{"id":27043,"date":"2013-10-02T14:02:09","date_gmt":"2013-10-02T21:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stage.headlessnauedu-b6hgdzckfdgxgzhe.westus-01.azurewebsites.net\/?p=27043"},"modified":"2013-10-04T15:42:25","modified_gmt":"2013-10-04T22:42:25","slug":"presidents-forum-nau-succeeding-business-student-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/presidents-forum-nau-succeeding-business-student-success\/","title":{"rendered":"President\u2019s Forum: NAU succeeding at business of student success"},"content":{"rendered":"

Of all the information conveyed by Northern Arizona University President John Haeger<\/strong> at Tuesday afternoon\u2019s public forum, the preface of an audience member\u2019s question best summarized the underlying message: \u201cAll of us in this room would agree you\u2019ve been an exceptional leader for this institution.\u201d<\/p>\n

The hearty applause that followed at the well-attended High Country Conference Center event confirmed what Haeger had just presented during \u201cThe Year Ahead.\u201d NAU is in sound financial condition and performing well academically, and has positioned itself to excel on both fronts.<\/p>\n

Haeger stressed how closely business and classroom success are intertwined as NAU advances toward 2020 goals<\/a> established by the Arizona Board of Regents. Pointing to the strategic guidelines set by the board, Haeger said, \u201cThe language in both areas is about promoting student success.\u201d<\/p>\n

Throughout the presentation, Haeger tied NAU\u2019s accomplishments and outlook to the university\u2019s core mission as an undergraduate residential institution, and said the model will work \u201conly if we\u2019re one of the best in the nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Haeger also repeated NAU\u2019s commitment to one-on-one contact between students and faculty as a distinctive characteristic that will only be enhanced, not diminished, by the rapid introduction of advanced educational technology. As an example, he touted the launch of Personalized Learning<\/a>, a competency-based online program that upends long-held notions about credit hours and semesters while offering university access for a flat fee.<\/p>\n

\u201cPersonalized Learning changes everything about delivering programs,\u201d Haeger said, noting that faculty play a role as guides and mentors rather than delivering content. \u201cThat\u2019s the NAU piece,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

On another front, the expansion of University College demonstrates the university\u2019s resolve to increase retention, which in turn benefits the balance sheet. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to drive support and money to the freshman year,\u201d Haeger said. At today\u2019s enrollment levels, he noted, each 5 percent increase in retention equals an additional $6 million in annual tuition revenue.<\/p>\n

Looking at developing trends in higher education, Haeger said that NAU must continue to challenge the \u201cvery expensive delivery system\u201d of traditional course development and delivery, which is highly individualistic. \u201cWhat\u2019s going to happen to universities is that it\u2019s now about teamwork,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Haeger closed the presentation by discussing the plan for leadership succession that was set in motion nearly a month ago by his announcement that he will leave the presidency no later than the conclusion of his contract in June 2015. At last week\u2019s Regents meeting, guidelines for initiating the search for NAU\u2019s next president were established.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re going to start sooner rather than later, partly at my urging,\u201d Haeger said. He added that the board sees this process as \u201cits most important responsibility,\u201d and that it is solely responsible for the interviews and final selection.<\/p>\n

While the search committee, yet to be established, is scheduled to begin its work in January, Haeger offered a hint as to how the timing of succession might play out.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve told the board that as soon as you get a president, then I\u2019m ready to leave.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Of all the information conveyed by Northern Arizona University President John Haeger at Tuesday afternoon\u2019s public forum, the preface of an audience member\u2019s question best summarized the underlying message: \u201cAll of us in this room would agree you\u2019ve been an exceptional leader for this institution.\u201d The hearty applause that followed at the well-attended High Country…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":13222,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[186,476,41,38,24,230,112],"class_list":["post-27043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-community","tag-arizona-board-of-regents","tag-educational-technology","tag-john-haeger","tag-nau","tag-northern-arizona-university","tag-personalized-learning","tag-university-college"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27043"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27043\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}