Rider To Launch Unique Master's Program In 2020

LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ — Rider University will offer a new master's program in higher education assessment, analytics and change management beginning in the fall of 2020, university officials announced. It is a joint effort between the College of Education and Human Services and the College of Business Administration, which will teach the analytics courses.

The 30-credit, fully online program, which is among the first of its kind in the country to offer a master’s degree, aims to attract students who work at colleges and universities in areas of institutional effectiveness, such as a research office, an assessment office, student affairs or enrollment management.

“There’s a lot of job growth in those areas, and career advancement often requires a master’s degree,” said Dr. Tricia Nolfi, the director of Rider’s graduate program in organizational leadership. “We’re going to offer a degree that’s relevant and timely for the work they’re doing.”

Nolfi lead the effort to bring the new program to Rider, officials said. The increasing emphasis being placed on these skills by colleges and universities spurned her efforts. So she put together a team of faculty and staff to research the feasibility of such a program. They concluded there were no other programs like this, officials said.

“There are certificate programs, but not a degree program, and our research showed that there’s a big need to focus on the topics of analytics and data-driven decision-making,” Nolfi said.

The goal of the program is to develop leaders who not only make informed decisions in the short term but also can predict future trends.

“One of the big pieces of our program is this idea of creating a line of sight between data collection and planning,” Nolfi said. “In a lot of schools, those functions operate separately. We’ll be teaching about the practice of institutional effectiveness, which is bringing functions together, or increasing collaboration, so an institution can be more efficient in data collection and management.”

Students enrolled in the program will take classes in the areas of higher education administration, change leadership, organizational performance, data analytics and outcomes assessments. Rider will also offer an option for students to take individual courses as a non-credit professional development opportunity without enrolling in the full master’s program.

Those working in higher education are increasingly using analytics to help make decisions regarding student success, resource allocation, retention, program development, and enrollment management, officials said. Common challenges that institutions face are data governance quality, and integration, as well as lacking an overall strategy.

“In marketing, analytics are standard practice. In education, we’re not quite there yet,” Nolfi said. “So it’s borrowing a practice that business has been using for quite a while but we really haven’t translated it to the higher education environment.”

Another key component of the program is the focus on the concept of change management, which Nolfi said is often overlooked in comparable certificate programs. She said change management is critical because often when institutions conduct assessments and then use those results for planning, they don’t consider the effect that change can have on the institution’s culture.

“If you’re involved initiating change in an organization, how do you get buy-in for the new way of doing things,” Nolfi said. “How do you get advocates on your side to promote the new program you’re trying to implement? One of the things we look at is how to effectively facilitate change. Colleges and universities are not always very good at that. We struggle with change because many leaders don’t lead it very well, so that’s why we felt we need to have this focus in the program.”

For more information about Rider's master's program in higher education assessment, analytics and change management, contact Nolfi at tnolfi@rider.edu.