John Krakauer’s Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town is hard-hitting journalism, a powerful work that stays with you and makes you think. When problems occur that involve the most visible in college life – varsity athletics – media attention is immediate. When those problems are crimes that involve college football players, media…
Category: Reviews
Reviews of books, articles, and the like
Access ≠ Access, and Other Lessons from the Digital Divide
My college, like many other institutions of higher education, is working to increase the number of students who complete degrees and certificates in IT fields. We partner with high schools, external organizations, other colleges and universities, and industry. There is genuine enthusiasm for the goal and widespread agreement that information technology knowledge and skills are essential…
What’s In Your Bundle? A Pared-Down Future for Higher Education
When I used to think of bundling, two thoughts come to mind. The first is colonial America’s enthusiasm for torturing love-struck adolescents. Parents would place young couples in a bed with a wooden “bundling” board between them. The covers would be tied down and the aspiring couple would be able to converse and sleep, but…
Facts Before Changes
Fall term is well underway at my college. The hallways are full, with lingering, chatting, and many hugs and handshakes. Students do more than rush to the next class. Sometimes it feels like an ongoing shared endeavor, a community working together. If you are seeking reassurance about the state of higher education, a few days in…
Disappointment and Higher Expectations Writ Large
We know them from class: they are smart, often male, and they tend to sit in the front of the room, close to the lectern. They are well read, well-informed, and they raise their hands before speaking. They come before class and stay after. They always have something to say – but they do not ask real…
Tipping Points and Higher Education
Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point is now fifteen years old. It has weathered financial crises, dramatic innovation in technology and science, and the inevitable backlash that accompanies success. For a while, it was what everyone talked about. You found it in airport bookstores and on magazine covers. The book was, in many ways, a tipping point for…
Lower-Income Working Families in the Post-Welfare World – Lessons for Higher Ed
Caring for students will not guarantee success. Ongoing critical attention to students’ histories, experiences and values is essential for institutional effectiveness in higher education. For those of us who work at open access institutions, this means special awareness and sensitivity to issues of money, poverty, and agency. According to the federal government, a working family of…