The Texas Panhandle appreciates hard work, persistence and commitment to family and community. This value system should never be taken for granted. It oozes from the ground and sprinkles from the sky. Those who inhabit the space between live it.…
WTAMU was busy last year, and we look ahead in 2019 with great anticipation. In order to understand our future, it is worthwhile to reflect on our past. The Agricultural Sciences Complex opened on campus, consisting of the Happy State…
As we begin 2019 anyone involved in higher education, student or family member, spouse or friend, high school principal or daycare worker, instructor or president, knows things are changing at universities. Whether a public or private, for-profit or not-for-profit, online…
Jesus Christ responded to a question from a student regarding the greatest commandment in the Law: “And he said to him, ’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all…
As the new year begins, scores of students and their families will make choices about where to study next fall. Affordability, location and degree offerings should be serious considerations. No one should ever say, “It is worth it no matter…
With the growing pervasiveness of online and distance education opportunities (Clicks), future students will have transcripts peppered with courses from different modes of instructional delivery at different institutions. At West Texas A&M University, rarely will a student’s academic record come…
Originally published on November 30, 2015. As we begin this season of reflection, “Teaching First” is worthy of another look as we focus on the first purpose of the university and the importance of staying true to our roots. Forward…
In 1783, New York Governor George Clinton, proposed that in every state at least one public college should train people for entry into military service. In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed into law the Morrill Act that said in part…
Last week Director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget Mick Mulvaney reported that student debt now exceeds $1.53 trillion—a burden that millennial’s carry. There are no silver bullets. Hope for many lies in loan forgiveness. In all likelihood,…
Contrary to predispositions, some rural kids do very well in universities. A recent Opportunity Insights study reports that rural students from many areas of the country are as upwardly mobile as their contemporaries from urban or suburban communities. However,…
The roots of higher education in the United States are knotted into purpose and place. From a functional standpoint, all universities, public and private, existed for producing ministers. At Harvard, three in four graduates in the seventeenth century became working…
In Texas 52.2% of the college students initially enrolled in 2009 had graduated with a bachelor’s degree by the year 2015, according to the most recent data available at the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems Information Center. I bet…
There are multiple views of the university and its purpose. Uncle Johnny remembers fraternity parties, the “gentleman’s C” and leisurely student life as the be-all and end-all. Aunt Susie reminisces of working 40 or 50 hours a week on top…
For universities job one is serving students one at a time, but they are not customers. Patients maybe, clients perhaps, hopefully subscribers, but there is no fixed product or performance guarantee. Only hope, and servicing hope requires several basic understandings.…
This was originally posted March 20, 2016. It is the last summer rerun… The changing student demographics and accompanying changes in expectation from higher education come with no “gentle rapping.” Rather a thunderous pounding that is wished away by many…
This series of six reflections on corporate culture was originally published in October and November 2013. I am on summer break but I think these still have some value. WVW. Third in a series on Corporate Culture… A culture is…
This series of six reflections on corporate culture was originally published in October and November 2013. I am on summer break but I think these still have some value. WVW. Second in a series of reflections on corporate culture Any…
Graduates – In a few months, millions of people like you, full of hope and anticipation, will transition from high school to college. Privilege may have provided engaged deliberative parenting and quality primary and secondary educational opportunities, and you may have…
What follows is, in part, from a speech I gave at the invitation of the Honorable Judge Phil Gilbert on March 26, 2004. At a naturalization ceremony, the polyglot of peoples that sat before me holding American flags were…
America’s universities are the best in the world. This is so for many reasons, but primary among them is that we live in a free and open society. Two and one-half centuries of freedom and individual independence have allowed and…
Americans are becoming more insular. Universities value international exchanges and study experiences for the benefit to students. IES Abroad and other study-abroad organizations encourage learning abroad because of the many identified, positive outcomes. A lack of understanding between different people…
If five people go into the same Ford dealership and buy an F150, each will pay a different price. The cost of the new vehicle will be determined by the buyer’s ability to negotiate, the salesperson, color, options, trade-in, interest…
Originally published March 26, 2013. Slightly updated and worth a second look. 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,…
I daily take in and reflect on student expectations of our university. I speak with parents and guardians less frequently, though I owe them a great deal. While the step-out-of-the-nest for the student is a “big deal,” it is also…
A recent commentary in the Chronicle of Higher Education, a trade publication for university personnel, says that a “tyranny of metrics” undermines higher education. The thought has enough truth in it to command attention. Yes, a metric focused environment might…
We create false dichotomies. “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop; idle lips are his mouthpiece,” from the Book of Proverbs. At 14 years old in 1964, I heard, “Idle hands…
In the United States, a significant number of undergraduates continue their education to obtain graduate degrees. Of the 1.8 million undergraduates in 2014, 750,000 pursued and earned master’s degrees and over 50,000 earned PhDs (not including professional doctorates such as…
Image from The Prairie News Every spring, countless families from across the nation make determinations about where students will live while attending college. Four-year institutions require one or two years of campus residency for new college students. Exceptions for…
Downtown Canyon, Homecoming, From the WT Archives Communities and the universities they host are married to each other. When one partner grows and prospers, so does the other. This has been true for a long time. In European universities…
Buff Courts under construction WT Archives Campuses are places. The idea of a campus, and its nature, is central to what a university is. “In a letter Charles C. Beatty (Graduated 1775) wrote to his brother-in-law Enoch Green (Graduated 1760)…
Final installment in a series on why U.S. Universities are great Considerations beyond standardized test scores and high school GPAs, the rule in many nations, are common in admissions processes at U. S. institutions. Holistic admissions, when properly managed and…
Ninth in a series on why U.S. Universities are great “Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil.” — C.S. Lewis U.S. universities, until the time of the Morrill Act of…
Eighth in a series on why U.S. Universities are great Pragmatism in U.S. higher education calls for faculty and students to address real problems. Paul Simon, former Illinois Senator and presidential candidate, told me he viewed the Paul Simon Public…
Sixth in a series on why U.S. Universities are great Only religious organizations benefit from American philanthropy more than universities. The causes for this are manifold, but the effect is that universities have become excellent because of philanthropy. Generosity ceases…
Fifth in a series on why U.S. Universities are great U.S. universities exist in a highly competitive three-party environment: Public, private not-for-profit and private for-profit universities all share the market. The for-profit sector is not new to the landscape of…
Third in a series on why U.S. Universities are great U.S. universities have traditionally held to the concept of mission differentiation. Clark Kerr, former president of the University of California, cemented this idea into state policy through the 1960 California…
Second in a series on why U.S. Universities are great Columbia University’s 1880 core curricula required a general understanding of the human condition. Coupled with training in specific disciplines it was the Holy Grail for U.S. universities. It may be…
Of all the grades given at U. S. universities in 2013 — I know they all can’t be earned, so many must be given: a gift or show of appreciation for the ever escalating tuition and fees? The title says…
Tenth and final in a series on university struggles Human nature is human nature to be sure, but Students of the 21st century are not students of the 20th century. Educational models from 50 to 75 years ago don’t…
Eighth in a series on university struggles The welfare of the city that hosts a university campus is married to institutional progress. Universities are becoming “go to” economic development agents based on the number of people hired, the toilet paper…
This reflection was originally published on December 15, 2008. It is worth a second look. Christmas memories are personal, deep and important for me. My family’s New York Christmases with the strong, first generational, influence of Western Europe; Cajun Christmases…
American universities are struggling. Rethinking purpose, attention to mission, and refreshed understanding of value are required. Ten forces at work on higher education will be addressed in the coming months. One – A foolish man builds his house on a…
This commentary was published five years ago. Current discussions regarding standardized tests make it worth a second look. It has been tuned up. ACT: For many, these three letters spell something that happens in front of an audience or television…
The strike and campus closure by faculty at Rock Valley College last week emphasizes the incongruous nature of faculty unions. A contract is a binding agreement between two people or organizations that, when signed, is enforceable by law according to…
The doom and gloom of Steven Strahler’s predictions regarding Illinois’ public universities in Crain’s is real. Universities in Illinois must change. Politicians, unions, campus leaders, faculty and boards have watched a precipitous decline in effectiveness as they cling to the…
Leadership in any organization implies and requires transformation. Change in purposeful groups of people, large and small, creates discomfort. Organizational discomfort sometimes matures into a labyrinth of processes that stymie evolution in every corner of the hierarchy. Numerous excuses…
Universities impact regional economies. In rural areas where economic diversity is scant, the impact is greatest. Economic growth follows four forces. A Labor Force Universities require workers of every stripe, and the jobs needed are one aspect of economic development.…
Illinois State Sen. Bill Brady, R-Bloomington, started a discussion with SB1565 that could return the prestige of the higher education enterprise to one of the best in the nation. The not-ready-for-prime-time proposal calls for a conversion of universities to a…
The crust of the biscuit, the place where the rubber hits the road, the lick log in learning, is the exercise of free will that breeds personal responsibility. And nurturing responsibility in its manifold dimensions is the purpose of a…
Last week at UCLA, a student government committee disturbingly attempted to bar a student from a spot on the Judicial Board. Her transgression? She is a Jew, which might create a conflict of interest. The Daily Bruin got it right: …
“Students from high-income families are considerably more likely than students from low income families to earn a college degree.” So says a Higher Education Equity report. That’s not my bias, but an incontrovertible fact. My bias is that crime and…
An old friend of mine asked me the other day, “What portion of the accumulated student debt was for educational endeavors?” He worked on a campus for a long time, not as a faculty or administrator but as a public…
Given renewed interest in federal performance measures (ratings) for universities evidenced by last week’s announcements, this reflection of August 21, 2012 is worth a second look. So are the Department of Education’s pronouncements: No two universities are the same. No university…
Inspired by a recent visit to Seoul National University and Yonsei University in South Korea. In order for a university to create positive economic and social value it must serve the community and region where it is located. However, when…
Seventh and final in the IMTE series A reflection on October 6, “I’m Mad, too, Eddie,” (IMTE) claimed that minority points of view are swept under the rug and labeled as intolerant. Mayor Michael Bloomberg, speaking at Harvard’s commencement, was…
Fifth in the IMTE series My reflection on October 6, “I’m Mad, too, Eddie,” (IMTE) suggested that admissions offices accept students without basic skills or diminish standards and dole out scholarships to enhance enrollment. Last week Rose – Hulman Institute…
Fourth in the IMTE series My reflection on October 6, “I’m Mad, too, Eddie,” (IMTE) suggested that university leadership appears to react slowly or not at all to athletics problems. The nearly 400,000 students that participate in intercollegiate athletics programs…
Third in the IMTE series My reflection on October 6, “I’m Mad, too, Eddie,” (IMTE) suggested that university leadership appears to operate without a moral compass. Of course it does appear to be so, because, too frequently, it is so.…
Second in the IMTE series I have a friend, an attorney, who, in response to my column last week, “I’m Mad, too, Eddie,” (IMTE) said, “Complaining is the easy part but the solutions, now that’s another matter, and never easy.” I…
I am a sap. I like college football. I believe football and other team sports create reasonable rivalries and help bind people together who are committed to being members of a campus community. When my band plays my school song…
I know I will be accused of being old fashioned and out of touch with reality and if so I admit it, but here it is. The position of a university regarding sexual crimes, a growing campus concern, should be…
The road to hell is paved with good intentions. No bureaucracy in public service or private enterprise ever starts out as anything but a step towards fairness and excellence. Yet, time and power jointly contrive to pollute legitimate ordering principles. …
Retirement systems that devalue the contribution of people, or constrain meaningful participation in post retirement work are dysfunctional, costly, and shortsighted. In universities, it is essential that valuable experience be put to best use for as long as possible to…
Good universities provide economic growth by pursuing their primary purpose: Universities must cultivate the human spirit and, simultaneously, build the capacity of the mind with a challenging academic environment. Positive growth always follows. “Only when the human spirit is allowed…
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…
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…
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…
Tradition and business-as-usual are flywheels that dampen irregularity and reduce “vibration” in decision-making and organizational action. However, too much of a good thing can smother innovation, risk taking, responsiveness, and agility. “Progress is a nice word. But change is its…
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…
Tenth in the series, Follow the money From Boston to Austin and Oxford, Mississippi, to West Lafayette, Indiana, big and small, prosperous or starving, universities are married to communities, for better or worse. When one hurts, both do. “The relationship…
Seventh in the series, Follow the money A campus is more than buildings, but nothing without them. An Internet address? Maybe. Campus buildings, monuments, stadiums, digs and castles, are worth little without collected cultural, scientific and artistic insight and a…
University systems are political organizations. Universities are academic organizations. The two coexist symbiotically only with determined leadership. In a speech opening the legislative session, House Speaker Dean Cannon said Florida’s public university system is “racing toward the middle,” a hodgepodge…
Universities are defined by their traditions. They can take many forms, some positive, and some negative, but all communities have traditions shaped by citizens who reside there, and a university is a community. Traditions cannot be regulated or imposed, but…
Competition for ideas is unlike competition for anything else. If we compete to harvest the most gold, we find a limited supply. Fastest person, physiology sets in. Universities should compete for ideas, and those ideas will generate new resources. We…
Well-meaning faculty members, university leaders, and groups of students and parents have always found that the most navigable and widely paved path to address increasing costs leads straight to the state house. That mindless “hair-of-the-dog” economic thinking is antiquated. And,…
The best ideas confront common sense with a baseball bat. They defy logic because we cannot see beyond overly simplistic views of how things work. If you give something away it must have little or no value. Right? Wake the…
As we move past the shortest day of the year, my thoughts turn to the eventual return of languid summer days. This column about how universities could make better use of their facilities and faculty during the summer months first…
Each person’s head and heart, the twin seats or our identity, lie just eighteen inches apart, about a cubit. The connection between them is being stretched to the breaking point by universities and other institutions that have tried desperately to…
The separation of private beliefs and public expression of those may be acceptable in many settings (though I am not convinced that is the case) but it is absolutely unacceptable for university leadership. University leadership is private morality expressed publically.…
Universities must change if we are to continue serving our students. Evermore frequently, universities will be called to meet the specific needs of each student in a unique fashion. If it is properly integrated into the curriculum, distance education gives…
Museums bridge the gap between study and reality and, as in universities, the relationship between communities and the meaning of the things they have produced can both be confused and confusing at times. James Clerk Maxwell, the 19th century Scottish…
First in a series on state funding for higher education A fear held by many is that decreasing state support will lead effectively to privatizing state universities. And while a few million dollars is a pittance to a large research…
Universities have a duty to help create a more effective republic. While this purpose has remained constant over the centuries, the means and methods necessary to accomplish that purpose must continually evolve to keep up with an advancing society. In…
Third in a series on who our students are and how they perform. International students are a reliable predictor of U.S. institutional success in a global market for higher education. I am not confident that American postsecondary institutions will retain…
Second in a series on who our students are and how they perform. Great universities help people come into their own. Intellectual, spiritual, emotional, and moral development is always a personal matter but good learning environments are catalysts for the…
The season and current events cause me to offer this slightly modified piece originally published on July 11, 2008. The importance and value of voluntary military training in universities cannot be argued, nor can the interdependence in mission of a…
Holiday challenges and faith consternation on university campuses are real and never ending. These challenges and the discourse promoted by them should always be vibrant and alive. Democracy is itself, a religious faith. For some it comes close to being…
Universities across the nation are rushing to “brand” themselves. There is the “D+” branding idea at Drake, the genius of a high priced expert no doubt. An unfortunate choice for a university identifier. I know. I received a D+ one…
Seven in a series on integrity The fundamental purpose of the university, its reason for being, is to change the way people think. This sounds torturous but it is the root of what universities do. In order to fulfill that…
There is an old Madison Avenue adage suggesting that interviewees make sure the heals of their shoes are shined as that is the last thing the interviewer will see when they leave the office. Good point, but first impressions may…
University leaders decry the idea that universities are becoming more like private enterprises, seeking increased fees, grant support, philanthropic dollars, and auxiliary incomes to make up for the relentless loss of state funding over the past few decades. Even more…
There are hundreds of institutions in the United States recognized today as universities that were called “teachers colleges” a half century ago. As these institutions grew and developed diverse areas of study the title “university” was deemed more appropriate. No…
Third in a series of thoughts regarding the intersection of faith and reason in university life. Knife edges are the places where greatness lives in organizations. The sides of a knife don’t cut, but the well whetted edge of a…
Second in a series of thoughts regarding the intersection of faith and reason in university life. The expression of a faith perspective is critical to moral and intellectual development of students, yet adherence to one particular view at a public…
First in a series of thoughts regarding the intersection of faith and reason in university life. I am a Christian. I hold faith, founded on principles laid out in the Old and New Testaments of the Holy Bible, which I…
Adjacencies in architecture are those relationships between the various parts of building that are critical to its success. For example, the living and dining rooms in typical home design have a high degree of adjacency. The rooms support each other…