Eye on Research

For more than 19 years, I have been elbows deep in Higher Education research. It's a sweet spot for me. Join me once a month as I provide commentary, updates on AACRAO Research, and relevant topics in Higher Education research. Want to receive updates on the blog directly? Join the email list below.

December 2019 - Returns on investment, admissions, and college advising | 12/20/2019

In a changing job landscape, many young adults and teens are choosing between careers and college.

November 2019 - ARTG Report, International Student Enrollment, and Felony Conviction Effects on Admissions | 11/26/2019

No matter how much social media the new generation uses, they still rely on computers and emails for educational matters.

October 2019 - ARTG report, Prior learning assessment practices, and veteran statistics | 10/25/2019

College friendships--sometimes they can be responsible for changing your worldview.

September 2019 - Transcripts, Student Success, and Tribal Colleges | 09/25/2019

Text message-based behavioral nudging is shown to have positive effects on student persistence.

August 2019 - Admissions Career Profile, College Presidents' Approach to Student Mental Health Crisis, and more... | 08/29/2019

It has been a busy summer for me collecting data on the career profiles of chief admission officers, freshman admission processes, transcript practices and prior learning assessment policy and practice.

July 2019 - Chief Admissions Officers, College Regrets and Classroom Workings | 07/26/2019

Graduates list their biggest regrets, surveying off-task technology usage in the classroom and more.

June 2019 - Politics, Perceptions, and Preferences in Higher Education | 06/28/2019

Regardless of political affiliation, most Americans recognize that higher education is valuable.

May 2019 - Shifting financial aid, the future of college graduates and more | 05/28/2019

Enrollment rates in post-secondary education is growing among certain groups.

April 2019 - Student success, online learning and pathways to work | 04/25/2019

Get involved by participating in a AACRAO Member Dissertation Survey.

March 2019 - Transparency in admissions | 03/28/2019

The hot topic is "ethical parenting" in the college admissions process.

February 2019 - Challenges in enrollment and budgeting for higher education | 02/26/2019

Studies on opportunities for students, college spending, staffing management and more.

January 2019 - Registrar staffing, student success and valuable skills | 01/25/2019

A little nudge can go a long way.

December 2018 - Your Higher Ed Update | 12/19/2018

From admissions to graduation rates, here's your December research update.

November 2018 - The future of post-secondary education | 11/30/2018

An examination of the future of post-secondary educational needs, current admissions practices, and trending student topics.

October 2018 - Not Receiving Invitations to our Surveys? | 10/25/2018

The results of the excess credits at graduation research project will be released as an article in the January 2019 issue of SEMQ and at a session at the SEM conference in November. A few sneak peek findings are:

September 2018 - Defining Student Success | 09/24/2018

I ran across two articles recently, one in Inside Higher Ed and another by Northeastern University, both talking about how some universities are giving students an Amazon Echo Dot as part of their student package...I am personally “geeking out” thinking about the research to come that will examine the relationship between student success and Alexa (or other similar interface) users to non-users.

August 2018 - Qualitative Research – Often Time Consuming but Valuable | 08/28/2018

The stories we get from our members about their experiences both professionally and with their own institutional practices add a great deal to our understanding of the complexity of higher education.

July 2018 - Identify the approach colleges and universities use in recruiting high school seniors to their institutions | 07/24/2018

We are pleased to announce new functionality for the blog. Readers can now add comments. It is our hope that this new functionality will encourage contributions from our members.

June 2018 - Announcing a New Research Advisory Board Member | 06/25/2018

The AACRAO RAB is pleased to announce that we have a new member, Michael Flanigan, starting with the RAB on July 1st. Dr. Veronica Garcia is stepping away from her role on the RAB. She has been a valuable member of the group, and her service is greatly appreciated.

May 2018 - The many degrees of institutional freedom | 05/24/2018

In the almost four years that AACRAO has used the 60-Second Survey concept, I am struck by one theme that runs throughout: there are many degrees of freedom associated with the practices and policies for which we try to gain a common understanding through these surveys.

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About the Author

Dr. Wendy Kilgore
Wendy Kilgore serves as the director of research and senior consultant for AACRAO with more than 19 years of experience as a higher education administrator, researcher and consultant in the US and Canada. She brings expertise in recruitment, admissions, financial aid, academic advisement, curriculum support, registration, records management, veterans’ education services, technology, organizational restructuring, student-centric business practice development, policy development and managing comprehensive collaboration to support enrolment efforts.

Prior to her full-time work with AACRAO, Dr. Kilgore served as state dean of enrollment services for the Colorado Community College system, and the director of admissions and registrar for the Pima County Community College district. Her professional and consulting experience spans a wide array of institutions, including large public universities, small private colleges, small private faith based colleges, private for-profit institutions, technical colleges, a large two-year multi-campus community college district, and a state community college system consisting of 13 colleges.

Dr. Kilgore’s strategic consulting experience has included: records retention and disposition reviews, comprehensive student service evaluations; registrar and admission office reviews; business process analysis, mapping and re-engineering; policy reviews; student service division mission; values and goals development; recommendations for organizational restructuring; technology requirements assessment and documentation, project charter and project plan development and SEM plan development.