Happy Tuesday, USDLA friends! We are thrilled to introduce you this week to another one of our 2024 National Conference speakers, Dr. Joe Sallustio — one of the world’s foremost higher-education experts and recognizable voices.
Joe’s expertise in operations, finance, and academics — all of which are critical functional areas in any college or university — puts him in a select group of higher-education executives with leadership acumen across diverse areas. Having led teams in every function of university operation — in non-profit universities and for-profit colleges — he brings essential knowledge necessary to scale and operate institutions in the 21st century.
With more than two decades of experience in higher-education operations, Joe has led teams in marketing, enrollment, finance, financial aid, student services, student affairs, human resources, accreditation and compliance, business-to-business relationships, and product strategy. Specifically, his expertise in marketing, enrollment, and mergers and acquisitions within higher ed has driven the success of the institutions he has served.
Currently, Joe is the Senior Vice President and Chief Experience Officer at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, MO. As CXO, Joe oversees the operations for all student-facing units, including marketing, online and residential enrollment, student financial services, advising, retention, food service, student affairs, and more. He holds a doctoral degree from National University, a graduate degree from Regis University, and an undergraduate degree from SUNY Oneonta.
Among the many insights Joe will share at the conference include stories and data from his book, “Commencement: The Beginning of a New Era in Higher Education,”
which debuted as Amazon’s #1 New Release in the higher-education administration category and remained atop several category bestseller lists.
Fierce Education heralded the book as a “must-read book for higher education’s winter break,” and Dr. Bill Pepicello, Former President of the University of Phoenix, calls Commencement “A torch to be passed in the long relay race of higher education.” Higher education is a time-honored tradition … but traditions change.
Commencement challenges readers within higher education and from places of influence in ed-tech, K-12 education, industry, educational consulting, public policy, and elsewhere to discard the status quo and answer the call of modern learners to bring new and improved value to post-secondary learning experiences. The book offers a rare glimpse into the inner sanctums of decision-making in American higher education, with stories and quotes that will shock and delight you, alongside practical tips, workbook-style exercises, “pop quizzes,” and bold predictions.
Scroll down to see one of those predictions come to fruition in last week’s issue of TheHill.com in an article that explains that as the “enrollment cliff” is set to hit institutions of higher learning in 2025, colleges are turning to older students to stem the crisis.
Click here to watch our USDLA interview with Joe and his co-author Kate Colbert on our podcast and video show, DistanceLearningRoundtable.tv.
Find some of his podcasts on USDLA.tv.
Click here to buy Joe’s book: www.commencementthebook.com.
Don’t miss Joe at the 2024 National Conference! Have you registered yet? Do that now: usdla.org/2024-conference-registration
Distance Learning Industry News: Colleges turn to older students to stem enrollment crisis
In last week’s issue of TheHill.com, reporter Alejandra O’Connell-Domenech explained that as the “enrollment cliff” is set to hit institutions of higher learning in 2025, colleges are turning to older students to stem the crisis.
“Colleges and universities across the U.S. are trying to enroll more adult students as their traditional-aged applicant pool grows ever smaller,” Domenech writes. “Facing a decline in enrollment — and fearing that decline could become a cliff as America’s population of fresh high school graduates continues to shrink — schools are offering flexible schedules, financial aid, childcare, and specialized advisors in an effort to appeal to adults 25 and older.”
She explains that the enrollment drop presents problems both for schools’ finances and, more broadly, for the American labor market, as a drop in the number of college graduates could worsen labor shortages in fields such as health care. “We have a responsibility to fill that skills gap,” said Pueblo Community College (PCC) President Patricia Erjavec.
Making it easier for adult learners, especially those with some college education, to return to school is one way to address both issues. The number of American adults with some college experience but no degree grew to 40.4 million in 2023, according to data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. “That is an extraordinary number of people that are ripe for returning to higher education,” said National Association for College Admission Counseling CEO Angel Perez.
Click here to read the entire story.
2023 USDLA Trendsetter Gold Award Winner: International University of Applied Sciences
Congratulations to the International University of Applied Sciences, which won our 2023 USDLA Trendsetter Gold Award for Higher Education.
The award was accepted by Dr. Florian Hummel, Vice-Rector at Germany’s largest university — making him responsible for growing the university’s international relations. In his career, Dr. Hummel has held positions at Cologne Business School, European Management School in Mainz, and Angell Business School in Freiburg, Germany. He has degrees in travel management from the University of Brighton, in air transport management from Cranfield University, and a Doctor of Education from the University of Sheffield, having spent ten years living and working in the UK.
Click here to watch his acceptance speech on USDLA.tv.
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