Admissions standards and requirements are changing. Student and family expectations are likewise in flux. Responsible leadership recognizes the complexities playing on the mind and heart of students. Honesty, rather than twisting trepidation and apprehension into enrollment and cash flow, is…
Organizations that rely on the public trust must build trust from within to earn the reputation of trustworthiness. Treatment of people creates an aura of trust or distrust. It’s not arbitrary. Human groups give and receive trust: It is a…
Sixth and final reflection on corporate culture… Nurturing a strong organizational culture is the only job that matters. Without the power of a positive shared experience, selfishness and happenstance rule not vision or purpose. “A company’s culture is often buried…
Fifth in a series on Corporate Culture… Where we work shapes us, our work, and those we work with. Places create culture. “I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives. I like to see…
Fourth in a series on Corporate Culture… Rules without relationships guide organizations to mediocrity at best and in the worst case to the lowest common denominator. Relationships rule. “The achievements of an organization are the results of the combined effort…
Second in a series of reflections on corporate culture Any organization of human capital rises and falls based on membership’s confidence in corporate mission and means. Effectiveness is achieved when corporate confidence flows liberally. Leadership is the source, whether the…
This is the first in a series of reflections on corporate culture. By corporate I mean collective or community culture. I hope the reflections have application in settings where any group of individuals work together towards a common goal. ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. Loyal…
The fundamentals of a free thinking society, communication and ciphering ability, are not do-dads, or throw-aways but essentials for a university to meet its public responsibilities and have durable economic impact. “So what does business need from our educational system? …
Higher education in China is changing rapidly. When China’s higher education complex matures, it may look like the Golden State’s in 1960. “China maintains a highly specialized approach to university studies that has its roots in the Soviet model, but…
The future of higher education is intertwined with the future of the economic health of our states and nation. The two are inseparable, and our universities are barometers. We need to face challenges head on. “The problem is not that…
Bankruptcy is a form of renewal available to those who have tried to do something worthwhile but failed. If borrowing power is earned by experience and potential performance thank God for bankruptcy’s protection. If borrower or lender enter into a…
Standardized measures never capture the essence of anything, although they provide dimensions: length, width, and depth – descriptions — but not essence. Tests, grades, and performance measures devoid of dreams and desires are gibberish. Measures are frail rhetoric and detrimental…
Clear communication regarding value and cost in higher education is more important than ever. College presidents and financial analysts agree — mission focus is essential. “In general, higher education does not know how to speak for its interests. It offers…
Bureaucracies create and sustain a moral perspective. “If you are going to sin, sin against God, not the bureaucracy. God will forgive you but the bureaucracy won’t.” Hyman Rickover ___________________________________________________ Effective bureaucracies — vision directed guidelines and processes — are…
The loan industry has a dubious impact on higher education. It advocates, unknowingly or deceitfully, that a college degree is always an excellent investment. It helps shift focus to cost as a measure of everything, away from quality, value and…
State funding has its place but too much might create organizational laziness, leadership ineffectiveness, and unattainable expectations. Unbridled dependence morphs into a form of gluttony. “The more subsidized it is, the less free it is. What is known as `free…
The beauty of American higher education is the coupling of thought and action: Thinking people putting ideas to work make a university strong. It’s the foundation of a free society to boot. But is it a disappearing reality? “You see,…
Students and families should understand what is desired from an education. Socially or politically prescribed solutions for personal aspirations don’t work. “Truth, like gold, is to be obtained not by its growth, but by washing away from it all that…
Increasing college costs and decreasing employment opportunity have produced an avalanche of studies regarding the value of college degrees. Sometimes more information is not better. A “back to basics” understanding would be valuable to all. “Nowadays people know the price…
This column was originally published October 28, 2010. It’s easy to forget the purpose of universities and the essential — if at times testy — interplay of free thought in a free society. In an age that increasingly gives personal…
The number and value of college degrees produced in the U.S. will be a bone of contention for a long time and the marrow of that bone is that the cost of the degree is no longer borne solely by…
Universities will change to meet changing student needs. Some within the higher education establishment fear looming changes. Change should be embraced by them for the opportunity offered to diverse students. “Many of the most powerful forces driving change in higher…
Courage is essential when hiring. Self-confidence is required to say, “We need people who are more knowledgeable than we are.” Impossible for a narcissist or a self-absorbed leader… and hiring in any other way dooms any organization to failure. “Never…
Finding the right college to fit individual needs is critical, and one size does not fit all. Only thoughtful personal consideration should guide decision making. However, some issues cannot be overlooked. “The college search doesn’t have to begin and end…
Real leadership liberates, never limits: it unleashes people to work with passion. Effective universities recognize that strength in academic programs exists on the ground, with engaged faculty, staff, and students working towards common university goals. Good managers empower their employees…
Public university boards, and the presidents or chancellors they appoint, have a delicate line to walk between the political realities of contemporary higher education and the academic realities of effective universities. The nexus of politics and academics is not always…
Guiding any organization by entitlement’s nose is risky: It is ruinous in universities. And, while entitlement rears its quality-killing head too frequently in learning environments, it is not yet pervasive. But, it’s on the way. “You cannot help people permanently…
We have begun to hold a readily visible evidence of education, the degree or certification, as valuable in and of itself. But these are emblems too often having little to do with knowing something or having the ability to do…
Universities, especially public universities, have a responsibility to leave ideology behind and focus on ideas. This does not mean that ideology is not valuable to individuals, but it should take a back seat to ideas at universities. In too many…
The changing nature of students, their interests and abilities, requires that our universities change too. While they do, we must remember the attributes of learning and insight, and the abilities and skills that make the university valuable to all change…
Sixth in a Series on Research Seeking to know is the foundation of education. How an engine works and how souls are nurtured are separated as ways of knowing only by the slightest degree. Both are vitally important to learning. …
