Austerity Blues: Fighting for the Soul of Public Higher Education is a passionate book on higher education. Michael Fabricant, professor of social work at CUNY’s Graduate Center and president of CUNY’s Professional Staff Congress (CUNY’s union) and Stephen Brier, professor of urban education at the CUNY Graduate Center, pull no punches in their account of…
Author: David Potash
Latina/o Studies – a Welcome Addition/Edition
Textbooks bore you? I am usually not a fan. Most textbooks lack arguments. They try – unsuccessfully – to make up for their missing authorial voice by adding graphics, colors and busy design. I prefer hearing from an author. I want to know where the person writing the book stands. When I taught, I assigned monographs…
On Stressing College Bound High School Seniors and Their Families
Talked recently with a college-bound high school senior about how they feel about their search and applications to college? I used to approach the exchange with good cheer. Now my queries are more sympathetic than enthusiastic. Students with hopes for admission to strong colleges and universities are stressed, confused, and increasingly ill-served by higher education.…
Reasons for Rebuilding, Re-engineering, or Reforming
At a recent college retreat my leadership team watched Simon Sinek’s TED talk about how great leaders inspire action. It is a good video and like most popular TED talks, it provoked reflection and discussion. We did not, though, sort it all out. I sensed that the key message of the presentation – the importance…
Big Data and WMDs – A Cautionary Tale
Cathy O’Neil has penned perhaps my favorite book title of the past few years – Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy. Better still, her work is substantive and worthy of its clever name. Read it and you will never think of “systems” and data in quite the same way. O’Neil…
People Mapping: Friends Matter
Sometimes the most basic functions of higher education are missed or ignored. Take, for example, the influence of friendships on college students. We all know that friends matter greatly to the college experience. Talk with a college graduate and more often than not, their best friends for life are college friends. People meet their spouses…
An Ambitious Agenda for Community Colleges
America’s community colleges – and there are about 1,200 of them – educate more than 10 millions people every year. Community colleges serve a myriad of needs, ranging from training to swimming to language to college courses. Most community college students hope to obtain a four-year degree. Unfortunately, less than 40% are successful in earning…