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¦
This was originally posted on February 18, 2011. The importance of effective 2+2 transfer agreements grows.Ā This is a worthwhile reflection although Ā 4 years old. Sixth in a series on who our students are and how they perform. Quality transferā¦
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¦
Seventh and final in the IMTE series A reflection on October 6, āIām Mad, too, Eddie,ā (IMTE) claimed that minority points of view are swept under the rug and labeled as intolerant.Ā Mayor Michael Bloomberg, speaking at Harvardās commencement, wasā¦
My reflection on October 6, āIām Mad, too, Eddie,ā (IMTE) criticized the notion of entitlement ā not the common political understanding that refers to programs that look after people in old age, like Social Security, or assist with health careā¦
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¦
Healthy loyalty is so rare itās nearly unrecognizable. In many organizations primary loyalty is to the lower right-hand corner of a spreadsheet: a.k.a. the ābottom line,ā and little else. In others, blind loyalty to a leader is expected.Ā In yetā¦
Retirement systems that devalue the contribution of people, or constrain meaningful participation in post retirement work are dysfunctional, costly, and shortsighted.Ā In universities, it is essential that valuable experience be put to best use for as long as possible toā¦
Universities that deny the relationship between merit and value undermine quality.Ā Without recognition of meritorious achievement results fall.Ā So desperate are organizations to be perceived as having value they replace excellence with its appearance, real performance with placebos, and theā¦
The essence of training is the transfer of skills and abilities.Ā Ā The essence of education is human interaction between someone ignorant and someone expert in a field of knowledge yielding learnerās transformation. āProfessors usually teach 12 hours, and are alsoā¦
Treat students with dignity and respect. Set high standards.Ā Expect performance.Ā Experienced, effective, teachers should meet students at āthe door.ā āOnce they leave, they donāt come back.Ā Itās more important to do better in your intro course than in yourā¦
Organizations that rely on the public trust must build trust from within to earn the reputation of trustworthiness.Ā Treatment of people creates an aura of trust or distrust.Ā Itās not arbitrary.Ā Human groups give and receive trust:Ā It is aā¦
Sixth and final reflection on corporate cultureā¦ 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. āA companyās culture is often buriedā¦
This is the first in a series of reflections on corporate culture.Ā By corporateĀ I mean collective or community culture.Ā I hope the reflections have application in settings where any group of individuals work togetherĀ towards a common goal.Ā ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. Loyalā¦
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?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¦
This column was originally published October 28, 2010. Itās 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 personalā¦
Tradition and business-as-usual are flywheels that dampen irregularity and reduce āvibrationā 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 itsā¦
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 byā¦
Courage is essential when hiring.Ā Self-confidence is required to say, āWe need people who are more knowledgeable than we are.āĀ Impossible for a narcissist or a self-absorbed leaderā¦ and hiring in any other way dooms any organization to failure. āNeverā¦
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¦
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 changeā¦
A university earns a reputation through thousands of acts of diligence from faculty and staff of every kind at every level. Clean toilets to good governance. Image cannot be persuaded into existence with a single effort, but is the resultā¦
Ninth in the series, Follow the money Confidence is like capital; it can be accumulated, invested or saved, and spent. When universities are well-tuned, a two-way flow of confidence occurs from outside the institution, inward, and from within the institution,ā¦
Eighth in the series, Follow the money Retirements trim budgets. Retirements without assessment of individual contribution to attaining mission may reduce operating costs. Important as that is in an environment of scarcity, budget trimming alone represents a wanting accomplishment ifā¦
I have seen Enterprise Rent-A-Car establishments on university campuses. Chartwells and other food providers are common sights at our institutions of higher learning. And, it has finally happened. Teaching is also being outsourced now. Ā Both Florida Atlantic University and Missouriā¦
Leonard Pitts, in an April Foolās Day editorial – no pun, just the facts – suggested that educational institutions are focused on the wrong issues. In New Yorkās public schools, dinosaur, birthday, pepperoni, and dancing, all make the NYC Departmentā¦
Universities have lost their mission. Education and academic performance take a back seat to reinforcing the inflated self-concept of students and their families. We have reduced admission standards, reduced standards to progress through courses, and reduced standards of performance requiredā¦
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 Floridaās public university system is āracing toward the middle,ā a hodgepodgeā¦
Traditions, good and bad, are difficult to dislodge once in place. Change in universities occurs at glacial velocity. The nature of a university, like the character of a community, is determined, in large part, by its traditions and habits. āAllā¦
The absence of transparency and forthrightness can destroy organizations built on trust – churches, universities and the like. Lacking these, educational institutions become like Wal-Mart. Now, I am a Wal-Mart fan, but I find myself on guard every time Iā¦
In many cases, a college diploma has come to represent exposure to certain experiences rather than individual learning and accomplishment. Absent gross misconduct, everybody passes. The degree is simply a totem of club membership rather than an indication of aā¦
Competition for ideas is unlike competition for anything else.Ā If we compete to harvest the most gold, we find a limited supply.Ā Fastest person, physiology sets in.Ā Universities should compete for ideas, and those ideas will generate new resources. Weā¦
We tend to find what we look for. You know the old expression, if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Those students who look for an intellectual challenge find it… most universities willingly oblige them.ā¦
The relationship of a student to the university is a bit like a marriage. The idea of that relationship is shifting as George Bernard Shaw predicted it would. As with marriage, the university experience is becoming a contractualĀ affiliation rather thanā¦
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 firstā¦
Each personās 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 toā¦
Increasing costs, lavish loans, low performance standards, the absence of merit, and a lost sense of mission contribute to the diminishment of the effectiveness of public higher education. But most loathsome and detrimental is an organization hell-bent on deflecting everyā¦
Current events related to intercollegiate athletics leads me to post a story this week that was originally published on July 27, 2010. The cost of low integrity programs and poor executive decision making is the highest cost to bear, evenā¦
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.ā¦
Universities, one hopes inadvertently, are training generations to avoid responsibility for their actions. This is shameful. Such training breeds an expectation of entitlement that undermines initiative, industry, courage, self-reliance, community, and discourages students from exercising one of the greatest benefitsā¦
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¦
States universities should revisit the history of Performance-Based Funding of higher education.Ā A uniform approach will not work well.Ā Instead, there must be as many performance models as there are universities in a state.Ā While attainable, this is an especiallyā¦
The only result of whining is to push people with purpose from addressing real problems. The tendency to whining and complaining may be taken as the surest sign symptom of little souls and inferior intellects. Lord Jeffrey ___________________________________________________________________ Recently theā¦
Stanley Fish, writing in the New York Times Opinionator online July 11, 2011, comments extensively on the relationship of tenure, academic freedom, and current university life in response to a book by Naomi Schaefer Riley entitled, āThe Faculty Lounges: Andā¦
From any perspective performance should be central to the work of faculty.Ā Not performance judged by administration, but performance judged by peers. Nothing else ensures relevancy and quality of judgment. From the time of Platoās Academy and Aristotleās Lyceum, academicā¦
Unions have helped create positive working conditions in this country that would have been unimaginable 100 years ago.Ā One needs look no further than the history of the development of the Fair Labor Standards Act for proof.Ā Every major advanceā¦
On our university campuses the complexities of political activity to create accountability in public resource allocations abound as performance based funding measures evolve.Ā If handled poorly, and without strong faculty leadership, these good intentions will be for naught, at best.Ā ā¦
The Congressional Record, August 1985, provides a revealing perspective held by Albert Shanker, former President of the United Federation of Teachers from 1964 to 1984 and President of the American Federation of Teachers from 1974 to 1997, regarding his jobā¦
This week you are reading a reflection from Jay Larson on the impact of the campus environment on the university experience.Ā Ā A Murphysboro native and veteran, Jay has a BA and MA from SIUC in history, specializing in China/Asia and taughtā¦
Halloween marks a number of occasions but none more important than the nailing of Lutherās 95 Theses on the Castle Church door at Wittenberg — the birth of a reformation that transformed the modern world on October 31, 1517. Thisā¦
Seventh in a series on teaching excellence Possibly the most important thing that excellent teachers pass on to students isĀ the sense of a prevailing moral fabric resembling what someone gains from a healthy family situation, religious teaching, or associationā¦
Sixth in a series on teaching excellence Great teaching is almost always accompanied by controversy, if not for the teacher, for the student; if not for the student, for the board; if not for the board, for the general public;ā¦
Fifth in a series on teaching excellence It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul. — William Ernest Henley One ofā¦
Fourth in a series on teaching excellence Thousands of times during any school day at any university students walk into a classroom, armed with a computer, a cell phone, an iPod, a vision of what they might do for theā¦
Third in a series on teaching excellence Over the past few years there has been incessant talk about university marketing to increase enrollment.Ā There is more competition to be sure.Ā Research university presidents refer to regional universities and community collegesā¦
Second in a series on teaching excellence Teaching is leadership.Ā There are many distinctive views of teaching but, in the end, teaching is about leadership.Ā I do not think it possible to find a great leader who is not aā¦
First in a series on Teaching Excellence The purpose of any university is to help people change the way they think.Ā For example, a student who wants to be an attorney comes to the university and, in effect, says āIā¦
Fifth in a series on Integrity Free inquiry is the basis for university excellence.Ā When a faculty member produces research findings in contrast, at odds, or inconsistent with a position of the university, the board, or a donor, academic integrityā¦
Merit is a concept that is uncomfortable to many on university campuses.Ā Years of service are seen as the golden coin, but longevity and excellence are not always cousins. Confusion between meritorious performance and meeting performance expectations kills the recognitionā¦
Knowing the character of any organization requires multiple perspectives.Ā One powerful way to gauge the character of a university is to see it through the eyes of those who leave it.Ā As I participated in graduation exercises this week, Iā¦
Abraham Lincoln said, āCharacter is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thingā.Ā Ā Any university with strong character and commitment to academic excellence will haveā¦
Students in classes at all universities are lied to, cheated and stolen from every day through grade inflation.Ā Recently at Louisiana State University, a faculty member who refused to lie, cheat or steal was removed from her class of biologyā¦
One of the greatest challenges for leadership is to get people, in all parts of the organization, to tell the truth about how things are.Ā It is not that they actively lie, but that they never want to be bearersā¦
If B.F. Skinner was a university leader who wanted to foster excellence in teaching, research, and service, as do all intelligent university leaders, he would have come up with a dynamic suggestion, one that many inside and outside of theā¦
There are hundreds of institutions in the United States recognized today as universities that were called āteachers collegesā a half century ago. Ā As these institutions grew and developed diverse areas of study the title āuniversityā was deemed more appropriate. Noā¦
Faculty members should spend 51 percent of their time serving the state and students, and 49 percent of their time serving themselves in personal intellectual development. Faculty work is unique. Imagine any employment setting where leadership says split your timeā¦
Warning – There is a three-letter word below that might be offensive ā a slang word used to describe a persons rear end – but sometimes you just have to call it what it is. I reflected recently on theā¦
In political organizations, the first allegiance for all employees is to the elected official for whom they work.Ā For better or worse the elected officialās allegiance may be to party, to country, to ideology, or unfortunately in many cases, toā¦
Independence of thought for a collected group of people and independence of thought for an individual are so tightly wound together that you cannot have one without the other.Ā First, the case of our nation.Ā The coercion exercised upon theā¦
Ā I recently had the opportunity to attend a reception in Chicago at the Museum of Contemporary Arts.Ā It was an alumni event to celebrate the life and work of R. Buckminster Fuller.Ā Fuller was a remarkable man by anyā¦
Job prospects for graduating students are as challenging as anyone has seen in decades.Ā There is scarcely a bright light to be found.Ā In a rush to address this complex socioeconomic and political issue some universities might be led toā¦
The struggles of a university are not the subject of these thoughts. That would be too easy. The struggles are many, not unique, frequently self-inflicted, and reflective of the environment. Universities are members of a family of similar institutions.Ā Theā¦
Reach is the ability of an institution; a family, a university, a seat of commerce, a government to generate impact beyond its home or geographic boundaries.Ā Reach comes from quality.Ā Quality comes from knowledge and insight.Ā Knowledge and insight areā¦
The most powerful stimulus ever invented, used for good and evil since the beginning of time, and producing both astoundingly positive results and the greatest tragedies in human history, creating vast wealth and pervasive poverty, leading to fulfillment or failure,ā¦
In the tension between ideology and pragmatism, that delicate balance, lives the genius of leadership. Ideologues are often associated with narrow-mindedness and a small view of the world. Ā People who hold strong views related to their faith areā¦
Ā Our university has an excellent architecture program. Ā Ā Architecture students have ACT scores that are over two points higher than the university average.Ā We are oversubscribed and turn away applicants.Ā Bringing in more students than can be properlyā¦
Ā Entitlement is the state of being owed that which you have not earned. We see workers of all kinds, at every level, from classroom teachers to state and national political leaders who suffer from the notion that they areā¦
In this season of thanksgiving and refreshment, of looking ahead and looking back, little is more central to our university than new ideas and new knowledge that build on the past and shape the future. Looking back and lookingā¦
Barbara Bush acknowledged a number of years ago, possibly when First Lady, what she believed was the most pressing problem in America. āGreed.ā We have heard a great deal about greed on Wall Street.Ā Bankers who want to makeā¦
When Mary and I go out to eat we always decide where we are going before we leave.Ā Sometimes we even talk about it on the phone before I get to the house.Ā In other words, this is not aā¦
