February Cluster of Conferences

Late February features low-cost conferences that don't overlap but create tough travel choices:

Texas A&M Assessment Conference
http://assessment.tamu.edu/conference/
Pre-conference workshops: $35 each
Main conference: $175
February 22-24
College Station, TX

Day of Dialogue
http://conference.csuprojects.org/eportfolios
Open part of ePortfolios West Coast Summit
One-day conference: $125
February 25
San Francisco, CA

NMHEAR 2009
http://www.nmsu.edu/NMHEAR/
New Mexico Higher Education Assessment and Retention Conference
Workshops pre- and post: $65 each
Main conference: $85
February 26 -27
Albuquerque, NM

© 2009 Mary Bold, PhD, CFLE. Email contact: bold[AT]marybold.com. The content of this blog or related web sites created by Mary Bold (www.marybold.com, www.boldproductions.com, College Intern Blog) is not under any circumstances to be regarded as legal or professional advice. Bold is the co-author of Reflections: Preparing for your Practicum or Internship, geared to college interns in the child, education, and family fields. She is a consultant and speaker on assessment, distance learning, and technology.

Student ePortfolio: Career Focus

If ePortfolio is defined with a basic premise—a purposeful collection of works—then Florida State University guides students to the purpose of career preparation. The FSU Career Portfolio resource page leads with a clear explanation about the processes students follow. Click on "Career Portfolio Walk-through Presentations."

Among other things, the Walk-throughs explain a key advantage of the career portfolio: granting access to "referred users." Students can create access keys for use by potential employers (and anyone else) who can either log into an FSU web page or simply follow an embedded link straight to the portfolio. With the option of creating unique keys for each referred user, the student can then track the who and when of log-ins.

© 2009 Mary Bold, PhD, CFLE. Email contact: bold[AT]marybold.com. The content of this blog or related web sites created by Mary Bold (www.marybold.com, www.boldproductions.com, College Intern Blog) is not under any circumstances to be regarded as legal or professional advice. Bold is the co-author of Reflections: Preparing for your Practicum or Internship, geared to college interns in the child, education, and family fields. She is a consultant and speaker on assessment, distance learning, and technology.

Demographer's Take on Higher Ed Enrollment

As numbers dominate the news today—in terms of the Recession with a capital R—some words from 6 months ago make good reading on the topic of higher education enrollment. Demographer Cheryl Russell's blog addressed enrollment in terms of a blink: by the middle class.

Russell referred to a "tipping point" that today's enrollment numbers back up. (My reference point is strictly anecdotal, relying on first-hand communications from a private university in the northeast and a public university in the south.) As families face lay-offs or simply fear of the future, college tuition has become part of the budget-slashing. Presumably, if enrollments were affected in winter, they will be even more affected in summer and fall.

Russell's analysis was based on mid-2008 statistics and pointed to the tuition increases of recent years as a key factor in enrollment shifts. She suggested that the middle class was already stepping away from the 4-year institution and turning to community colleges. As 2009 stats emerge, her predictions may well be confirmed.

© 2009 Mary Bold, PhD, CFLE. Email contact: bold[AT]marybold.com. The content of this blog or related web sites created by Mary Bold (www.marybold.com, www.boldproductions.com, College Intern Blog) is not under any circumstances to be regarded as legal or professional advice. Bold is the co-author of Reflections: Preparing for your Practicum or Internship, geared to college interns in the child, education, and family fields. She is a consultant and speaker on assessment, distance learning, and technology.