Mark A. Pearson I am yielding the floor for two weeks to my friend Mark A. Pearson. Now retired, for more than a quarter of a century Mark was an institutional psychologist working in 7 different institutions for the statesā¦
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¦
Fifth in the IMTE series My reflection on October 6, āIām Mad, too, Eddie,ā (IMTE) suggested that admissions offices accept students without basic skills or diminish standards and dole out scholarships to enhance enrollment. Last week Rose ā Hulman Instituteā¦
Fourth in the IMTE series My reflection on October 6, āIām Mad, too, Eddie,ā (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 programsā¦
Third in the IMTE seriesĀ My reflection on October 6, āIām Mad, too, Eddie,ā (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.ā¦
SecondĀ in the IMTE seriesĀ I have a friend, an attorney, who, in response to my column last week, āI’m Mad, too, Eddie,ā (IMTE) said, āComplaining is the easy part but the solutions, now that’s another matter, and never easy.ā Iā¦
First in the IMTE seriesĀ Communities of every type near and far; social, geographic, political, and professional have legitimate expectations about the universities they are married to. Hold on, you may not like much of this. When I arrived inā¦
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¦
Universities used to be led and managed by people who understood the academic enterprise. Teachers, scholars, servants to individual students, people who with grade-book in hand looked into the eyes of freshmen, taught class, listened to the struggles of studentsā¦
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 songā¦
As colleges across the nation open their doors to anxious freshmen the value and worth of this or that degree, at College X or College Y attracts intense scrutiny.Ā Everything from earning capacity to preparation for adulthood, even happiness andā¦
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.Ā The position of a university regarding sexual crimes, a growing campus concern, should beā¦
In a free society it is essential that education, however procured, produce people who can dream, think, and accomplish.Ā Exploration and discovery are the roots of freedom and the foundation of egalitarian republics. āI suppose it is because nearly allā¦
Universities serve the same purpose as community colleges, differences are matters of degree.Ā (Pun intended.) āPeople look at me like I’m crazy when I say that our greatest partnership here at Ohio State should be with the community colleges.ā Gordonā¦
A March 12, 2010, column “Student Work” Ā suggested, āOne thing that good universities can do is help reconfigure the role of being a college student on campus so that it might include the opportunity to do personally and institutionally usefulā¦
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¦
Effective institutional leadership puts a clearly focused mission at the center of every funding decision.Ā And in every organization that seeks to serve people, resources are directed toward that mission. Higher education is opportunity capitalized through thoughtful, rewarded-when-successful risk inā¦
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¦
Some try to defuse the increasing costs of college and subsidized student debt as an overreaction.Ā Can that be? āDebt is the fatal disease of republics, the first thing and the mightiest to undermine governments and corrupt the people.ā Ā Wendellā¦
Universities can sustain the status quo, asking students to absorb higher levels of debt while begging statehouses for more money and turning faculty into day laborers.Ā Itās a failed strategy though and change must occur. āGonna change my way ofā¦
The basis for President Obamaās action to cap student loan responsibility at 10% of earned income for 20 years (10/20 plan) is that education is a public good and the public should pay for it. Parts of the public, employersā¦
Universities and lenders must be more transparent regarding costs, opportunities, and likelihoods of success to students. āGreater personal choice, individually tailored services, stronger local accountability, greater efficiency – these are all central to the new direction of travel we haveā¦
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¦
Universities perpetuate a misconception about an education — that it guarantees anything separated from the person who claims to have one.Ā Many know a āHarvard Manā or a Wellesley Womanā who canāt tie his or her own shoes. Character, ability,ā¦
The idea that all college students are the same or that there is only one way to prepare for a productive work life is harmfully wrong.Ā High school to college to career works for some.Ā High school to work toā¦
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 should be sharply focused on academic excellence and helping students develop the power to think.Ā Thinking and doing creates value.Ā And jobs follow like a āshadow on dry thirsty land.ā Ā Employment will be a place of refuge for thoughtā¦
Threats to higher education come not primarily from shady lenders, crass bankers and bureaucrats interested in turning government-subsidized, student-borrowed, dollars into operating capital, elected officials who want to use educational systems for personal gain, but from a bevy of educationalā¦
Political leadership reflects the dreams and nightmares of the electorate. Voter-sanctioned tolerance and expectations percolate into public leaders of every strain, including university presidents. For university leaders, moral authority or its lack, settles into the hearts, minds and souls ofā¦
Student debt recently surpassed total credit card debt.Ā Payments can be delayed through graduate school enrollment; and the accrual of more debt. āMaking loans accessible to millions of the previously unbankable customers is a noble goal. Getting them hooked toā¦
Students borrow too much.Ā Whatās worse, the institutions they borrow too much to attend, borrow too much.Ā A ferocious cycle is created: endlessly optimistic and apparently never satisfied. āDo not accustom yourself to consider debt only as an inconvenience; youā¦
Good universities take risks because they must change.Ā New ideas are risky business.Ā Risk and progress are siblings.Ā And donāt be fooled: Universities are serious businesses and many are on life-support. Ā Healthy institutions learn from exercised risk and mission focus.ā¦
(Spring Break) This column was originally published on March 26, 2010.Ā With modest modification here it is again. Too often we lose touch with the concept of locus of control, personal responsibility and accountability, and the power of individuals toā¦
Universities, to their demise, confuse what they think they can get away with, and what serves their true mission. Moreover, institutions seem to believe they can be known by something other than their actions.Ā Shortsightedness in spades. āValues are likeā¦
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¦
The marketplace of higher education is special, unique, and provides something unlike any other enterprise. But, it is a marketplace nonetheless. Universities are subsidized by the state and therefore are obliged to respond to the social and economic needs ofā¦
Position, profit, and power are too frequently both seed corn and fruit of exercised leadership.Ā Purpose, passion, and perseverance ignite the fires of leadership, consuming the old and creating the new. For what shall it profit a man, if heā¦
Every sector of the nationās economy is in flux.Ā Change breeds strength, but if pursued for its own sake may pervert primary purpose.Ā Our universities should ask, āWho do we serve?āĀ Statehouses, communities, and industry? Absolutely.Ā But, the pinnacle ofā¦
Admissions standards and requirements are changing.Ā Student and family expectations are likewise in flux.Ā Responsible leadership recognizes the complexities playing on the mind and heart of students.Ā Honesty, rather than twisting trepidation and apprehension into enrollment and cash flow, isā¦
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¦
Fifth in a series on Corporate Cultureā¦ Where we work shapes us, our work, and those we work with. Ā Places create culture. āI like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives. I like to seeā¦
Fourth in a series on Corporate Cultureā¦ Rules without relationships guide organizations to mediocrity at best and in the worst case to the lowest common denominator.Ā Relationships rule. āThe achievements of an organization are the results of the combined effortā¦
Second in a series of reflections on corporate culture Any organization of human capital rises and falls based on membershipās confidence in corporate mission and means. Ā Effectiveness is achieved when corporate confidence flows liberally.Ā Leadership is the source, whether theā¦
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¦
Higher education in China is changing rapidly. Ā When Chinaās higher education complex matures, it may look like the Golden Stateās in 1960. āChina maintains a highly specialized approach to university studies that has its roots in the Soviet model, butā¦
The future of higher education is intertwined with the future of the economic health of our states and nation.Ā The two are inseparable, and our universities are barometers.Ā We need to face challenges head on. “The problem is not thatā¦
Bankruptcy is a form of renewal available to those who have tried to do something worthwhile but failed.Ā If borrowing power is earned by experience and potential performance thank God for bankruptcyās protection.Ā If borrower or lender enter into aā¦
Standardized measures never capture the essence of anything, although they provide dimensions: length, width, and depth ā descriptions — but not essence.Ā Tests, grades, and performance measures devoid of dreams and desires are gibberish. Measures are frail rhetoric and detrimentalā¦
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¦
The loan industry has a dubious impact on higher education.Ā It advocates, unknowingly or deceitfully, that a college degree is always an excellent investment.Ā Ā It helps shift focus to cost as a measure of everything, away from quality, value andā¦
State funding has its place but too much might create organizational laziness, leadership ineffectiveness, and unattainable expectations.Ā Unbridled dependence morphs into a form of gluttony. “The more subsidized it is, the less free it is. What is known as `freeā¦
The beauty of American higher education is the coupling of thought and action:Ā Thinking people putting ideas to work make a university strong.Ā Itās the foundation of a free society to boot. But is it a disappearing reality? āYou see,ā¦
Students and families should understand what is desired from an education. Socially or politically prescribed solutions for personal aspirations donāt work. “Truth, like gold, is to be obtained not by its growth, but by washing away from it all thatā¦
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 āback to basicsā understanding would be valuable to all. āNowadays people know the priceā¦
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¦
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¦
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 higherā¦
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¦
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 endā¦
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 employeesā¦
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 alwaysā¦
Guiding any organization by entitlementās 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, itās on the way. āYou cannot help people permanentlyā¦
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 doā¦
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¦
Sixth in a Series on Research Seeking to know is the foundation of education.Ā 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.Ā ā¦
Second in a Series on Research To find excellence in a university, find the intent of the organization. What do the people who work there, and the students who study there, think the place is about? What do they wantā¦
First in a Series on Research Learning creates ideas grounded in the past but hopeful for the future. History is the basis for discovery, and it relentlessly repeats itself absent new ideas and insight: Forward focused investigation and research. Whenā¦
Knowing the genuine interests and educational needs of students is good business. Serving those interests well, with energized faculty, serves the institution. That too, is strictly business. “Listen, I want to congratulate you and Macy’s on this wonderful new stuntā¦
Universities systematically misrepresent the value of a degree. All degrees may have some value, but how much, to whom? University leadership should help students decide what works for them and why. The idea that any degree under any circumstances hasā¦
Service from universities to the extended community always has value. The best universities have codified a service imperative into their mission statements and are committed to providing insight and ideas to the community through individual students, faculty, and staff. “Theā¦
Governance — leadership in a word — in the froth of forces at work in a contemporary public university seems unattainable. The job of mayor and Governor is becoming more and more like the job of university president, which Iā¦
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¦
Unsuccessful in meeting an aspiration? Easy, find somebody to blame. The challenging thing to do, individually and corporately, is to understand self and ability, purpose and action in such a way there is never a need to blame anyone forā¦
Students benefit from an educational experience that requires rigorous analytical thought: the power of a sharp mind. The value of such a mind is real in the marketplace, with worth beyond measure for anyone who possesses one. The liberally educatedā¦
No two universities are the same. No university was the same last year as it will be next year. Ditto for students. “The only man I know who behaves sensibly is my tailor; he takes my measurements anew each timeā¦
Good universities create community. Places of learning create a sense of belonging when they are well led, not necessarily by people in formal leadership positions, but as acts of commitment from a communityās citizens and a deep yearning to connectā¦
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¦
Leadership withoutĀ spine or vision, subject to political whim, fancy, flirtation, and subjugation, will compromise, and eventually enfeeble, U.S. higher education. To watch it occur, as universities are held up as the panacea for social ills, is reckless beyond measure. Realā¦
The university is a mirror of, or window to, the world. St. Paul suggested to the Church of Corinth that at times we āsee through the glass darkly.ā Things are not as sharp or bright as they should be. Soā¦
Our universities exist to educate and separate. Education is essentially a process of separation. Ignorance is separated and eliminated through insight. Students willing to submit to the process of an education should have the opportunity. This is a social obligation,ā¦
H.G. Wellsā Invisible Man, Griffin, demonstrated the chimera of ultimate transparency in his novella of 1897. Over and over we see leaders, in universities specifically but in corporate and public life generally, who act as though they can control whichā¦
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¦
People are concerned about community colleges. Faculty and administrators at some universities see the two-year institutions as competition. Others look down their noses at transfer students. But we better quit grousing about it and address the real issue. Students enrolledā¦
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¦
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, butā¦
