This course provides a basic foundation in administration of colleges and universities in modern-day America, including an exploration of the role and purpose of various functions, departments, and major organizational constituent groups (e.g., faculty, students, administration/staff, board) as well as the different types of institutions and their organizational models. Current and emerging issues affecting college and university operation are reviewed and the impact of state and federal policy on institutions is explored. In this course students will write a life purpose paper marking their program entry, learn or hone their APA writing skills, examine critical issues from the perspectives of key stakeholders, apply organizational models to analyze institutions, and interview campus staff to develop a unique case study paper.

This course explores the organizational design, characteristics, and processes of colleges and universities with an emphasis on governance structures and decision-making. Governance is always more difficult within an organization with multiple, often competing, goals. Faculty, alumni, administrators, coaches, students, and government officials all have different perspectives. The multi-frame theoretical lens explored in this course assists stakeholders in understanding organizations and lends a basis for informed decision making by participants. Students in this course examine the sources of power and influence typically found in academic organizations, and through a series of case studies they apply their knowledge of multi-frame theories to higher education organizations.

This course explores curriculum, including key elements and practices in curriculum planning, design, and implementation. Students consider the goals of liberal arts versus vocational curriculum, undergraduate versus graduate curriculum, theoretical perspectives on curriculum and its design, and emerging trends in curricular design at colleges and universities. The goals, practices, and impacts of curricular assessment, program assessment, and institutional accreditation are also emphasized. Students analyze curricular practices, and try their hand at curricular projects of their own design.

The college campus has undergone vast changes in the last century. While access to higher education has been broadened significantly, the challenges that result from the diverse students and student groups have impacted college services and the educational process. At the same time, a diverse student body creates many benefits for a campus community. In this course students develop an understanding of the characteristics, experiences, and outcomes of increasingly diverse students (including traditional and non-traditional students) in higher education today. They examine varied higher education campus environments and their impact on student learning, the impact of technology on course delivery models, and various cultural contexts which shape and influence student life. Specific attention is given to administrative practices within colleges and universities, including student affairs, enrollment management, academic affairs, and marketing. Students apply their knowledge to several projects, including conducting a student interview to analyze and apply concepts related to students’ diverse experiences in higher education today.

Provides an overview of the history, principles, philosophies, and pedagogy of online learning and how it differs from traditional face-to-face instruction. The role of the instructor, students, curriculum and technology will be closely examined. The applications of various learning theories, including adult learning theory, and their relationship to online education will also be explored. Students will evaluate the need for online learning opportunities and analyze the challenges associated with implementing online learning programs within an educational institution.

Women have held a unique place in the history of higher education. While access to higher education has been broadened significantly and statistics reveal that women seek and earn more undergraduate and graduate degrees than men, the challenges that result from the diverse experiences of women have impacted college services, the curriculum and educational processes, and the career tracks of women. This course is designed to introduce students to the issues that are central to women students, faculty, and staff in higher education. Students will also become familiar with feminist theory and scholarship as it relates to women in higher education, examine how women’s experiences in higher education have shaped the field, and analyze how complex influences in higher education affect the administrative policies and practices that impact women in academe. Students will read and present on a book of their choosing, and will live interview women leaders in the field.

This course provides an overview of the functional areas within higher education institutional advancement, including development and fundraising, marketing and communications, alumni relations, and government and community relations. Particular attention will be given to how each of these functions operates, how they are integrated, and how they are managed and led.

This course is a comprehensive overview of the field of enrollment management. It examines how enrollment management strategies shape the recruitment and retention practices within educational institutions. Students will learn or deepen their understanding of concepts, practices, and techniques associated with successful enrollment management. Students will create a written analysis of an actual enrollment plan that includes marketing, communication, recruitment, and retention strategies.

Provides students with an understanding of various instructional design approches to online learning and their impact on students. Topics relating to backward design, developing assessments for the online classroom, constructivist teaching methods, and working with multiple intelligences and learning styles will also be examined. Students will apply their knowledge while developing engaging course content activities.

This course is designed to assist students in becoming knowledgeable about the fundamentals of American law that directly and indirectly impinge on the teaching, learning, and administrative environments of higher education institutions in both the public and private sectors. There are diverse sources of law that impact American higher education in numerous ways and this course is designed to enhance student understanding and appreciation for this complexity as well as for the ethical issues which surround the application of law in the college or university or setting. Students will identity resources to use when facing legal and ethical issues on their campus, become an active consumer of legal advice, build competence engaging in informed dialog with legal counsel, deepen their understanding of social justice issues and ethics on college campuses, and engage in self-reflection regarding the role that bias can play in decision-making.

Focuses on working with learners and communicating within an online learning environment. Topics covered will include synchronous and asynchronous communication and interaction, online, discussion facilitation strategies, developing clear course policies and expectations, engaging students in active learning, planning and managing group activities, strategies for working with difficult students, and developing a course community online. Effective course management strategies for the online classroom will also be explored. Students will examine the importance of clear, consistent communication in the online classroom.

This course is an introduction to critical student services and student affairs practice in higher education. Students in this course examine the historical, philosophical, and theoretical roots of the profession as well as the nature of the work student affairs professionals perform, the skills and competencies underlying the work and the most current standards of the profession. They explore various aspects of student services, the roles and functions of professionals in the field, the populations served, and the college and university structures where these services are performed. Students will apply critical thinking and analysis to current and emerging issues in student affairs; explore the principles of equity and multiculturalism; live interview current administrators and students; assess their own capacity for student services work; and will demonstrate their learning though original presentations.

In this course students develop a conceptual overview of the history of higher education and the forces which shaped it, and an understanding of how this history directly impacts our institutions of today. Specific attention is given to the broader political, social, cultural, and economic context within which higher education was established and continues to develop today. In this course students also examine financial, economic, and budgetary issues, resource allocation and control, and learn how higher education leaders make fiscal decisions. Students apply their knowledge to several projects including a budget committee member simulation in which they allocate institutional resources in alignment with campus needs and values.

In this course, students will explore how targeted communications and marketing strategies support an institution's enrollment management goals. Students will apply marketing best practices and research to enrollment management, examine the use of different technologies in marketing to prospective students, and explore methods for evaluating a strategic enrollment plan. Students will create communications goals and strategies, integrate technology tools into an enrollment communications strategy, and assess the effectiveness of a strategic enrollment communications plan.

This course is designed to give students the opportunity to facilitate meaningful change in higher education through the creation of an original applied research project. During the course, each student will design a significant project (applied independent research) pertaining to a specific higher education management issue or problem of their choosing. They will write a purpose statement and research question, write an introduction to the problem, research and write a review of literature, develop a framework, and outline a methodology for the proposed study which they will carry out in the subsequent MHE 670 course. MHE 650 and MHE 670 are complimentary sister courses to be taken as a sequence.

Students in this course will explore the fundamentals of retention theory and research and the tools needed to develop and manage an effective retention plan for an institution of higher education. They will examine the factors that may cause students to leave, but more importantly, they will study the factors of what makes students stay. Students will practice techniques through the development of a comprehensive retention plan for a college or university.

Students in this course will analyze the role technology plays in the effective management of enrollment at colleges and universities. In addition to understanding current technology applications, students will explore emerging and future technologies. Topics include relational database management, communication systems, statistical modeling, in recruitment and retention, and Web-based and social media technologies. Students will create a strategic technology plan for a college or university.

In this course students will examine the evolution, current status, and emerging trends of student financial aid in the United States. They will explore characteristics of effectively administered financial assistance programs at colleges and universities. Topics include the history of financial aid, the relationship of college costs and pricing strategies, the role of financial aid in managing enrollment, compliance with regulations and laws, and ethical issues. Students will create a case study for a fictitious university and develop strategic financial aid recommendations for improved enrollment at this university.

As the capstone certificate course, this course provides theoretical and practical guidance on the strategic enrollment planning process which includes enrollment data analyses, alignment of academic and co-curricular programs, enrollment strategis and goals, and key performance indicators. Students will create a comprehensive and multi-faceted strategic enrollment management plan for an actual institution.

In this final course, students conduct an applied research project of their choosing which they designed in the preceding 650 course. Building on their drafted plans, students develop a survey or interview protocol, apply for review by the university’s IRB, collect original data in the field, analyze and interpret their data, and draft original recommendations for practitioners in the field. This research project provides students the opportunity to demonstrate their ability to apply content, investigative methods, data-driven problem-solving, and original critical thinking to a specific management-related issue, problem, or challenge. Each student will complete and publicly present the results of their applied research project, and will also complete a program learning outcomes ePortfolio.