Read about Susan in The New York Times.

Read tributes to our beloved Susan Tifft:

I feel so fortunate to have known Susan for 30 years. She was one of those rare and extraordinary people that, if you are lucky, your paths cross.

My headline tag to best describe Susan Tifft would be: “Awe-Inspiring Writer, Teacher, Media Pro and Mentor to Many. ”

Her death today (April 1) deeply saddens us, but in the true spirit of Susan, we will go forward in carrying the Susan Tifft torch around professionalism and advocacy. Susan, I will miss you immensely.
- Scott Widmeyer

What a gift it is to regularly affect lives in a positive way.  That’s what Susan Tifft did.  From friends to colleagues to students and of course family, Susan left an impression, guided, comforted and inspired us and ultimately, without our stopping at the moment to realize it, she made us each a little better.  Thank you, Susan.  How fortunate am I to have known you.
-Margaret Dunning

Susan Tifft was a writer’s writer, a cherished colleague, a loyal friend and, above all, a magnificent human being. All of us who had the good fortune to have been drawn into her gravitational orbit at various times and in various places were touched by her grace, her eloquence and that trenchant wit. Susan loved life, lived it to the fullest and seemed to find her greatest satisfaction in sharing this passion –  and her prodigious gifts – with others.

No one who followed Susan’s entries on CaringBridge as she struggled with her illness over the last two years could help but be awed by her resolute courage. She wrote with power and style in ways that left fellow writers with dropped jaws. She had us laughing one moment, crying the next – all the while knowing that we had somehow gotten a glimpse into the human condition in a manner worthy of the greatest of novelists. No wonder that her entries drew more than 30,000 responses!

Consistent with this generous spirit, Susan was a great teacher. This May the Sanford School of Public Policy, where she taught for the last ten years, will present the first annual Susan Tifft Undergraduate Teaching/Mentoring Award in tribute to the lasting impact that she had on some many of her students.

Whether in the classroom, around a conference table, or over dinner with good wine and engaging conversation, we have all learned from Susan and had our lives enriched by the quality of hers. We will miss you, Susan. But that richness lives on.
-Ted Fiske

Read the updates and show your support  for Susan and her family at: www.caringbridge.org/visit/susantifft

We had strong interest from colleges and universities across the country, and at the end of the presetation fielded more questions than we had time to answer.  I provided written responses to the two outstanding questions and thought the information might be of interest.

Feel free to post a comment or email me at teresa.parrot@widmeyer.com if you have further thoughts.

Can anyone provide benchmarks on resources to start this up and maintain it? e.g., staff, hours for initial setup and then maintenance?

The start-up times vary based on the scope of the social media presence you want to maintain.  You need to consider what sites you want to be a part of, the conversations you wish to conduct, and the preferred level of participation you want to conduct.  Specifically for College of the Holy Cross there is a team of three who maintain the website and social media presence, but there is a campus committee tasked with supplying content to the team that span the campus, including offices of the College’s leadership.  Often, creating the sites and pages is the easy part. Maintaining the conversations and finding content that keeps people engaged takes time and creativity.

Can you recommend some colleges that are successfully using social media? Could you send some URLs in the follow up email?

So that we aren’t seen as showing preference for certain institutions or their social media vendors, we are going to defer to third parties for our examples.  This article outlines the “Top Four Colleges on Social Media.”  The comments section at the end of the entry also lists additional sites to consider.  In addition, this is a widely circulated list of the “Top 100 Colleges on Twitter.”

During the question and answer session during the presentation we also said we would forward additional policy resources.  Before drafting a social media policy, consider this article on Mashable.com that discusses the 10 Must-Haves for Your Social Media Policy. Once you’ve thought through the author’s considerations, then peruse the following sample policies.  The list includes a mix of public and private institutions of varying sizes.  We aren’t advocating for using any of these policies.  Instead we are recommending you take the elements from each that best fit your institution and social media needs.

Sample higher ed social media policies:

• Adrian College
• Aquinas College
• Ball State University
• Colorado State University
• Columbia College Chicago
• Highland Community College
• Seattle University
• Vanderbilt University Medical Center
• University of Missouri System

And you never know when you will find inspiration from the corporate world.  Take a look at these corporate policies and this comprehensive list to see if they have any insight you can apply at your institution.

Overview

• The Carnegie-IAS Commission on Mathematics and Science Education is a partnership between the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Institute for Advanced Study. Formed in 2007, the Commission addresses the concern that America’s K-12 and higher education systems do not provide the level of instruction in science, mathematics and technology needed to participate and succeed in a knowledge-based global economy.

• Widmeyer was hired in the spring of 2008 to conduct research, design a public engagement initiative and coordinate a launch event on behalf of the Commission’s final findings report, The Opportunity Equation.

Communications Challenges

• Widmeyer needed to assess the current state of science and math teaching.  Specifically, we needed to identify and analyze successes and failures so that we could create an informed communications strategy to change public perceptions about math and science study and careers.

• The Opportunity Equation, addresses the concern that America’s K-12 and higher education systems do not provide the level of instruction needed to participate and succeed in a knowledge-based global economy.  In a sea of education reports, how would Widmeyer and Carnegie make this one stand out and “stick”?

Strategy and Tactics

• First Widmeyer conducted an environmental scan of existing public opinion data and literature to develop a white paper on students’ and parents’ views regarding math and science education.
• We then conducted qualitative and quantitative research to learn more about students’ perceptions of math and science. This enabled us to better identify students’ resistance to math and science learning, and the extent to which resistance is reinforced or refuted by parents.  This research also helped us identify which tactics will motivate students to pursue advanced studies and careers in math and science.
• In Phase III Widmeyer designed and launched a national public understanding and engagement campaign designed to change public opinion and promote math and science education.
• New media tools such as a micro site, Twitter and video interviews of conference participants were used to place dynamic content on the Web for long-term use and as a way to build a larger audience for the Commission’s findings.

Results

• Widmeyer has advanced the discourse on the negative and/or misinformed perceptions that influence students’ opinions on math and science, both as academic pursuits and potential career fields.
• Our environmental scan illuminated many gaps in existing research. Phase II of our research provided context and delivered a more well-rounded understanding of students’ perceptions.
• Our national communications strategy will address cultural dynamics indicated as influential by our research, including the sense of “innate skill,” perceptions of “cool” subjects and pursuits, pseudoscience and religious beliefs. We will target both parents and students.
• Widmeyer orchestrated a report launch event in Washington, D.C. with high-level speakers including U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and a panel of leaders from American Federation of Teachers, Gates Foundation, top universities and states, who communicated the importance of the findings.  Over 300 people attended.
• We secured media hits for the report release in outlets including CSPAN, PBS’s Washington Journal, Education Week, eSchool News, Science Magazine, EdNet News, Inside Higher Education, EduFlak blog and Eduwonk blog.  Additionally, Widmeyer placed an op-ed on Huffington Post.
• Widmeyer facilitated meetings between Carnegie and U.S. House, Senate and White House staff before the release. Two additional White House meetings and two briefings have been set up as a result of the release of The Opportunity Equation.  Together we continue to pursue ways for the report findings to have lasting effects on national education policy.

The foyer in the Rayburn House Office Building played host to the latest education technologies — interactive whiteboards with touch-screens, ipods used for much more than music and even a computer simulation of a dissected frog.

With this experience fresh in my mind, I was interested to see the Washington Post ran a front-page story (Lack of computer access hampers some students) on December 6 about how the digital divide still exists in America.

At first blush, many are inclined to say we’ve come a long way since the 2002 study from the U.S. Department of Commerce, “A Nation Online: How Americans Are Expanding Their Use of the Internet.”  At the time, this report was viewed as a national benchmark for measuring disparities in access.  Though some audiences in 2002 interpreted the report’s findings as evidence that the digital divide was not a major concern, audiences continue to worry about it today.  The Pew Internet & American Life Project and other groups continue to monitor Internet usage and disparities.

Just a few months ago The New York Times blog “Bits” reported that the Google-sponsored event “Breakthrough Learning in the Digital Age” incited an argument over the urgency of addressing the digital divide.

Chief Executive of CommonSense Media, Jim Steyer, during the event stressed that “every kid needs to be digitally literate by 8th grade,” and called for a major public education campaign to make that happen. As reported in the blog post, Steyer argued that technology and learning are synonymous and that schools, parents and kids must get up to speed in the next five years.  The Founder and Chief Executive of Netflix, Reed Hastings, however, argued that it would take well more than five years to bridge the divide.

As technology continues to enable us to teach, learn and share ideas better, faster and more creatively, the divide will continue to grow between kids who have access to technology and those who don’t.  The Washington Post article hit the nail on the head by helping us see this issue through the eyes of students like Juan Henriquez and Julija Pivoriunaite who don’t have Internet access at home and have limited options outside their homes to complete papers and other homework assignments.

According to the Washington Post, the digital divide has narrowed dramatically in the past decade.  Data from the U.S. Census shows almost two-thirds of American households reporting using the Internet at home.

The digital divide still exists in one of the most affluent Washington suburbs, Fairfax County where Henriquez and Pivoriunaite live.  I suspect we can find other pockets similar to this across the country.  When I last checked the reader comments connected to the article, there was some interesting commentary included in the almost 100 comments posted, ranging from a teacher in a similar situation in rural New Mexico, to citizens looking to help by donating computer equipment, to some concerned that we need to get back to the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic.

Are there any answers forthcoming for students like Henriquez and Pivoriunaite?  I don’t know, but I am hopeful.

Overview

• Widmeyer Communications has a longstanding relationship with the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH) based on our mutual goals to promote the value of arts experiences for the personal development and academic achievement of young people.

Communications Challenge

• During the past several years, the emphasis on testing and standards for achievement in what many view as “core academic subjects,” such as reading and mathematics, has led many public schools and school systems to significantly limit exposure to the arts. At the same time, a broad corps of arts and education advocates continues to urge schools to reverse this trend, and others have called for a greater emphasis on arts experiences in after-school activities, particularly for children from “at-risk” communities. Unfortunately, the perception that the arts should simply be an “extra” element in young peoples’ development has been slow to change.

Strategy/Tactics

• To counter the perception that the arts are insufficiently rigorous, demanding and useful for young people, Widmeyer has worked with the PCAH to demonstrate the tangible impact the arts have on leading young people toward productive lives marked by improved achievement, better school attendance and preparation for the workforce.
• Beginning in 1996, we coordinated the national release of the PCAH’s enormously well-received report, Coming Up Taller: Arts and Humanities Programs for Youth-at-Risk. The Widmeyer team wrote media materials, conducted media outreach, and acted as a liaison to the 250-plus programs recognized in the report.
• In recent years, we have managed media outreach around the annual Coming Up Taller Awards, which recognize programs that are achieving the greatest sustained success in utilizing arts and humanities to help young people from underserved communities lead productive lives. Our efforts have involved close coordination with the White House and First Lady under the Clinton, Bush and now Obama administrations.

Results

• Media coverage for the PCAH and Coming Up Taller programs has been extensive, with stories in numerous media outlets including The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Associated Press, National Public Radio, United Press International, ABC Radio Network, USA Today, Education Week, Christian Science Monitor, Boston Herald, and many others.  In addition to national and larger regional media coverage, there has been extensive coverage in local markets where award winners reside.

This survey highlights the importance of parents and counselors in the admissions process, and the value of the campus visit.   Some of the findings appear to be obvious, but will still prove helpful to some admissions staff.

The problem is in implementation.  Colleges and universities’ prospect pools are never the “student” population — they tend to be a slice of that universe.  Things that may be true of students as a whole may not be accurate for (for example) students from a specific region, the highest achieving students, or other targeted groups.  Truly actionable insight comes not from a general population study, but one directed toward the needs of a specific school.