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Every college and university is having conversations about what to do for the fall term, if not the summer, and considerations and decisions are slowly being made public, with understandable caveats. Even as approaches emerge, one thing should be top of mind: institutions have the opportunity to reconsider the familiar modes of both teaching and learning, and in doing so, improve the efficacy of both. This is not…

Over the past two weeks, Ithaka S+R has organized five roundtables for academic library leaders to help support their leadership during this time of disruption and uncertainty. In total, 40 library directors and two associate university librarians attended these sessions, representing every four-year institutional type. Participants introduced themselves by describing what has been working well for their libraries, the challenges they are facing, and their budgetary expectations. The discussion that followed–with minimum facilitation–then focused on the participants’ most…

Throughout the spring term, faculty across the country had to swiftly transition from in-person to remote instruction in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the term comes to a close, what can institutions learn from their experiences as they begin planning for the fall? We have partnered over the past month with dozens of colleges and universities to provide much needed student survey data in real time to inform intervention, retention, and…

The world has changed drastically in the last few months and so have the challenges that are facing our communities. Decision-making informed by evidence, gathered and acted upon quickly, is as important—if not more important—than it has ever been for higher education leaders. These are not normal circumstances for conducting research, let alone working or living. Under normal circumstances, my colleagues and I might start the development of a major survey by building an advisory board…

In 2018, nearly 78 percent of households in America had a desktop or laptop computer and 74 percent had a broadband Internet subscription, a significant increase in digital access over the last two decades. Yet, millions of Americans are without access, and the distribution is wildly uneven across geographic regions (as well as demographic subgroups). A digital divide has existed in America for years, but the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed it and made it more relevant than ever…

After one month of quarantining to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, the economic impacts of closing small businesses and cultural centers are becoming apparent. In the weeks and months to come, affected organizations will seek relief from numerous institutions for these sacrifices, which were necessary to comply with local orders, decrease the burden on the healthcare industry, and save lives in their communities. The form that relief will take remains to be seen. In cases where cultural organizations…

Colleges and universities across the nation are revisiting nearly every aspect of their operations in order to best respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. In light of SAT and ACT administration changes and cancellations, at least 70 colleges and university systems have implemented test-optional policies, which either eliminate the requirement for prospective students to submit standardized test scores or…

Update April 29, 2020: we are also offering a COVID-19 faculty survey for implementation in May and June. Last week, we began launching our COVID-19 student surveys as part of an initiative to address the pressing needs of the community as colleges and universities have pivoted to online instruction. The survey covers several key topics, including the effectiveness of course formats, the resources students are using, institutional communications, general wellness,…

Academic libraries have been on the leading edge of universities’ digital transformation for two decades. As a result, they were prepared for this moment of crisis. The broader lesson here, not just for libraries but for the entire higher education sector, is to continue investing “just in case” in enabling capacities—rather than, in this time of looming cutbacks, budgeting narrowly for today’s immediate needs only.  Recent weeks have seen the collapse of…

The COVID-19 crisis has massively disrupted our health, our society, and our economy. State policymakers are appropriately focused on addressing the most urgent needs of their residents. Soon, though, policy and budget decisions will arise that will affect the economic prosperity of states for years to come. Ensuring the vitality of public higher education must be core to those decisions. Public higher education is very much at risk. In the shorter-term, many public colleges and universities will face severe declines…

On March 25 I had the privilege of giving the introductory talk to NISO’s virtual conference on Research Behaviors and the Impact of Technology. The relationship between research behaviors and technology is a topic I have a birdseye view on through my work at Ithaka S+R, where I oversee a program examining scholars’ research practices discipline-by-discipline and we conduct a US-wide faculty survey triennially. The event was always already virtual and I found myself preparing amidst the…

Museums are in trouble. Consider the three primary sources of revenue for museums: earned revenue from visitors, private support, and endowment income. The first is indefinitely suspended, advocating for the second is increasingly difficult to justify during a public health crisis, and the third has been dramatically reduced by losses in the market. The Met and MoMA are laying off hundreds. While the threats those museums face are not necessarily existential, many other museums with smaller budgets will…

The COVID-19 pandemic has put a sudden stall on social and economic activities throughout the world, dramatically changing our lives in just a matter of a few weeks, and increasingly raising concerns about a possible years-long recession. Now entering a month into what is becoming an ever more routine reality of teaching, learning, and working from home, colleges and universities are beginning to transition from the emergent need to preserve health and safety…

Over the past month, higher education has faced unprecedented challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Thousands of colleges and universities–large and small, two- and four-year–and more than 22 million students are impacted in the U.S. alone. Many institutions have closed their campuses, moved instruction online, changed their admissions timelines, and modified their financial aid policies; they are now contemplating whether to invite students back to campus in the fall. Decisions already made and…

As we go through the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, we are inundated by articles, images, video, statistics, and graphs through our handhelds and desktops coming from a variety of channels–including social media, news outlets, journals, and preprints. The sources of information expand from governmental agencies to research institutions, from policy makers to advocacy groups. And now archivists and others are asking how we can archive these rich and diverse sources of information–not only for future generations but also for…

Update April 10, 2020:  Since launching its relief programs on April 3, the Small Business Administration (SBA) has clarified that students employed by the institution should be counted as employees when determining eligibility for the Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (discussed below). As a result, many small colleges and universities may now exceed the 500-employee maximum and will no longer qualify for assistance through these programs. An institution with more than 500 employees may still be eligible…

Since 2010, Ithaka S+R has fielded its triennial survey of academic library directors to track evolving strategies and priorities across the sector. Today we release findings from the 2019 survey cycle, which was fielded from October to December 2019. Much has obviously changed in the world since then. Most notably, the COVID-19 pandemic has drastically altered the plans of not only academic libraries but higher education as a whole. As we face an uncertain future,…

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, colleges and universities across the country are grappling with many challenges, including moving instruction online, ensuring that students are supported holistically, and beginning to forecast retention. To provide the real-time information needed by institutional leaders, Ithaka S+R is launching a new survey of students to enable institutions to swiftly address these crucial issues. In an effort to be as responsive as possible to community needs, we are prepared to…

This is the third analysis of results from the Academic Library Response to COVID19 survey, which we deployed on March 11 in order to gather as-it-happens data from and for the academic library community. Libraries were encouraged to not only log their current status but to also come back to retake the survey as circumstances evolved. The first update was received that same day at 11 pm, illustrating just how quickly things have been…

The COVID-19 public health crisis gripping the world today has been a sprint for leaders over the past week or two, making urgent decisions about closing facilities, virtualizing the workforce, and providing services online. In the weeks and months ahead, we will face a full marathon, with colleagues, services, and in some cases businesses needing care and tending in a period of great uncertainty.  In a public health emergency, every organization must ensure it is caring…