University Business - May 2010 - (Page 14)

Behind the news BETwEEN ThE lINES U Not Turning a Blind Eye to Admissions A new need-blind Admission policy at Hamilton College (n.Y.)—which admits students without factoring in ability to pay—could be a counter wave, as other institutions have chosen to switch to needaware policies for financial reasons. Hamilton’s move fulfills a priority in its strategic Plan, and officials see it as a way to ensure a demographic mix in its future student body. monica inzer, dean of admission and financial aid, says they felt it was important to provide as much access as possible to middle- and low-income families. starting this fall with the Class of 2014, the policy applies only to domestic undergraduate freshmen. six $500,000 pledges from the college’s trustees will be set aside in a fund and drawn over the course of six years to help bridge the initiative’s funding. Forty million must be raised to create a permanent endowment to support the policy. need-blind policies are hardly unheard of. Current colleges and universities with them include several ivies—Yale, Princeton, Harvard, and Dartmouth—and liberal arts schools such as Bowdoin College (maine) and Wesleyan University (Conn.). Could these policies gain momentum? barmak nassirian, associate executive director for the American Association of College Registrars and Admissions officers, says most institutions, particularly private ones, depend too much on tuition to carry out such a policy. “if [an institution] doesn’t have the resources, it’s a completely meaningless promise because you won’t make good on it.” in 2005, Macalester College (minn.) switched from a need-blind to need-aware policy, reportedly over concern about the SOUND BITE Rethinking the MBA: Business Education at a Crossroads By Srikant M. Datar, David A. Garvin, and Patrick G. Cullen; 2010 Harvard Business Review; 400 pp.; $39.95 IT wAsn’T ThAT long Ago ThAT A BusIness degree was the golden key to a bright future and a good-paying job. But with a down economy and a recent, seemingly endless string of financial scandals, many are questioning the purpose and value of an MBA. Rethinking the MBA follows the evolution of business schools over the past few decades and how they arrived at their current point. like the housing bubble that economists foresaw, but few did anything about, the authors argue that for too long, business schools wore “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” blinders. now they find themselves in the position of having to “rebalance” curriculum and direction to adapt to a changing business landscape. The book offers six case studies of MBA programs—including the University of Chicago’s Booth school, Harvard Business school, and Yale school of Management— that are reinventing themselves for the better. B-schools must become more socially responsive in their teaching, the authors say, with greater emphasis on accountability and ethics. —Tim Goral Hamilton College (N.Y.) will begin its needblind admission policy with this fall’s class. college’s fiscal health. This February, Williams College (mass.) announced it would end need-blind admission and change to need-aware for the Class of 2014. Kristine sawicki, acting dean of admission at Reed College (ore.), which is needaware, says it’s not odd for a college to bring on a new policy in a recession as it can help in raising funds. Reed’s current financial campaign aims to increase need-based aid by 20 percent. by contrast, inzer says Hamilton administrators think the initiative has good timing. “The negative economy has forced us to look at how we’re spending every dollar in our budget. it helped financial aid emerge as a real strength and priority for the college.” “some say this is not a good time to do something so bold,” acknowledges inzer. “i think if other schools in this economy are doing it, that’s all we can ask for.” —Michele Herrmann ‘w hat we want to do is provide a base-level plan for our students so they can get medical attention when they need it. —Michael Griffin, Clarkson University (N.Y.) spokesman, on selecting student health insurance ‘ 14 | May 2010 universitybusiness.com bob Handelman/Hamilton College http://www.universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - May 2010

University Business - May 2010
Contents
Editor’s Note
College Index
Company Index
Advisory Board
Behind the News
Viewpoint
Human Resources
Money Matters
Models of Efficiency
Fast, Friendly Fix-its
Go With the Flow: Campus Traffic and Parking Solutions
What’s New
Community Colleges
End Note

University Business - May 2010