A Personal Reflection for the Season
Fourth in a series on COVID-19 and studying in spring 2021 Originally published on December 15, 2008, and a few times since then—it may have value as we look forward to the spring of 2021, a spring like no other…
Category Students
Campus Life—Spring 2021
Third in a series on COVID-19 and studying in Spring 2021 Provisions are being made for students, faculty, and staff to return to West Texas A&M University this spring. Beginning last summer, to meet diverse needs of faculty and students,…
The CARES Act in the Coming Spring
Second in a series on COVID-19 and studying in Spring 2021 The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was instituted to provide assistance to individuals and families suffering through the economic trials of COVID-19. I will not rehearse…
The Coming Spring
As we begin the holiday season, a time of thanksgiving for many, even in the midst of trepidation and gloom, thoughtful people will look ahead. Choices regarding college attendance in the spring are more important than ever before. A few…
Universities and Responsibility
Originally published April 13, 2015, and modified for another look. Universities and the people and organizations that support them require the exercise of free will that promotes personal and shared responsibility. Responsibility is the nucleus of Adam Smith’s Theory of…
The Anatomy of a Complex Decision
West Texas A&M University will host a virtual graduation in December — a decision reached only after much discussion and heartfelt deliberations. Details regarding the event will be released soon. I know that many faculty, staff, students and families will…
Aspire
Seventh and final in a series of how universities can help build character. The character of a university, or any organization, comes from vision and mission cemented by distinguishing core values. West Texas A&M University has identified six core values: …
Engagement
Sixth in a series of how universities can help build character. The idea of engagement carries with it a number of meanings. At a state-supported institution, we have a responsibility to promote effective citizenship. A citizen belongs to something larger…
Respect
Fifth in a series of how universities can help build character. R-E-S-P-E-C-T. If you hummed that along in your head, you probably know where this is going. Respect is a commodity. It is traded like baseball cards. It’s a give…
Innovation
Fourth in a series of how universities can help build character. University innovation is often, and appropriately, viewed as the work of faculty and students fueling discovery through individual scholarship, research, and creative activity. Universities must innovate corporately, too. Resource…
Pragmatism
Third in a series of how universities can help build character. WT values the practical framing of intellectual work. Being pragmatic does not mean big ideas or the big picture are avoided. When carried out faithfully, being pragmatic is a…
Service
Second core value in a series regarding character Service presents itself in many ways at public universities. Members of university communities understand the three-legged stool of responsible teaching, scholarly work and service. I recently reflected on the power of customer…
Academic Freedom
Core Value One Second in a series of how universities can help build character. Academic freedom is a defining core value at WT. Last week the U.S. Department of Education tried to clarify a burgeoning cadre of rules and regulations…
Character
First in a series of how universities can help build character. Critical thinking skills, long held to be the nucleus of a strong liberal arts curriculum, are essential. A number of institutions receive acclaim for their ability to teach critical…
New World. New Way. Always WT.
Tenth and final in a series on the reopening of West Texas A&M University in the midst of COVID-19. Universities propel students, families and communities toward economic prosperity and intellectual liberty. WT has pursued this mission since 1910; training teachers…
“Home, Home on the Range”
Ninth in a series on the reopening of West Texas A&M University in the midst of COVID-19. The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified college cost discussions as unemployment has increased, family financial security decreased and college costs with accumulated debt have…
The Other Education
Eighth in a series on the reopening of West Texas A&M University in the midst of COVID-19. A recent NICHE study found after surveying 20,000 students, 78% said in-person classes were appealing, and 29% found online courses appealing. The findings…
Culture and Energy on Campus
Seventh in a series on the reopening of West Texas A&M University in the midst of COVID-19 Written a number of years ago and updated for its value as we return to campus. A culture is created and sustained by…
Student-Athletes
Sixth in a series on the reopening of West Texas A&M University in the midst of COVID-19. Regarding athletics, my goal as a university leader is to support student-athletes, first, and the enterprise of intercollegiate athletics, second. The individual and…
Fear and Focus
Fifth in a series on the reopening of West Texas A&M University in the midst of COVID-19. Little is more crippling to an individual or an organization than fear. It petrifies people into indecisiveness. It spawns endless self-doubt that metastasizes…
COVID-19 Drives School Choice
Fourth in a series on the reopening of West Texas A&M University in the midst of COVID-19. It’s a shotgun wedding of sorts—families driven to home schooling by a virus. On the planet, 1.5 billion kids are being home-schooled, according…
Cost/Quality Differentials, Online/On-Campus Study
Third in a series on the reopening of West Texas A&M University in the midst of COVID-19. This reflection represents a collaborative effort with the Executive Vice President and Provost, Dr. Neil Terry, and me to communicate cost and quality…
Life on Campus
Second in a series on the reopening of West Texas A&M University in the midst of COVID-19. A valuable part of attending a university for many college students, particularly those in their late teens or early 20s, is the experience…
Strength of Working Together Overcomes Fear
First in a series on the reopening of West Texas A&M University in the midst of COVID-19. In the coming weeks, I will address a number of issues regarding our return to campus—things such as residential life, classroom and community…
The New Normal
The concept of “new normal” is wearisome. Enterprises of every kind falter assuming there was an old normal. Normalcy is an innovation-robbing concept. In February, I reflected on demographics and their impact on shaping a regional research university like West…
Customer Service
People working in higher education, whether in the classroom, research lab, dance studio, library, and various business support offices or even maintaining buildings and grounds, are all involved in customer service. Many resist seeing students as customers; however, students pay…
The Crisis and Purposeful People
Excellent staff are important at any time in the life of any enterprise. In a crisis, purposeful people, excellent people, allow organizations to thrive. I didn’t say survive because many organizations will whimper out of the COVID-19 doghouse and simply…
Considering College – McLean, Texas: Institutional Flexibility
Fifteenth in a series on what to look for in college. Charles Spurgeon, the great nineteenth-century preacher and orator rightly observed, “Skillful mariners sail by all winds, and we ought to make progress through all circumstances.” Like so many communities…
Considering College – Childress, Texas: Higher Education Is Serious and Personal
Fourteenth in a series on what to look for in college. During the ‘Your Community, Your University’ Tours, visits to high schools in the Panhandle and South Plains—daytime visits while school was in session—had a larger number of students present.…
Considering College – Booker, Texas: A Frontier Outpost
Thirteenth in a series on what to look for in college. At 37 degrees 27 minutes 12 seconds north latitude, Booker is the northernmost municipality in Texas. Booker used to be in La Kemp, Oklahoma, but in 1917 moved south…
Considering College – Pampa, Texas: A City That Knows Determination
Twelfth in a series on what to look for in college. Pampa, Texas, is the county seat of Gray County in the heart of the Texas Panhandle. Its population of just under 18,000 people is supported by agriculture, ranching, some…
Considering College – Field of Dreams: Gruver, Texas
Eleventh in a series on what to look for in college. Looking for a college? Gruver, Texas, can teach us something. A small but remarkable community in Hansford County, Gruver is home to about 1,200 souls. The community wanted to…
Who Are They, and What Do They Want?
This was originally released in September 2014. Given the challenges that universities are facing with the COVID-19 pandemic that may extend well into the future, the times are a barometer of purpose. I walked into a room full of…
The Middle Class Stretched Thin
In January 2019 the median household income in the United States was $63,688, a 0.3% increase over the December 2018 estimate. The growth rate of the median household income is substantial; however, according to Seeking Alpha, purchasing power for certain…
Agility in Universities
Change in universities, especially those well established and funded through public resources, is a challenge. Yet, as the nature of students change—and they have changed dramatically, it is incumbent that universities become more flexible, responsive to different types of learners,…
Dual Enrollment – Is it a good deal?
Dual enrollment, or dual credit, is the process whereby students in high school enroll in college courses that count for both high school and college credit. These programs are heavily subscribed to in various parts of our state and nation.…
Demographics Shape Universities
The U.S. birth rate is at its lowest recorded level. Since the 2008 economic recession, fertility rates have decreased by nearly 20%. The population of students for universities to draw from is shrinking. At the same time, the age of…
Why do students go to college?
I will not pretend to know the answer to this question for every individual; however, two ideas are repeatedly reinforced to me. First, students are interested in getting a job. A university that neglects this will falter. Second, students are…
Intercollegiate Athletics
No matter the size of the university or college, its mission, its status as public or private, flagship or regional, intercollegiate athletics plays an important role in how the institution is perceived. For almost 150 years, intercollegiate athletics has created…
University Realities for 2020
Universities face issues spawned during the past half-century that will cripple effectiveness if unaddressed. The standing and ranking perception of campuses will always be important. The best campuses will attend to excellence in teaching and scholarly work, affordability and rigorous…
Considering College – Pragmatism in the Texas Panhandle and on the South Plains
Ninth in a series on what to look for in college. Seventy percent of college students graduated with debt last year—on average $30,000. Some will repay that debt with Social Security checks voluntarily or through garnishment. Of Americans over 60,…
Considering College – Geographic Legacy
Eighth in a series on what to look for in college. Borden County School District in Gail, Texas, on the edge of the Caprock Escarpment, is cut in two by the Colorado River. Borden County is the fourth-least populous county…
A New World Order in Higher Education
The Nifty Fifty/Fifty Enrollments at universities around the United States are shrinking—down 1.7 and 1.8 percent this year and last. Master’s and comprehensive universities, private liberal arts colleges, rural universities and a multitude of others that are not state flagships,…
Considering College – Politics of People, not Process
Seventh in a series on what to look for in college. Patton Springs ISD in Afton, Texas, had 96 students for the 2017-2018 school year. It is small. It is old—established in 1910, the same year West Texas A&M University…
Considering College – Families First
Sixth in a series on what to look for in college. Abernathy, Texas, is a small town just west of I-27, an old stop on the Santa Fe when it was the way to get from Lubbock to Amarillo. Its…
Considering College – Where the Hand Meets the Mind
Fifth in a series on what to look for in college. According to The History of the Jews from the Babylonian Captivity to the Present Time, Rabbi Judah said, “He who teacheth not his son a trade, does as if he taught him to be a thief.” This proverbial…
Considering College – The Centers of the Universe
Fourth in a series on what to look for in college. Cotton Center, one of the smallest independent school districts in the Texas Panhandle or the South Plains, has a total enrollment from pre-k through grade 12 of 100 students.…
Considering College – Teaching on the Border
Pictured: Sundown’s rich history in the oil and gas industry is represented through a donated energy exhibit that has been a fixture of Sundown High School since the late 70s. Pictured from left: Bill Craddock, WTAMU Alumnus, Graduate of Sundown…
Considering College – Clean Restrooms
Second in a series on what to look for in college. Tahoka, Texas, the county seat of Lynn County, is a small town of 3,000 souls. In spirit, it is bigger than the South Plains skies that crown it. Maybe…
Considering College – New Home
First in a series on what to look for in a college. What should students and families look for as they consider college? In the coming weeks, insights from the South Plains of Texas will be shared. New Home, Texas,…
A Tale of Two Cities and One University
Buffalo Stadium on the campus of West Texas A&M University Sir William Herschel wrote in 1802, “If, on the contrary, two stars should really be situated very near each other, and at the same time so far insulated as not to be…
Summer Graduation 2.0
Posted last year on the occasion of summer graduation. The advice is still sound. 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…
Student Parents
“Johnny, have you seen my backpack?” “Mom, I told you to keep track of your school stuff.” My junior year in college, there were approximately one hundred students studying architecture in my class. I remember two of those students were…
Local Universities, Broad Value
There are more than 4,000 postsecondary institutions of higher education in the United States. Of those, more than 400 are regional universities. Regional universities, West Texas A&M University for example, contribute to local economies, cultural and civic life in…
Trouble in Paradise
Corporations, public and private; bureaucracies, large and small; and families, whether two or 100 members, rise and fall based on mission acuity. A few things irrevocably impede mission attainment, and fear of change tops the list. Unwillingness to change –…
Keeping Graduates Close
[Fourth in a series about WT 125: From the Panhandle to the World.] Universities desire to keep alumni close by. Graduates are a testimony to an institution’s progress and effectiveness—or not. More Harvard graduates live in Boston than any other…
Organizational Trust
[Third in a series written about WT 125: From the Panhandle to the World.] Trust is confidence—the reliance on the integrity, strength, ability and security of a person or thing. It enables and creates expectations and hope. Universities that don’t…
The Real Problem with Student Debt
While West Texas A&M University and its generational plan, WT 125: From the Panhandle to the World, are the basis for these reflections, the thoughts have value in many settings. Healthy organizations thrive on integrity and transparency. Since the White…
Open Letter to High School Class of 2019
This has been published a number of times at spring break over the past decade. It is updated here and refreshed in its importance for the honesty and transparency required to make a good university great for a region. The…
New Cake, Old Recipe
When Clark Kerr unveiled A Master Plan for Higher Education in California in 1960, it was heralded as a stroke of genius. And it was. Kerr went to the capitol in Sacramento requesting unparalleled financial support to build scientific prowess.…
WTAMU 2019—A Look Ahead
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…
A University and a Way Forward
Universities, like all human organizations, need a passion for purpose coupled to a plan for the future. Without such a commitment, reactionary leadership and management follows. Such passion for purpose and a future grows from an institution’s people, its purpose…
Changing Times
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…
Love
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…
Looking for a University? Four Suggestions
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…
Why U.S. Universities Are Good
Photo: Paul Engler College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences WTAMU This reflection was originally published on April 10, 2016. I believe it is worth a second look, and it appears here with only a few modest updates. WVW American universities are the…
Teaching First
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…
The Integration of Military Service and Personal Study
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…
Scholarships and Student Support
As the cost of college attendance continues to escalate, private support through both need- and merit-based scholarships is more important than ever. The sources for private giving available to students continue to multiply. Last year, in federal grant money alone,…
College Readiness
When colleges are confronted regarding low six-year graduation rates (52% in Texas) and low persistence rates—the rate at which freshman continue into the second year of college (about 73% nationally), the immediate response of too many in leadership positions is…
Public Confidence in Higher Education
There is a shifting public perception regarding the value of universities both to society in general as a public good, and to individuals as a private good, according to a recent Gallop study. It is sad for me. I have…
Rural Kids in College
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,…
You, You, You, not Me, Me, Me
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 purpose…
New Student Success – Discipline
Photo Credit: 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…
New Student Success – Discipline
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…
Summer Graduation
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. Don’t delay paying…
Serving Students First
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.…
Treasure Trust, Transparency and Truth
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 University…
The Creative Economy, the University and Human Spirit
The principles laid out in Adam Smith’s An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (commonly referred to as simply “The Wealth of Nations”) provide valuable insights regarding public universities. While useful in any university setting,…
“…Gently Rapping, Rapping at My Chamber Door.”
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…
How I Spent My Summer Vacation
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…
Dear Graduating Senior:
I am begging your pardon for a somber reflection amidst the joy of accomplishment—not to be a wet rag on the festivities of high school graduation, but a bright light on the realities of post-secondary education. If your GPA is…
Universities and Citizenship
A Continued reflection on citizenship from last week. There are significant relationships between education and citizenship. I am, before anything else, a professor—a teacher. I work to provide students the opportunity to learn. For me, this relationship between opportunity as…
Noble Citizenship
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…
Satisfied Students
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 school…
Veterans as Students
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…
Radical Individualization
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 to…
Travel and Education
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…
Sticker Price
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…
OJT
That’s what they used to call it: on-the-job training. In the professional discipline of architecture, it was common for people to become architects by being an apprentice in an architectural office. After 12 years of apprenticeship, a candidate could…
What Do I Owe Parents?
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…
Dual Credit
Dual credit or concurrent course credit allows high school students to take courses to earn a high school diploma and college credit simultaneously. Strong opinions abound on both sides of dual-credit discussions. This approach especially helps poor and first-generation students.…
Small Communities, Big Dreams
How often at night where the heavens are bright With the light of the glittering stars Have I stood there amazed and asked as I gazed If their glory exceeds that of ours…From “From my Western Home,” 1872, Brewster Martin…
Measures of Excellence
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…
Studying and Working
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…
Pipelines
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…
