning programs to colleges/deans or how the new general education curriculum is being designed, the university seems to only want to view positive change as coming through top-down design. That perspective is not useless, but is incomplete and won't lead to academic strength if designs don't include the continuing development of deep disciplinary strength in the faculty and the curriculum.

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The instructional modality debate is really nothing new. Ohio State has been a leader in providing flexibility in how they conduct their courses in a variety of methods from in-person to hybrid to online.  However, to build upon this premise - courses need more experiential learning integrations - whether in-person/mixed/online.

1. For example - the virtual element should provide endless opportunities for us to partner with surrounding organizations in developing applicable projects that can be imbedded within our curriculum.  Plus, with the current labor shortage - many organizations maybe inclined to utilize this opportunity in having students do some key work - whether consultancy, research, etc.

2. With CLU being ahead of the curve with external advisory councils -  consider leveraging these partnerships with the development of more applicable projects.  Providing students direct access to local organizations can really give a three-tier experience of visiting sites, establishing mentorship opportunities, and a pipeline for internships.

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Jim Link's college-age son came home this summer with a problem: Assigned to clean up a database at his internship, he first had to confirm that the data were accurate and up-to-date.

But the people who could help him didn't reply to his e-mails, responded too slowly, failed to show up for meetings or weren't up to speed on the data.

For a week, Link coached his son through this challenge.

"I taught him about being inspirationally irritating," said Link, CHRO of Randstad North America, a leading staffing company, in Atlanta. "It means saying what you need persuasively, up to the point of driving people nuts. What I was really teaching him was how to work with other people-about influence, negotiation and persuasion."

His son's experience, Link says, illustrates the lack of creative problem-solving that he sees in today's college students.

How Important Are Soft Skills?

What Link describes are what today's business world calls "soft skills." And the classic four-year college education, with its emphasis on critical thinking, debating, viewing issues from several angles and communicating clearly, was designed to teach these skills.

Yet nearly 3 in 4 employers say they have a hard time finding graduates with the soft skills their companies need.

In a 2019 report, the Society for Human Resource Management found that 51 percent of its members who responded to a survey said that education systems have done little or nothing to help address the skills shortage. The top missing soft skills, according to these members: problem solving, critical thinking, innovation and creativity; the ability to deal with complexity and ambiguity; and communication.

Are college curricula just different than in years past? Are college students different? Has a reliance on technology robbed young adults of soft skills? Or have today's companies-many of them startups and dependent on ever-changing technology-grown impatient and unwilling to wait out what was once a predictable, on-the-job learning curve?

All of those questions may hold the answers, say the executives, educators, students and workplace experts interviewed for this series.

In the immediate future, the most valuable work skills will be those that machines can't yet perform, like soft skills, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center of about 1,400 technology and education professionals. The survey suggested that young adults need to "learn how to learn" if they hope to adapt to a fast-changing work world.

Link likes to think further ahead-to 2025, when many familiar jobs will be performed by machines. Machines will be doing basic tasks that require abilities such as operational skills (functioning as forklift operators, assembly line workers), administrative skills (secretaries, bank tellers) and computational skills (accountants).

Soft skills are precisely the skills that a traditional four-year college degree, especially in the liberal arts, is designed to teach, said Lynn Pasquerella, president of the Association of American Colleges & Universities in Washington, D.C.

"I was a philosophy major," Pasquerella said. "We composed arguments about issues, responded to objections, developed a capacity to imagine what it's like to be in the shoes of someone different, to listen critically and to consider points of view that might call into question your fundamental beliefs."

Year after year, her organization's annual survey on the skills that company executives consider most valuable in college graduates and that prepare students for the workforce finds that soft skills "are the best preparation for long-term career goals."

Yet "these are areas where colleges are clearly struggling to prepare students," said Denise Leaser, SHRM-SCP, who is president of GreatBizTools, an HR management products and consulting services company in St. Paul, Minn., and whose daughter just graduated from California's Biola University. "And the future appears to be worse."

Chris Kirksey is president of McLean, Va.-based Direction.com, a digital marketing and Web design company. He said he's interviewed "many brilliant people with college degrees," some of them with multiple degrees. But he often finds them wanting.

"It seems college is graduating many 'book-smart' people with no real people skills or no real-world use of their knowledge skills," Kirksey said. "What's so great about a degree in something if you only know about it, and not how to teach it, use it, or understand why people want or need it?"

What's Happening at College?

Pressured by businesses to produce graduates with up-to-date technical skills, colleges could be relaxing their standards for requiring liberal arts classes-precisely the types of classes that research has shown develop the soft skills businesses also want.

"A lot of colleges still have curricula grounded in the liberal arts," said Martin Van Der Werf, associate director for editorial and postsecondary policy at Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce. "But most could also be accused of chasing after what they think most businesses want ... what the next hot major is. And designing curricula to bring students up to snuff on the technical skills they need for a degree sometimes comes at the expense of grounding them in the liberal arts."

For example, he said, a college business degree can now be splintered into several subdisciplines (such as a specialty in supply-chain management), each requiring its own specific expertise. "So the emphasis becomes trying to [introduce] new classes, so they'll shave off one or two of the core liberal arts requirements."

In addition, he said, colleges are more consumer-oriented today. Because the public can track from year to year what new college graduates earn, schools feel pressure to demonstrate that college tuition is worth the investment, especially at a time when tuition costs are through the roof.

"For colleges, it used to be 'Hey, we're a place where students can come and find themselves, learn about their passion and follow it,' " Van Der Werf said. "As the tuition sticker price rose, the leverage has switched to consumers who say, 'I invest thousands in my education. What guarantee can you give me that I'll get a job when I'm out, and how much will I make?' More and more, colleges are listening and saying, 'OK, maybe it's not the wisest thing to require political science for a business major.' "

Zachary Schallenberger is a rising senior at Montana State University in Bozeman, majoring in computer science. Like most of the computer-science students interviewed for this series, he confessed that college hasn't really taught him some basic interpersonal skills, which is important for science-inclined students who can be introverted and socially awkward.

It wasn't at the university but at an internship at BMW where he first learned these skills.

"One of the things I quickly had to learn was to communicate in a professional environment," he said. "That was never taught to me. What's the formal way to write an e-mail? Is e-mail the most appropriate way to contact someone? How do I have conversations with my manager?"

Is Digitization to Blame?

Eric Frazer has another explanation for the dearth of college graduates with soft skills-and it has nothing to do with college curricula.

College students are more disengaged than students of decades past from campus sports, Greek life, volunteerism and other extracurricular activities that grow soft skills.

"Students are not getting as involved in the opportunities that could develop these skills," said Frazer, who teaches part time at Yale School of Medicine. "Before, one would join a fraternity or sorority, a recreational club, a sport, theater, music-where there's a hierarchy, leaders, where you learn interpersonal and conflict-resolution skills.

"Now [students'] social connections are online. Instead of joining a club, people join an app or an online group. Instead of sitting down with someone and sharing, they share photos and news snippets on phones and tablets."

Link agrees.

"I see this even in my own household," he said. "I am raising four Generation Z students. "While they completely recognize that they need to be persuasive or to manage conflict, they're often perplexed as to how to make those things happen. I think it's because they've been 'digitalized' at a very early age and taught to believe that the best way to solve a problem is go to a machine and find your solution, instead of to another person."

Part 3: Students' hard-skills gap.

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Employers Say Students Aren't Learning Soft Skills in College

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Has a reliance on technology robbed young adults of soft skills? Or have today's companies-many of them startups and dependent on ever-changing technology-grown impatient and unwilling to wait out what was once a predictable, on-the-job learning curve?

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If you consider the changing demographics in our nation, state, and region, it is obvious that focusing exclusively on the TUG experience will not yield our past revenue. There are simply less 18 - 22 year olds to enter the 4-year experience. That means we need to redesign the experience to become more relevant to those non-traditional aged students who want and need to achieve academic goals to find jobs and/or find better jobs. In order to do this, we need to admit that there is no one-size-fits-all model. We need to diversify our offerings and expand the PROs program to continue to attract full-time working students. We also need to expand our community education to include certificates and micro-certificates for those who either do not want full degrees or those who have full degrees that require updated skill sets. We have the courses, we have the faculty, we just need to think outside the box in terms of delivery. We have been so opposed to this for decades, but the future is pointing to the value of providing students with what they need, not what we think they need based on the past.

Also, the pandemic has changed everything and there is no going back. Trying to pretend that we are back to "normal" does everyone involved a disservice. There is no way to put the experience behind us. It is also in front of us and we need to be ready for what comes next. If we don't adapt, we will not survive. While there are many undergraduates who crave in-person learning experiences, when they enter the workplace, they must be prepared to work in virtual teams and exist in the global workplace. There is no reason to not offer hybrid or online options for those who prefer them and also for those who due to access issues are unable to have the luxury of a 4-year full-time experience.

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TUG students craving meaningful in-person connections/experiences (both academic and social)

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TUG students craving meaningful in-person connections/experiences (both academic and social)

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This pandemic, with an abrupt shift to varying qualities of online education, has reminded many current K-12 students of how much they prefer face-to-face/in-person learning, especially experiential learning that did not translate well in online platforms. In addition, these students will graduate high school looking for campus climates that allow them to build/grow their friendships with peers that they've missed out on due to pandemic. And, the economic uncertainties will drive them (and their parents) to seek a TUG university that promises and delivers on meaningful mentorship from high-quality faculty with expertise that will allow them to not only thrive in undergrad but prepare them with faculty-supported research/creative experiences for future careers and grad school

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Cal Lutheran should have an innovative strategy in forming new industrial, municipal, and cultural partnerships in the region. Our students are unique, our faculty are unique, our space is unique. But how? Lets articulate, brand, and leverage the thoughtful work being done on our campus, and provide students and companies new opportunities to connect. We need to push beyond internships and create a liberal arts research and development culture that people seek out and rely on.

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I want to echo the research barriers and state that the lack of staff support disproportionately effects folks trying to mentor research that requires things like ordering, prep staff support, safety training, IT, and the like.

The students are permitted to do directed research during the year (required by McNair, even) but we get no credit or pay for this effort, and it's actually really time consuming with little result. We get a nominal stipend in the summer, but it is 1/3rd of what the students receive. If we write a grant to pay ourselves, there is no compensation, release, or incentive for our time or effort of putting it together. Given that there is one award for scholarly excellence per year, and faculty returning from sabbatical get 10 minutes to present their work, there are a lot of signals from the administration that they do not intend to actually support this long term.

And that's before we get into the promise that the programs initiated by grants would be permanently supported even after the grant term expires.

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This also relates to the other padlet... We pride ourselves on offering undergraduate students hands-on research opportunities. Indeed, this is something that distinguishes us from much larger schools and is an invaluable experience for students.

However, this is a very effortful, labor-intensive, and time consuming process for faculty. Additionally, there is very little to no compensation for these efforts. Yes, it counts as service, but we have an abundance of other service opportunities (some way more pressing/urgent). You could also argue that it counts as research, but that is only in the rare case a project turns out and is high-quality enough to publish.

I often wonder what incentive faculty have to continue mentoring undergraduate research. I think this is something that needs to be addressed in the very near future. For example, we could offer more financial compensation or turn research opportunities into courses that count toward faculty load. I think this is a barrier that we need to overcome as we consider our distinctiveness as a university.

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It's a really peculiar thing to see folks within our institution scratching their heads about the lack of applications we have for vacancies, or the fact that so many staff and faculty have left the university since the beginning of this year. People quite literally cannot afford to work here. If you didn't receive a 5.4% raise this year, then your pay was decreased (relative to the current purchasing power of the dollar). I'm sure I don't need to say this, but most of us at CLU did not receive a 5.4% raise. How are we going to create additional revenue streams so that we can adequately and humanely compensate the people that we employee? Because we can't do anything about the enrollment issue if there are no people working here. Instead of gaslighting the people that leave, we need to be saying "Good for you for finding something better" and then think of ways that we can retain the people that are still here, and attract diverse candidates for open positions.

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External/Internal - The past culture of Cal Lutheran was one steeped in tradition and stability. As we have seen recently, we are very vulnerable to external events and our ability to respond was hindered by a culture that was not prepared for a significant paradigm shift as to how we prepared and delivered classes. Furthermore, our ability and willingness to work through the painful aspects of organizational change has been stressed and found lacking. We, as an organization, internalize many of the events that have crafted us in the past not recognizing the influence that external business events have on us as a successful organization.

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Trust and morale are continuing to decline, and it is hard to imagine the University recovering to a less strained climate.

Leadership is not coming from the top-down in several key areas. I'll address, first, the issue of transparency.

The importance of transparent and honest communication has been strongly emphasized in the President's words since day one but negated in her actions in tandem with the long history of distrust created by shady HR practices. Speaking out continues to put your job at risk, and instead of having concerns addressed, you can expect to be one in a long long line of (former) employees threatened into signing a non-disclosure agreement not to discuss what actually happens behind closed doors. Instead of trying to create a strong reputation by the illusion of silence, a strong leader would maintain the reputation of the University by not doing things in secret that are so embarrassing to the institution, NDA's are needed to keep them from getting out to the community. I am offended, in hindsight, by a speech from the President earlier this year about the "Lu-Vine" as if that culture of secrecy that drives staff and faculty to gossip about what chaos the higher-ups have caused and attempted to cover up starts from the bottom.

The institution will not be able to address whatever other internal and external factors are outlined in this padlet without the ability to retain talent.

We aren't here for the pay; we're here despite it. With the climate in such decline, what else do staff have to stay around for?

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For a small university, we have remarkable global reach. Should we be offering more home-grown study abroad? Are there other global programs we could offer that enhance student experience?

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SOM recently achieved ACBSP accreditation, most most of its peer institutions have AACSB accreditation. This could be one reason for the decline in MBA students. Regardless, it's an important distinction for SOM's ongoing vitality.

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Growth of Biotech Startups in the Conejo Valley

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Growth of Biotech Startups in the Conejo Valley

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There has been a significant increase in the growth and popularity of biotech startups in the Conejo Valley. Many of these startups are well-funded and grow quickly. We have a venture capital firm, https://westlakebio.com, that is funding much of the activity. This trend most likely is related to Amgen's T.O. footprint shrinking. It's likely to continue and could be an important source of jobs for our alums.

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Expansion Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on developing transformative oral medicines for severe RNA-mediated diseases, today announced the close of an $80 million Series B financing. Cormorant Asset Management led the financing with participation from new investors Westlake Village BioPartners, Surveyor Capital (a Citadel company) and Logos Capital as well as Se-ries A investors RA Capital Management, 5AM, Kleiner Perkins, Sanofi Ventures and Novartis Ven-ture Fund. Proceeds from the financing will be used to advance the company's small molecule RNA platform (SMIRNA™) to identify clinical candidates in myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1), amyo-trophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and various tauopathies.

Read More

On this episode of the weekly podcast The Puck: Venture Capital & Beyond, podcast host Jim Baer talks with Managing Partner at Westlake Village BioPartners Sean Harper, MD, about his experience working on the front lines of the medical industry and the ongoing evolution of the LA Biotech Hub. They discuss Harper's background as a ... Read More

Read More

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Expansion Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on developing transformative oral medicines for severe RNA-mediated diseases, today announced the close of an $80 million Series B financing. Cormorant Asset Management led the financing with participation from new investors Westlake Village BioPartners, Surveyor Capital (a Citadel company) and Logos Capital as well as Se-ries A investors RA Capital Management, 5AM, Kleiner Perkins, Sanofi Ventures and Novartis Ven-ture Fund.

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Internal - Liberal Arts  or Liberal Arts 

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Internal - Liberal Arts  or Liberal Arts 

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We are a liberal arts university, are required to be one by the ELCA and are expected to be one in the future. Right? then why, among incoming freshmen, is the #1 major Business, and by a wide margin? At what point do we acknowledge that we have grown beyond the liberal arts, while not losing sigh of it being at our core? If we aren't willing to do that, how can we grow to 5,000 students or more and stay a liberal arts university?

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This needs to be addressed across the university but especially for our underrepresented colleagues for whom we have invested so much in recruiting to join us. We cannot continue to make excuses and blame national trends for the situation we are enduring.  As many have stated here, we need to invest in our people.  If we take into account the rising costs of medical insurance at Cal Lu, what is the real take home salary increase?  It feels that costs of medical outpace salary increases (especially with a year of no raises).

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The competitive nature of youth sports and drive to compete at the college level is key to the college decision. I do not believe Cal Lutheran has a clear vision on the role athletics will play in enrollment and student-athlete experiences/expectations. This space will continue to be top level criteria for prospects looking for an institution known for athletic distinction.

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The model and growth of this institution among traditional undergraduate students should not be ignored. Their move towards investing in D1 athletics is only propelling the growth and it is also a faith-based institution.

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Internal/External - Serving Digital Natives

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Internal/External - Serving Digital Natives

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The rise of low-cost online education is a trend of concern, but it's the tip of an iceberg. Our students are digital natives. They were born into a technology-centered culture. Their lives seem to revolve around their smart phones. ALL of our programs, curricular, extra-curricular and administrative, should provide a positive digital experience. Blackboard does the job, but it's awfully long in the tooth and not user friendly. Students' families can pay their bills with CashNet, but it's a relic from the 90's, maybe earlier. If we invested in a modern, forward-thinking digital experience, whether we offer online courses or not would not be as critical an issue. There's a part of every service that we offer that should be digital.

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External/Internal - Cost of a College Education

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External/Internal - Cost of a College Education

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It bothers me that we send so many students into the world saddled by mountains of student debt. This is a systemic problem that needs to be addressed somehow.

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External - The Value of a Liberal Arts Education

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External - The Value of a Liberal Arts Education

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There's a lot in the media that questions the value of a liberal arts education. While much of the negative is inaccurate or unfair, we cannot ignore it. We need to understand the rationale and perhaps change in response to some of the criticism that is accurate and fair. The stock response to the value of a liberal education is that liberal arts alums' salaries equalize over time and eventually pass those of non-liberal alums. However, "you'll thank us in 20 years" is not that compelling a value proposition.

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Internal- Inability to Innovate and Adapt to Change

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Internal- Inability to Innovate and Adapt to Change

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Our culture penalizes innovators who want to take risks or think outside the box. We engage in too much group think and analysis paralysis. Those who want to try something new are met by a wall of apathy, parochialism and red tape. For a small university, how can we have so many rules? I have seen few true innovations at CLU. We classify anything that's new to CLU as innovative, even if it's been done hundreds of times around the world. We've been subjected to a lot of change in the last couple of years. Rather than embrace it, we dig in our heels and resist ANY change. We seem to think that external trends don't apply to us, that there always will be enough young adults who want to get a liberal arts education in beautiful, sunny Southern California.

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External--I'm worried about the demographic shift that is coming (fewer college age students) will we expand to HS age programing? Further develop and invest in Pros?The uniqueness of what we offer is still needed here in the VC/LA county (and north with PLTS). we need to clarify this uniqueness for those who would come...

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External--I'm worried about the demographic shift that is coming (fewer college age students) will we expand to HS age programing? Further develop and invest in Pros?The uniqueness of what we offer is still needed here in the VC/LA county (and north with PLTS). we need to clarify this uniqueness for those who would come...

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One important distinction between schools like ours and our larger school competitors is that small schools can offer much more support and scaffolding in terms of "making friends." This next generation of students will need hands-on, explicit instruction in forming and maintaining quality social relationships. We can create programs that focus on this- and we can market this to anxious students and parents that we will tend to these socio-emotional needs, in addition to traditional academic skills.   https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/campus-crunch/202002/why-are-college-students-feeling-so-lonely

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Why Are College Students Feeling So Lonely?

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our private competitors (LMU, Chapman, Oxy etc.) have 5-6 times the endowment we have... yet they do not rank significantly higher than us in terms of rankings.  We have the endowment of LaVerne or Redlands and are ranked much higher than them.  The university has to become MUCH more creative in developing alternative revenue streams. 

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our private competitors (LMU, Chapman, Oxy etc.) have 5-6 times the endowment we have... yet they do not rank significantly higher than us in terms of rankings.  We have the endowment of LaVerne or Redlands and are ranked much higher than them.  The university has to become MUCH more creative in developing alternative revenue streams. 

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The pandemic gave student and parents an ability to rethink the value of a 4 year degree as a "rite of passage" for 18-22 year olds.  What the university used to provide can be acquired in other ways.  Gen ed is valuable, but students can explore anything that interests them on YouTube (not the same, I know).   For better or worse, this generation of students has a lower tolerance for "jumping hoops" (e.g. Core 21).  To address this, universities need to rethink what they are...they need to become much more creative in terms of their revenue streams.  People do not lack access to knowledge, they lack the benefits of community.  For CLU, this means thinking broadly about how a "community of learners" can expand beyond the borders of the campus.   

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The pandemic gave student and parents an ability to rethink the value of a 4 year degree as a "rite of passage" for 18-22 year olds.  What the university used to provide can be acquired in other ways.  Gen ed is valuable, but students can explore anything that interests them on YouTube (not the same, I know).   For better or worse, this generation of students has a lower tolerance for "jumping hoops" (e.g. Core 21).  To address this, universities need to rethink what they are...they need to become much more creative in terms of their revenue streams.  People do not lack access to knowledge, they lack the benefits of community.  For CLU, this means thinking broadly about how a "community of learners" can expand beyond the borders of the campus.   

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Radical, but it would set us apart. No-cost tuition to every student regardless of need. Other colleges have done it - check out Berea (https://www.berea.edu/give/no-tuition/) or Santa Barbara City College

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Since our founding in 1855, Berea College's core mission has been to provide access to a quality liberal arts education to students who would not ordinarily be able to afford to go to college. Early on, students worked at campus jobs to support themselves and their families and to pay a modest tuition. In 1892, the tuition requirement was removed entirely, and Berea College has not charged another student to attend.

The cost of providing a rigorous education-about $44,000 per student per year-isn't cheap, but helping build a better future through education is certainly worth it. Our students, who come from families with an average annual income of less than $30,000, can leave Berea ready to take on the challenges of the world without the burden of large student debt.

With student loan debt topping $1.5 trillion, for many acquiring a college degree can mean delaying the purchase of a home or foregoing graduate school. For low-income students, debt can make it more difficult to truly realize their potential. Berea College hopes to help students transcend the financial barriers to achieving a better life.

Read what President Lyle Roelofs has to say about "The Value of Free."

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Why No Student Pays Tuition - Give to Berea

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Since our founding in 1855, Berea College's core mission has been to provide access to a quality liberal arts education to students who would not ordinarily be able to afford to go to college. Early on, students worked at campus jobs to support themselves and their families and to pay a modest tuition.

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As our requirements for scholarship and student numbers grow, we need to be aware that investment in the business office, registrar, purchasing pipeline, and other staff to support this infrastructure will also need to increase. We can't just put up fancy buildings, add to ART expectations, declare initiatives and not make improvements to processes and existing offices to support the work.

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Even if the free 2-years CC plan does not pass in congress this time around, the idea has been gaining traction- it will get there eventually. It would be awesome for us to build programs that assumes 2-years at CC. Right now, transfers students are treated as an add on. Perhaps fairly soon, these students may be our main source of enrollment. Let's be proactive and design an undergraduate degree program that is built around/for them. A liberal arts college for transfer students.

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It is easy to be insular in our quiet TO community within our relatively protected Ventura County. We do a disservice to our mission and service to students if we do not challenge ourselves to adopt a larger scale perspective. I believe most external factors impacting Cal Lutheran are captured through the breakdown of the the UN Sustainable Development Goals, from the COVID-pandemic, demographic shifts, and social injustices, to socio-economic discord, climate change, industry needs, and more.

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Various critical internal factors require address to strengthen Cal Lu, such as:

-Centering our work with a social justice lens to create a campus known for DEI. We need to reposition (further) the efforts in place and provide the funding resources (not just the staff roles) to make a difference. With this, the work as an HSI needs to be showcased more prominently and proudly as it relates to supporting all of our students.

-Aligning practices/policies with a visionary approach. At present, we are too reactive as an institution. From this work, I hope that we become more future-oriented and progressive in attending to the community's needs. For example, Human Resource practices need to offer more flexibility for work hours, for remote work, etc. (which requires trust in employees); and, for students consideration of different instructional modalities while maintaining a physical-presence on campus is needed (these do not need to be mutually exclusive).

-Increasing student support/resources. Cost of attendance is high (even when accounting for the "estimated" 50% reduction from the published cost. We know from Career Services studies that employers want graduates who already possess the skillsets to succeed. Our GE is the signature element for this success (critical thinking/ writing/ communication/ etc.). What if we guaranteed other hallmark experiences for all students, such as on-campus internships/research study with pay for any student needing a job, an opportunity to study abroad included within tuition, etc.?

-Maximizing our residential facilities. We know that it is extremely difficult to find affordable accommodations in the TO area.  Students, faculty, and staff face this challenge. We also know that enrollment numbers are not expected to fully rebound for the TUG population. Why not take advantage of the problem and turn it into an opportunity! What if Cal Lu re-envisions the stand-alone houses and/or a wing of apartments in a hall to offer temporary (by day-week-month-term/semester) room rental accommodation for visiting international scholars, guest lecturers, graduate students, new staff? (We constantly run out of grad housing for campus.) Or, if Res Life adopts a faculty-in-residence model to strengthen our co-curricular learning?

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External: 1- High cost of living means that graduates will have to compete for high level technical positions in order to thrive in this community, 2- while Ventura and L.A. counties have a wealth of riches, Thousand Oaks is an increasingly dull, self-satisfied community that limits the cultural opportunities in the vicinity of our campus, 3 - housing costs (and the dullness of T.O.) for faculty and staff have pushed people away from campus and increasingly limited the involvement in campus

Internal: 1 - Most likely because of our financial resources, it seems like the campus never gets on top of existing problems as fast as new ones come up. This creates stresses in doing day-to-day work which makes the space needed for innovation difficult to find, 2 - we are unable to hire specialists that are needed for key work without saddling with a spectrum of jobs that are typically managed by more than one person. Cal Lutheran is too small to have certain full-time specialists and too large not to have the support they would provide. A solution would be to develop collaborative arrangements that would allow shared positions with similar institutions, such as in the ELCA network. Developing a strong network might lessen our autonomy as an institution, but having a national network could potentially have many benefits such as in student recruiting, 3 - our organizational structure is too flat and a relic of our history as a small Lutheran school as well as the inability to successfully adapt modern information technology to streamline workflows.

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To recruit and retain excellent employees, we need to address the local cost of living issue. According to Redfin, The median sale price of a house in TO right now is $984,500.  To afford a ~900 k house, a family needs to make at least $150k a year, and have an over 100k down payment. What is our median salary? Does it match the cost of living in the area? Based on online mortgage calculators, our median salary for employees needs to be at least 75k (assuming 2 earner households).

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I'm finding that the majority of my traditional undergraduate students have to work at least one job, and many are working two jobs, to make ends meet. This means they don't have adequate time to study and work on school assignments outside of class. Can we arrange our class schedules to work better for these working students? Can we offer more online or hybrid classes for these students? Can we amp up our paid internship offerings so that students can get credit for working their jobs while building their resume? Can we change the credit system so they aren't taking 4 classes while also working 2 jobs and still be considered full-time students?

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Is This the End of the Romance Between Chinese Students and American Colleges?

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International relations and the impact on education enrollment and reputation relations is a serious problem. What is Cal Lutheran doing to help this population?

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1. Demographics (more female students, fewer people available for higher education, etc.).
2. Competition (including an explosion of online offerings by high-quality, low-price providers, etc.).
3. Internationalization (becoming more attractive to international students, especially from Northern Europe and Mexico).

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What are the drivers (internal and external) 

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What are the drivers (internal and external) 

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Government remains one of the largest employers in CA and also nationally. Besides, we are heavily invested in the local economy and work closely with public agencies (government and nonprofits). This can be an area of focus, that we build on. Changes in the local economy and government hiring can impact how students seek out opportunities for training or re-training themselves.

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Appropriate prioritization and treatment of all university programs, including TUG, Pros, Grad programs, and ancillary programs.

We've spent years trying to get various parts of the institution to think beyond the TUG programs, from simple things like building and office staffing hours to a recognition that graduate and Pros program directors have different responsibilities from TUG department chairs. It doesn't make one or the other more important or right - but it's CRITICAL that we (largely meaning our administrative arms, like Pres. Office, Provost, HR, Finance, University Marketing, etc.) treat those programs and their staff/faculty appropriately to the needs of those programs.

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1--A good, similar University to consider is St. Mary's University in Moraga, CA. For many years  this relatively small, Catholic University with a student body from all income levels and often first-generation college attendees---has performed excellently. In particular, this University excels in the number of their students who graduate and move into good jobs in their fields and then positively impact their communities. How does this happen? A few key factors: the students in the school have lots of opportunity all along for internships and field education. They also have small classes and excellent teacher-student ratios and relationships; the faculty are exceptionally dedicated mentors to the students. There is an ethical and wholistic underpinning to everything that students and faculty do on this campus. Students are rigorously trained to develop their values and contribute to the good of all. Finally, the students are respected as whole people---and their university experience includes liberal arts studies, sports, arts, spirituality, and all aspects of life that lead to a wholesome, happy life. Even a visitor can detect joy on this campus.

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I would like to echo my colleagues' concerns about employee pay and benefits. We are not very competitive with local colleges and universities. This is especially challenging with our community's cost of living. Also, given our reliance on adjuncts, I believe we should offer greater job security and benefits (e.g., full-time lecturer positions). Without improved compensation, I fear we will fail to recruit and lose our existing employees.

I also think we need to consider ways to meet students' new educational needs. I suspect students will want/demand alternate educational formats. We need to be prepared for those who wish to shift to online, hybrid, or hyflex learning. I fear that traditional classrooms may hold less appeal, especially after a pandemic that ushered in flexible and accessible courses.

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The salary and benefits is the most important value for new employees trying to work at CLU and support their families. They are not going to leave their current jobs to work at CLU if they do not see an improvement in their salary and benefits to support their families with the cost of living in this area. Instead they will have to take an additional job to make ends meet. When you are trying to recruit a diverse faculty/staff, you have to understand that some of them may come from low income backgrounds, they are moving to middle class because of their profession now, but have accumulated a lot of debt "Barrowed Future" documentary on Amazon Prime. Therefore, CLU will find it difficult to find the best diverse faculty/staff to support CLU's vision. The reason students are going to the community college now is because it is free the first two years. The reason why students will not go to CLU from marginalized student population groups is because CLU is not affordable to them, but other universities are. The reason why new faculty/staff will decline a job at CLU is because the job offered may not offer a competitive salary/benefits. You need the best faculty/staff and you need all different students to make CLU a place everyone wants to be at. Is it possible to increase salary/benefits and reduced college costs for students? Let's think outside the box. 

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The salary and benefits is the most important value for new employees trying to work at CLU and support their families. They are not going to leave their current jobs to work at CLU if they do not see an improvement in their salary and benefits to support their families with the cost of living in this area. Instead they will have to take an additional job to make ends meet. When you are trying to recruit a diverse faculty/staff, you have to understand that some of them may come from low income backgrounds, they are moving to middle class because of their profession now, but have accumulated a lot of debt "Barrowed Future" documentary on Amazon Prime. Therefore, CLU will find it difficult to find the best diverse faculty/staff to support CLU's vision. The reason students are going to the community college now is because it is free the first two years. The reason why students will not go to CLU from marginalized student population groups is because CLU is not affordable to them, but other universities are. The reason why new faculty/staff will decline a job at CLU is because the job offered may not offer a competitive salary/benefits. You need the best faculty/staff and you need all different students to make CLU a place everyone wants to be at. Is it possible to increase salary/benefits and reduced college costs for students? Let's think outside the box. 

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Internal factors

The professional staff/ faculty/ adjunct/ admin relations climate is strained and unsettling, staff workload and employee turnover is unacceptable, with trust/respect amongst and between students/ staff/ faculty/ adjunct/ admin faculty presenting as major issues. These relationship dynamics impact our student body from the inside out. Tenure is necessary for job security and faculty who have it carry understood entitlement that contributes to an internal class/ caste employee system for which the campus DEI issues pale in comparison. Again, these issues trickle down and impact students as employee job satisfaction continues to wane. Student DEI and belonging are priorities and are being actively addressed. However, what is being done with regard to addressing inequities amongst professional staff/ faculty/ adjunct/ admin on all levels: financial, psychological, emotional, etc. that directly and indirectly impact our clients (students and their families). Employee care, mutual respect, fair compensation, and transparency will strengthen what we do for students in the future.

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External drivers

The student body is tech savvy and more sophisticated than they seem. They are looking for the most they can get for the least amount of money. The Millennial student loan debt crisis is clear to them and COVID was a reset for those Seniors who waited a year to begin university coursework. Students today want degrees that lead to jobs and/or careers. We need to explore more ways to get/ keep students working in their chosen fields while they study from the beginning. Internships and service learning need not wait until the end of students’ programs. More partnerships with industry and multi-sector agencies are integral to our relevance in the region. I see a lot of understaffed departments across campus. Every dept should have a cadre of students in professional training, learning how to help make our university run while reducing their tuition. If we don’t become more relevant, and offer entire programs online (e.g., GSOE EdD, BA), while also becoming more tech savvy ourselves in our delivery, offerings, and approach---- Cal Lutheran will have a tough row to hoe.

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There  are many factors that will impact the future of CLU, both internal and external factors will play a significant part in determining our future. One key indicator is the shift in the mindset of the general population regarding flexibility and access. Institutions that will grow and change with the times will endure and even thrive. Those that try to hold on to the past could face extinction. This is not to say that CLU should become an "online" institution. However, without addressing the need for access and flexibility on the part of both students and instructors and staff, the institution may fall behind others who are reaching towards the future rather than trying to prevent it from coming. There are specific needs for each segment of the university. Lab classes and hands-on learning options will need to remain in-person but not all classes require face-to-face experience to be effective. Also, although I understand that the majority of this effort is to envision the undergraduate campus of the future, it is not possible for the graduate students to be lumped together with today's 18 - 22 year old traditional aged students. In fact, given the shrinking population, the only way to thrive is to become an attractive option for non-traditional aged learners (both undergraduate and graduate as well as certificate) and offer to meet students where they most are able to access what we have to offer.  By clinging to the fantasy that everyone wants and needs traditional, in-person education, we are missing a valuable opportunity to position ourselves to meet the needs of the world as it is today.
UCLA has already stated that it plans to increase online learning for all subjects for which it is not detrimental, thereby increasing space on campus for courses and studies that require face-to-face learning. The reasoning of their Chancellor is that in this way they can increase their population without relying on building more buildings, especially because they are close to build-out maximum and cannot fit more students on the existing campus. Housing is also a major concern for them, as it is for us, in that it is limited and expensive. By offering blended and online options, they can increase their capacity to serve without increasing their physical footprint. If they are going to do this, as they are currently planning to do, then other institutions of  higher ed will likely follow.  The UCLA Chancellor also states that this will allow alumni to remain engaged and even able to participate in enhanced learning experiences no matter where in the world they end up. We already have a large population of alumni who live in many parts of the world who would benefit from continuing education and involvement with our campus community. There are also many creative ways to expand our market to those not living in a reasonable radius of campus.
The online universities such as University of Phoenix and Capella etc. will never have what we have in a robust campus life nor will they become integrated as we are into the local community and the county at large. They will not have 60+ years of history to build on as we do. But if we turn our back on a education delivery model that will bring us into the greater world, I am not sure we will be able to sustain ourselves in the next epoch.

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Online education and electric vehicles are on the same inevitable trajectory.

At some point, almost every car, truck and bus will be electric. The internal combustion engine (ICE) will hang on for some years. Two or three decades, tops. But ICE is a technology of the 20th century, not the 21st. Electric cars are part of the solution for decarbonization. The pace of substitution of electricity for gas will be a function of battery cost, storage and efficiency. As batteries get bigger, better and cheaper, the case for ICE vehicles evaporates.

Online learning will never fully replace face-to-face education. There will always be a place for the immersive, intensive, experiential and transformative experience of high-quality residential education.

All the growth in higher education, however, will be in the online space. Online learning will be the dominant method of delivering postsecondary education in emerging economies. These countries will not be able to build enough physical campuses to keep up with the need to educate their populations.

Most graduate degree programs will move online. There are very few master's degrees that justify a full-time residential model's direct and opportunity costs. Only the top graduate programs, those built on a social as much as an educational experience, will remain face-to-face. Everything else will go online.

Like electric cars, the knowledge and experience to build quality online programs already exist. Automakers need not invent a new set of technologies to transition their models from gas to electric. The rate-limiting steps are battery costs and capacity and the buildout of charging networks. Colleges and universities can leverage existing strengths, expertise and technology platforms to transition from residential to online.

The second equivalency, scaled low-cost quality online degrees = autonomous vehicles, is more tricky.

The world needs to move to autonomous vehicles. In 2020, 38,690 people in the U.S. died as a result of automobile accidents. Around the world, there were 1.3 million auto-related fatalities. This sort of carnage is almost unimaginable. Autonomous vehicles have the potential to radically reduce vehicular deaths.

The auto accident equivalent in higher education is student debt. Collectively, Americans owe $1.7 trillion in student loans. For the six in 10 undergraduates that will leave college (often without a degree) with loans, the average amount they will owe is just under $30,000. (And over $70,000 for anyone getting a master's degree.)

We all need to keep fighting for public investment in public higher education. Policies that have transferred higher education costs from the states to students and families have been disastrous. Higher education should be a public good, not a private cost.

While we fight that fight, we should also be figuring out how to bend the higher education cost curve. The only way to do that is to lower the cost of degrees. Offering online degree programs at scale is one way to drive down costs. The challenge will be offering high-quality online degrees at scale.

Quality education is much like safe driving. These are complicated, highly variable, high-stakes activities. They both require judgment, flexibility and adaptability.

Good teaching is relational, personal and patient. Good driving requires foresight, concentration and proactive decision making.

So far, predictions for when we will arrive at level four (high driving automation) and level five (full driving automation) have been wildly optimistic. In 2019, Elon Musk claimed that Tesla vehicles would be used as full self-driving robo-taxis by 2020. By 2021, even Musk was forced to admit that full self-driving was a more complex task than he had imagined.

The difficulty of evolving autonomous vehicles should not dissuade us from this work. The stakes are too high not to throw ourselves into figuring out a safer self-driving future.

Nor should the obstacles of creating low-cost, high-quality online degrees stop us from iterating toward that future. Figuring out how to offer high-quality/low-cost learning experiences -- ones that are relational and immersive and transformative -- is the great higher education project of our time.

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Online Education = Electric Vehicles; Scaled Low-Cost Quality Online Degrees = Autonomous Vehicles | Learning Innovation

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Online education and electric vehicles are on the same inevitable trajectory. At some point, almost every car, truck and bus will be electric. The internal combustion engine (ICE) will hang on for some years. Two or three decades, tops. But ICE is a technology of the 20th century, not the 21st.

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External - community college is the preferred option now

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External - community college is the preferred option now

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Students are choosing community colleges now to "get their GE out of the way" at a lower cost. Community colleges used to be frowned upon, but it seems to be much more accepted now. How do we compete with that?

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***staff and faculty pay/salary + resourcing of offices and departments to reflect the increased enrollment and support students appropriately in scaling up, especially since we are all already hurting in these areas; trainings and best practices, especially to reflect the types of students that we are trying to recruit, and in relation to the new programming that is meant to attract these students; think about space - where are students going to live if we want them residential? What if they will live off-campus - I have heard from countless students about cost of living around here (exactly why I don't live here) and transportation problems if they don't live nearby, What about number of classrooms and classroom sizes? Where will we put all these students and how will they spend their time on and around campus - do we have these capacities or willing to invest in them?

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caution around higher education related to career paths/goals; cost of tuition+ to attend; lack of noticeable signs that we are HSI and value DEI (especially from the main webpage; hard to navigate and find some of these, they're not highlighted)

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Employee Pay - Employee compensation is not competitive at all and as a university committed to justice, we are committing a great injustice by not paying employees a living wage, especially for the area we are in. We will continue to have faculty and staff recruitment and retention issues if the university does not address this issue.

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The  university is not in the practice of adding staff or increasing staffing levels as the number of students served by the institution increases.  As the number of students at the institution has increased, it has become increasingly harder for offices to provide the type of service that students expect or deserve.

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External = cost of college.  Our "all-in" undiscounted cost is $64K per year and we are not alone as a private university having this sort of a sticker price.  Prospective students who apply are holding their breath and majorly stressing while waiting for an aid package to come.  I see this all-in cost as an unrelatable figure for the diverse student body we seek to attract.  I know that we recently did the UC match, but perhaps we also need to think about a tuition reset if we want to have a better chance to grow to 5K students.  

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External = cost of college.  Our "all-in" undiscounted cost is $64K per year and we are not alone as a private university having this sort of a sticker price.  Prospective students who apply are holding their breath and majorly stressing while waiting for an aid package to come.  I see this all-in cost as an unrelatable figure for the diverse student body we seek to attract.  I know that we recently did the UC match, but perhaps we also need to think about a tuition reset if we want to have a better chance to grow to 5K students.  

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Internal = the amount we pay our faculty (and possibly staff - I don't know enough to say) relative to the cost of living in this area is poor.  Given we are working with our customers more than anyone, I'd like to see some effort to better align the value we deliver with the pay we receive.

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Internal = the amount we pay our faculty (and possibly staff - I don't know enough to say) relative to the cost of living in this area is poor.  Given we are working with our customers more than anyone, I'd like to see some effort to better align the value we deliver with the pay we receive.

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External factors in include the high cost of tuition and changing preferences.  Not only are there fewer children in California, but more and more high school seniors are deciding not to attend college.

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External factors in include the high cost of tuition and changing preferences.  Not only are there fewer children in California, but more and more high school seniors are deciding not to attend college.

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Cal Lutheran has a talent problem. Especially in relation to the high cost of living, we underpay faculty and staff and can't compete with other universities or the private sector. Too many of our staff members are Cal Lutheran graduates who have never worked outside of Cal Lutheran, which creates a whole host of issues with creativity, innovation, performance, group think, etc.

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Our students have grown up with their mobile phones attached to them. They are used to buy books on Amazon, make appointments on mobile phones, manage their relationships through social media, etc. Didactics need to change fundamentally to accommodate students behavior and expectations. Not to comprise the integrity of education, but students want convenience, a seamless experience, entertainment, engagement, etc.

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Internal:
It would be really helpful to develop a consistent level of service delivery across the student lifecycle - many students experience one thing during the enrollment process and a different one once they have enrolled.

Staffing levels across the administrative side of the University are also a challenge - offices are under resourced and either stretch themselves to a breaking point to help students, or have to reduce services and programming that they can offer.

Our middle name - since we are not a "brand name" institution and many students don't know what Lutheran means - it often hurts rather than help us recruit students.

External:
We rely a lot on the local community for students to enroll. As the demographics continue to shift, affordability will be a major challenge for students. We will need to meet a higher percentage of need to continue enrolling large numbers of local students.

Cost of living in the area is going to continue to present a large challenge especially as we look to recruit and retain new faculty and staff. Salaries are not keeping up with the cost to live locally and so we either lose a candidate or they must live far from campus and maintain a significant commute - which doesn't allow as much engagement with the campus community and can lead to burnout.

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With an expected 11% drop in K-12 education in CA graduates over the next 10 years, we need to be aware of the challenges that this will bring to recruiting students. Additionally, the state schools are looking to expand enrollment, which will only increase the competition for HS grads. Consequently, we need to strongly consider how to tap additional markets of students, including graduate students, non-traditional undergraduate students, and international students. While the traditional undergraduate programs will continue to be critical for our future, the university must adapt to the unique needs of these other demographics.

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Aging society, demographic decline in college-age students, increased diversity

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Rather than to focus on a program, we need to think about areas, fields or disciplines - for instance, rather than to single out an undergraduate major in Data Science or similar, creating pathways from an undergraduate to a graduate program to continuing education in that area would benefit Cal Lutheran and enable it to make a name for itself and to concentrate resources. Such an area also wouldn't have to be of a technical or vocational nature, but other areas - psychology, sociology, etc. could feed into it.

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Most labor market studies point in the direction of technology literacy and data savvy. It's important to go beyond the basics and explore areas such as machine learning and artificial intelligence.

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As has been shown in national studies, job and salary prospects are among the most important considerations for students' choice of university / academic program. This is not an indictment against liberal arts, but an endorsement of skills-based approaches to education.

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The student debt crisis and economic disparities will make it necessary for Cal Lutheran to be more affordable.

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The cost of education is continuing to increase, and a shift to open education resources (OERs) (not just free resources or scanned materials) can help Cal Lutheran continue to provide a private school education with affordability in mind. Our students are already going into debt to pay for tuition, consider what we can do to help decrease the added costs of higher education.

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Create an online curriculum for the undergraduate program to expand access to education through Cal Lutheran and meet students where they are. This is a modality students show an obvious interest in, and there should be investment in this area.

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Housing availability near campus and expanded town/gown opportunities and relationships. The local demographics do not represent the students we are serving and proactive measures to address this would be a benefit.

With the cost of education increasing, making it easier for students to transfer into CLU should still be a focus.

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Growing DSS and Academic Services to reduce the caseload for counselors to better meet student needs. These offices are playing critical roles in retention and engagement and are well-poised to grow in opportunities to support students.

Overall, though, there are just not enough staff. You see this in Res Life, Financial Aid, Admissions, CAPS, Student Life, etc. Most staff offices are working with incredible caseloads but with the same or less staff. We know that student's time outside of class is important to their educational success and we would be wise to better resource these offices.

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External
-People are more aware of the high Cost of Private Education so we need to clearly show what the benefits are
-People wanting more flexible programs and some online or hybrid options after Covid exposed them to this
-Parents and Students doing more cost-benefit analysis
-Many job openings or burnout due to Covid could push people to make career changes and come back to school for a new degree

Internal
-Service, convenience, and connecting personally with students for retention
-Student Life activities marketed online for prospects to see since these "fun" activities catch the eye of undergraduate prospective students
-User-Friendly application process & follow-up and responsive admissions counselors can make all the difference in the world to a busy prospect