BY TAYLOR SWAAK

Hi, everyone! I’m a reporter with the Chronicle of Higher Education covering technology and innovation. I’m in the midst of a newsroom report (see past examples here) on how colleges can thoughtfully, safely, and effectively partner with outside companies for services related to academic and student support. The broad umbrella of contracted services may include online program management, boot camps, career-readiness solutions, experiential learning, data analytics, learning-management systems, advising, and more. If you’re a faculty member familiar with such partnerships, I need your help!

In my reporting, I’ve learned that it’s key for college leadership to engage their faculty members, and get their buy-in, if they’re pursuing new partnerships—especially those that reach the classroom or affect the teaching and learning experience. I’m hoping to include a few tangible examples in my report of instances when a college and its leadership either (1) successfully engaged its faculty in the decision-making process or (2) adopted a service or tool without adequately engaging faculty members—and the repercussions of that decision.

If an example comes to mind, please reach out to me at taylor.swaak@chronicle.com as soon as possible and by Monday, December 12, 2022. Please note that the goal of this outreach is to collect examples we can publish in the report, so we’re looking for on-the-record sources.

Taylor Swaak is a staff reporter at the Chronicle of Higher Education.