Last week Director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget Mick Mulvaney reported that student debt now exceeds $1.53 trillionāa burden that millennialās carry. There are no silver bullets. Hope for many lies in loan forgiveness. In all likelihood,ā¦
The roots of higher education in the United States are knotted into purpose and place.Ā From a functional standpoint, all universities, public and private, existed for producing ministers. At Harvard, three in four graduates in the seventeenth century became workingā¦
The birthrate in America has been on the decline. In 2016, with slightly less than 60 births per 1000 women, a historic low was realized. This marks universities. Those most affected by decreasing birthrates will be regional campuses like Westā¦
An effective leader must do everything within his or her power to create a strong organizational culture. Teamwork, knowledge of process, values shared by all workers, a clear understanding of organizational purpose, and a shared goal of attaining that purposeā¦
Funding for higher education is down over 20% in a few decades and continues to decrease. Institutional philanthropy designed to add dimensions of excellence to university life in support of students or simply to sustain steady quality is required. Impactā¦
West Texas A&M University had its summer graduation last week, as did many universities around the nation. People are always willing to give advice to recent graduates, and I am no exception. Hold on to your hat. Donāt delay payingā¦
One of the challenges for students and parents trying to select a place of study is that no two postsecondary institutions are the same. If for no other reason, the laws of physics assert that two things cannot occupy theā¦
For universities job one is serving students one at a time, but they are not customers.Ā Patients maybe, clients perhaps, hopefully subscribers, but there is no fixed product or performance guarantee. Only hope, and servicing hope requires several basic understandings.ā¦
Universities have lost the public trust. Pew, Gallop, and a number of other assemblers of public opinion have studied and reported findings that suggest public trust in Higher Education is eroding. University of Oregon president Michael Schill in a Universityā¦
This was originally posted March 20, 2016.Ā It is the last summer rerun… The changing student demographics and accompanying changes in expectation from higher education come with no āgentle rapping.āĀ Rather a thunderous pounding that is wished away by manyā¦
This series of six reflections on corporate culture was originally published in October and November 2013.Ā I am on summer break but I think these still have some value.Ā WVW. Sixth and final reflection on corporate cultureā¦ Nurturing a strongā¦
This series of six reflections on corporate culture was originally published in October and November 2013.Ā I am on summer break but I think these still have some value.Ā WVW. Fifth in a series on Corporate Cultureā¦ Where we workā¦
This series of six reflections on corporate culture was originally published in October and NovemberĀ 2013.Ā I am on summer break but I think these still have some value.Ā WVW. Fourth in a series on Corporate Cultureā¦ Rules without relationships guideā¦
This series of six reflections on corporate culture was originally published in October and November 2013.Ā I am on summer break but I think these still have some value.Ā WVW. Third in a series on Corporate Cultureā¦ A culture isā¦
A Continued reflection on citizenship from last week. There are significant relationships between education and citizenship. I am, before anything else, a professorāa teacher. I work to provide students the opportunity to learn. For me, this relationship between opportunity asā¦
Student satisfaction and customer satisfaction are not equal. Students are not customers except when they spend a night in their dorm room or buy a meal in the cafeteria, a book at the bookstore or a shirt with the schoolā¦
On the very best days, the very best universities treat each student distinctively. Universities are in the business of creating, developing and nurturing human capital. This is true when faculty and staff are hired for their unique skill sets toā¦
pinterest.com cdfd802216040079fc70c1e3cb899f3a–young-frankenstein-mad-scientists Every high school and college student, every working professional engaged in continuing education and every educational leader and faculty member will address this question every day: āWhat is the correct mix of face-to-face and online instruction?ā According toā¦
image from o-MONEY-facebook.jpg-photos Universities endeavor to transfer the burden of blame to bankers and politicians. Sallie Mae holds almost $200 billion dollars of the debt. Like the housing bubble, much of the student debt problem involves politically driven, unsecured, uncheckedā¦
Fourth in a series on why U.S. Universities are great Free expression, a concept woven into the muscle of America through constitutionally protected speech and rugged individualism remains the international benchmark made possible by a republican form of government. Freedomā¦
Ninth in a series on university struggles Administrative and bureaucratic operatives at universities have grown at rates that exceed even the rates of cost increases experienced by students and families. Rules rather than academic purpose govern too many institutions. Bureaucraticā¦
This reflection was originally published on December 15, 2008.Ā It is worth a second look. Christmas memories are personal, deep and important for me. My familyās New York Christmases with the strong, first generational, influence of Western Europe; Cajun Christmasesā¦
Seventh in a series on university struggles University leadership often genuflects toward personal and institutional survival tolerating the push and pull of āspecial interestsā and cronyism. Putting anything ahead of academic purpose undermines effectiveness and consequently causes universities toā¦
Ā Third in a series on university struggles American universities are all different.Ā All, accordingly, struggle differently. For complex bureaucratic and political reasons, it becomes easy to treat all public universities similarly. Ā Ā Apples to apples comparison is the only sensibleā¦
American universities are struggling. Rethinking purpose, attention to mission, and refreshed understanding of value are required.Ā Ā Ten forces at work on higher education will be addressed in the coming months. One ā A foolish man builds his house on aā¦
Ā These three disparate items have a common characteristic. They are all produced by people to create profit.Ā If production is halted by a strike corporate profit is diminished.Ā In addition, strikers withholding sweat, and therefore product, may evenā¦
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 toā¦
Richard Wagner and Paul Lingenfelter are distinguished educational leaders, with a view towards better addressing the needs of higher education in Illinois. Recently they presented a case for a statewide model of higher education that is clear and rational. Aā¦
Clinton’s āNew College Compactā a ten-year, $350 billion federal commitment to higher education is appealing to people in universities. It is a detailed plan with many moving parts. To Clintonās credit itās a big picture approach, to solve a bigā¦
University reputation determines whether or not students want to study there. The Independent of the United Kingdom conducted a survey of college graduates in Europe, and 62% said it was important for a university to be well-known to create betterā¦
McDonald’s is closing hundreds of restaurants this year, according to Fortune. Gallup claims America now ranks 12th on the planet in new businesses. Startups exceeded closures by 100,000 in 2008, and in 2014 closures exceeded startups by 70,000.Ā Ā Cause forā¦
Seventh in a series on public/private higher education Illinois Sen. Bill Brady’s SB 1565 proposes creating nonprofit boards to guide public universities.Ā It will impact transfer students. The 21 million students enrolled in post-secondary education in the United States areā¦
Sixth in a series on public/private higher education. A private nonprofit structure for higher education in Illinois as proposed by State Sen. Bill Brady, in SB1565, is appealing because it might provide more choices for students.Ā Vanilla offerings aboundā¦
Fourth in a series on public/private higher education. A common fear regarding Illinois Senator Bradyās idea (SB1565) for transitioning from public to private higher education in Illinois is that it will drive universities to elitism and homogeneity.Ā Wrong on bothā¦
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 aā¦
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.Ā Ā And nurturing responsibility in its manifold dimensions is the purpose of aā¦
The German polytechnic universities of the 19th century were the model and the genesis for the power and explosion of the U.S. land-grant universities in the 20th. What’s required of universities in the 21st century will be as markedly differentā¦
Overwhelmingly, the 7400 state lawmakers nationwide attended and graduated from public universities. Again overwhelmingly, these elected officials attended schools in their home states. All but four of the 535 members of the United States Congress have a post-secondary education.Ā Ā Aā¦
President Obama recently proposed Americaās College Promise, free community college to qualified students.Ā Great marketing, even greater mythmaking. I recently reviewed the 2015 budget for John A. Logan College in Carterville, Illinois; a similar budget would be at found atā¦
Last week at UCLA, a student government committee disturbingly attempted to bar a student from a spot on the Judicial Board.Ā Her transgression?Ā She is a Jew, which might create a conflict of interest.Ā The Daily Bruin got it right:Ā ā¦
According to M. Jagger that is. From every corner of the universe of universities, dissatisfaction with campus climate abounds. The costs, the social climate, the impact, the value, and nearly every other aspect of university life are maligned by oneā¦
According to the higher education leaders, many elected officials, faculty, students, staff and the general public, higher education budget cuts will send universities, and therefore their states, into decline. Ā Wisconsinās Governor Scott Walker’s budget proposal last week included a decreaseā¦
Ā In loco parentis, āin the place of a parent,ā suggests that an organization or institution should or can act toward the benefit of a child in the absence of his/her mother or father. Ā This ancient contract was embedded inā¦
An old friend of mine asked me the other day, āWhat portion of the accumulated student debt was for educational endeavors?ā Ā He worked on a campus for a long time, not as a faculty or administrator but as a publicā¦
Distance Education (DE) offerings by community colleges and universities increase in spite of reports indicating an end to a period of unsustainable U.S. growth.Ā In Australia, India, China, Eastern Europe, Russia, Africa and Latin American growth rates range from 14%ā¦
A Christmas Eve review of a student petition for readmission to my program gave me pause.Ā This student earned a freshman GPA below 1.0:Ā an average of less than a āDā; and a high school GPA of 2.5: roughly aā¦
Given renewed interest in federal performance measures (ratings) for universities evidenced byĀ last week’sĀ announcements, this reflection of August 21, 2012 is worth a second look.Ā So are the Department of Educationās pronouncements:Ā No two universities are the same. No universityā¦
This piece originally ran four years ago, November 12, 2010 under the title āThe Appearance of Moneyā.Ā I corrected a few mistakes — probably overlooked a few too.Ā Given current events in Illinois I thought it might be worth aā¦
Of all the pitfalls of biblical illiteracyĀ — and they have been increasing for decades in Western culture ā is a tragic ignorance of the pervasiveness of the concept of original sin. I am not a theologian. I am notā¦
I walked into a room full of freshmen the other day and we exchanged blank stares.Ā They looked at me as if to ask, āWho is this guy?ā Simultaneously, I was asking myself, āWho are these people and what doā¦
Distance education programs can offer quality and academic intensity, but they also can be shams.Ā As the Latin warning caveat emptor suggests, those contemplating distance education or satellite campus study ā even on-campus programs ā need to ask the rightā¦
Universities serve many purposes each defined by varied constituents and always based on individual desires and perceptions. This complexity requires that students and families and institutional leaders all appreciate how critical a sharp focus is.Ā Without it no one isā¦
The road to hell is paved with good intentions.Ā No bureaucracy in public service or private enterprise ever starts out as anything but a step towards fairness and excellence.Ā Yet, time and power jointly contrive to pollute legitimate ordering principles.Ā ā¦
Clear communication regarding value and cost in higher education is more important than ever.Ā College presidents and financial analysts agree — mission focus is essential. āIn general, higher education does not know how to speak for its interests. It offersā¦
Bureaucracies create and sustain a moral perspective. āIf you are going to sin, sin against God, not the bureaucracy. God will forgive you but the bureaucracy won’t.ā Hyman Rickover ___________________________________________________ Effective bureaucracies — vision directed guidelines and processes — areā¦
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 manyā¦
Fifth in a series on state funding for higher education Chester Dunning, an acquaintance of mine, understands the value of faculty work in a free society.Ā He is quoted in a WSJ piece, Putting a Price on Professors: Mr. Dunningā¦
Fourth in a series on state funding for higher education The human drive to create profit, the Internet and other technologies, are endeavoring to transform higher education.Ā And in part, they have.Ā But digital interaction alone will never be aā¦
