The August 2025 Edition - "The Year of the Student"
There are a lot of factors that demand our attention in higher education these days. Changes in government oversight, the shifting accreditation landscape, reductions in funding, the “enrollment cliff,” the growth in artificial intelligence, and the evolving employment landscape are all pushing institutions to change the way we do things. But one thing hasn’t changed, and that’s the North Star of higher education: student success. As a new group of students begin their college journey, we want to use this month’s edition to bring a renewed focus on the biggest reason behind why we do what we do.
In this edition:
- Concourse origins: a student success story
- Concourse features students love
- What we're reading: A framework for organizing student success
- Coming up at Concourse Syllabus
There are a lot of factors that demand our attention in higher education these days. Changes in government oversight, the shifting accreditation landscape, reductions in funding, the “enrollment cliff,” the growth in artificial intelligence, and the evolving employment landscape are all pushing institutions to change the way we do things. But one thing hasn’t changed, and that’s the North Star of higher education: student success. As a new group of students begin their college journey, we want to use this month’s edition to bring a renewed focus on the biggest reason behind why we do what we do.
In this edition:
Concourse origins: a student success story
Concourse features students love
What we're reading: A framework for organizing student success
Coming up at Concourse Syllabus
Syllabi and students
Concourse origins: a student success story
If you’ve been reading the Sentinel for a while, you probably already know that Concourse Syllabus was the first dedicated syllabus management solution to hit the market, almost 20 years ago. What you may not know is that it started as a student project. Our founders were frustrated with their syllabi as college students and recognized multiple issues in the process of syllabus creation and sharing. They created Concourse as a capstone project, after which they set out to transform syllabus management throughout higher education. Their goal then was better syllabi for students like themselves, and that focus has never changed.
If you’re looking for a team that understands the student experience to take your syllabi to the next level, let’s talk.
Concourse features students love
We often refer to the syllabus as the roadmap for student success. A good syllabus is full of information that can change the trajectory of a student’s progress in a course for the better. There’s a long-standing cliché that students don’t read them; however, the data shows that students DO read Concourse syllabi. Maybe that’s because Concourse has lots of features that make syllabi more accessible to students, including:
- A mobile-first design that makes syllabi easy to read on cell phones and tablets
- WCAG 2.2 AA compliance to make sure that ALL students can access syllabus information
- Consistent organization and easy navigation to help students find exactly the information they’re looking for
- LMS integration so that the syllabus is in the place where students spend the most time, and
- Integration options that allow students to easily view some or all of the syllabus before registering for a clas
You can read more about the amazing features Concourse has to offer on our website
What we're reading
A framework for organizing student success
Student success takes the efforts of individuals and teams from all across the institution. How, then, can we best “organize and focus our collective efforts?” That’s the question Laura J. Jacobsen explores in a recent Inside Higher Ed article. She provides a framework (ACCESS) that sorts efforts into six categories - Affinity, Community, Career, Early Alert, Support, and Storytelling - in an effort to help “build integrated, student-centered ecosystems.” You can learn about the ACCESS model and its potential for bringing together your organization’s best efforts below.
Coming up at Concourse Syllabus
Webinars
"What’s New and Exciting in Syllabus Scholarship?"
Thursday, August 28th at 2 pm Eastern
While syllabi may not be the first thing on everyone’s mind, there is a growing wealth of research out there on syllabi and syllabus management. From authors and researchers to news outlets and professional associations to researchers at individual institutions, there are numerous groups examining the impact of syllabi on student success, the campus environment, and faculty freedom. Join our own Brian Hopewell, former faculty member and dean, on a 30-minute exploration of the current perspectives on syllabus management. Whether you’re in the “contract with the student” or the “roadmap to success” camp, there’s something here for everyone.
Events
Modern Campus User Conference
October 7-10, 2025 - Chicago, IL
Have you heard? Concourse Syllabus is the headlining sponsor for the first in-person Modern Campus User Meeting! That means Modern Campus users will have multiple opportunities to learn about the ways Concourse augments the Connected Curriculum suite as well as Concourse’s unique benefits and impact. This is the best opportunity of the year to access multiple sessions on syllabus management at a single conference, while ALSO expanding your understanding of your Modern Campus tools.
Have you heard? Concourse Syllabus is the headlining sponsor for the first in-person Modern Campus User Meeting! That means Modern Campus users will have multiple opportunities to learn about the ways Concourse augments the Connected Curriculum suite as well as Concourse’s unique benefits and impact. This is the best opportunity of the year to access multiple sessions on syllabus management at a single conference, while ALSO expanding your understanding of your Modern Campus tools.
