Higher Education Consulting Firm Announces Key Staff Addition And New Area of Focus

May 27, 2005 (Yardley, Pennsylvania) - Yardley Research Group today announced the expansion of its practice through the hiring of Richard Hendrix, formerly of the University of Pennsylvania. The staff addition signals the firm's entrance into the important area of university-based continuing education.

As a strategic consulting firm for universities and colleges, its principal interest is in increasing the competitiveness of its client institutions by helping them redefine the ways in which they interact with their chosen spheres of operation. With particular reference to continuing education, the Yardley Research Group helps programs define specific niches for themselves and locate and speak effectively to potential markets.

In terms of strategic planning, the Yardley Group helps CE units re-envision their missions and reshape their relations with other parts of the university in light of rapid changes now taking place in the market. "Our point of view is that as institutions redefine their economic development and public service missions, the traditional skills and features of CE units can be strengthened and re-purposed, says Michael Ditchkofsky, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Yardley Research Group. "We think that CE units are the new frontier in the ongoing development of extension and public service, particularly in land-grant institutions, where the traditional interest in practical agricultural science is changing into a focus on regional economic development."

Richard Hendrix Joins Yardley Group Staff

Richard Hendrix, who served for 14 years as Dean of the College of General Studies at Penn, joins the Yardley Group to expand its expertise in continuing education. Under his direction, the Group will take a broad approach to continuing education as a part of institutional capacity, including degree programs for adults, professional development, distributed learning, community outreach, and international and summer programs. "Dr. Hendrix is uniquely qualified to lead this new effort," says Ditchkofsky. "He has had a long career in higher education innovation. In addition to his ground-breaking work at Penn, he had key roles both at Empire State College and at FIPSE, where he oversaw the funding of some of the field's most exciting and interesting experiments in curriculum design and program delivery. I can think of few people with such deep experience in the whole range of CE operations-from program development and delivery to marketing and strategic planning."

For his part, Hendrix sees the expansion into continuing education as a logical extension of the Yardley Research Group's previous work. "The Yardley Group's experience helping universities to rethink and develop their graduate education and research capacity," he says, "fits very well with the public service mission of university-based CE and with key priorities like regional economic development. I think that is the appropriate context in which to think about CE in the coming decades. This is an opportunity for me to continue to make a difference in the profession, and I'm excited about the directions in which this might take us."

More about the Yardley Research Group

The Yardley Research Group, headquartered in Yardley, Pennsylvania, is a consulting practice focused on increasing the competitiveness of its client institutions. Among is principals and staff, it has collectively more than 200 years of experience working in and around higher education. The Yardley Group has done work related to research competitiveness, the creation and structuring of interdisciplinary graduate programs, the measurement of faculty instructional productivity, infrastructure planning, feasibility analysis, and institutional change. More information about the company is available at its web site, www.yardleygroup.com.

Editorial Contact:
Louise Williamson (215) 369-9980
Vice President and Managing Principal
Yardley Research Group
P.O. Box 414
Yardley, PA 19067

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About the Yardley Research Group

The Yardley Research Group, headquartered in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, is a consulting practice focused on increasing the competitiveness of its client institutions. Among its principals and staff, it has collectively more than 200 years of experience working in and around higher education. The Yardley Group has done work related to research competitiveness, the creation and structuring of interdisciplinary graduate programs, the measurement of faculty instructional productivity, infrastructure planning, feasibility analysis, and institutional change. The Yardley Research Group has developed a capacity to solve strategic problems related to research universities in particular and to institutions seeking improvement or change in stature in general. More information about the company is available at its web site, www.yardleygroup.com.

Editorial Contact:
Louise Williamson (215) 369-9980, X201
Vice President and Managing Principal
Yardley Research Group
P.O. Box 414
Yardley, PA 19067