My community college and our larger system recently embarked on an effort to strengthen relationships with alumni. It is an exciting endeavor. It is also very interesting effort, especially when we think about alumni organizations in comparison to what four-year institutions usually do. Alumni professionals report that graduates usually join alumni organizations for networking, for…
College to Work: Beyond the Skills Gap
One of the more heralded higher education books of the past few years, Beyond the Skills Gap: Preparing College Students for Life and Work is timely, relevant and most welcome. Kudos to Matthew Hora and his colleagues, Ross J. Benbow and Amanda K. Oleson, for looking beneath, behind, and beyond the sound bytes. Far too…
Men Without Work: An Army of Disengaged
If you work in the community college world, awareness of current economic statistics and trends is useful. In fact, if you work anywhere in higher education, familiarity with economic data is helpful. Higher education is directly and indirectly affected by economic trends. Enrollment has an inverse relationship with recessions and depressions. People go to college when they…
False Smiles: The Happiness Industry
Like a chipped tooth that you can’t leave alone, William Davies’ The Happiness Industry: How the Government and Big Business Sold Us Well-Being provokes, rankles, and works its way into your thinking. No dry academic text, it’s lively, well-written, and a sprawling, expansive book. The arguments in The Happiness Industry have been kicking around in my head since…
Memoir or More: On Hillbilly Elegy
One of the most popular non-fiction books published in the last few years in J.D. Vance’s memoir, Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis. Readers across the political spectrum have praised it. Colleges are assigning it to entering students as the required “freshman read.” You’ll find it at airport bookstores. Ron Howard is…
Paths for Leadership in Higher Education
A recurring theme in higher education is the rise of the “nontraditional president.” We increasingly hear about politicians and businessmen – they are usually men – who reach a point in their careers where they want to “give back.” A college presidency beckons. Their appointment is saddled with the allure of new ways of thinking,…
About Equity
Summers offer time to review what has and has not worked over the year, to take stock of resources, and to align plans for the coming autumn. High in my thoughts are questions about how my college can best continue to pursue an equity agenda, a question that I discussed at the AAC&U national conference…