This past fall, I had the opportunity to attend the Strada  Foundation’s State Opportunity Index event in Washington DC as part of some advisory work I was engaged with in association with the foundation.  One of the principles discussed at the conference involved higher education access leading to completion to opportunity.  I heard someone wiser than me recently say, “access without completion is a broken promise” – truer words were never said.  Similarly, this past fall,

As part of my dissertation, I did a case study about an institution that transformed organizationally over the course of many years.  The research was fascinating, and exhausting, and allowed me to learn about the journeys associated with other institutions that transformed.  Each institution’s transformation involved some common themes between them I will share here for leaders interested in their own sustainability given the current higher education headwinds.  Note that ea

Following up on last month’s post on what I learned from Jeff Selingo’s presentation at NACAC, this month, I can say I actually finished reading Angel Perez’s book and am therefore able to make notes from it (versus Jeff’s which I have not finished).  In a word, it rocked – ok, so two words.  First, just a shout out thank you to Angel for giving me the opportunity to review the book.  Second, thank you in advance to Angel for agreeing to be our keynote speaker at year two of

At the NACAC Conference in Columbus (OH), I had the opportunity to listen to two amazing authors – Jeff Selingo and Angel Perez – talk about their new books.  This month’s post will be somewhat of a random assortment of thoughts based on one of their presentations.  Next month, I will share thoughts on the other. During Jeff Selingo’s presentation, he was asked about future considerations or implications for higher education, and what he would recommend to families as they se

While historically, I’ve been afforded the opportunity to meet and interact with a meaningful number of college counselors to understand...

I recently attended the National Small College Enrollment Conference .  My many thanks to Scott Novak and Chris Coons for putting on a...

i.e. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington or rather, Dr. John (totally dating myself on the movie reference 😊) This week I got the chance to be...

These days, my brain is full of a flurry of thoughts based on a number of reports, podcasts, and readings I engaged with.  Referencing...

Thanks to my good friend Kamal James, who started a book club reviewing, “Of Boys and Men”, by Richard Reeves, I was introduced to the...

An InsideHigherEd  podcast on “ Reasons to Be Optimistic About Student Succes Efforts ” references Clearinghouse data where first-year...

A recent Student Voice survey  by Inside Higher Ed  in conjunction with Student Lab shows students who had “a lot of trust” in financial...

I recently attended the USC CERPP  conference where the topic of DEI was meaningfully discussed. So, this month’s topic will touch a...

A December 10, 2024, InsideHigherEd article  regarding on-campus activity involvement based on Student Voice data showed gaps for stop...

The December 3, 2024, Fitch Outlook for Higher Education  for 2025 cited a “deteriorating” environment for the sector caused by factors...

Ok.  So, I’ve done shameless plugs before for this blog, but this one is the tip of the iceberg. We are doing it!  I am pleased to...

A while back I read Stephen Covey’s book “The Speed of Trust”.  The foundational premise of the book was that organizations where...

During my time in higher education, I have been blessed with the opportunity to work with some amazing leaders.  I’ve also been able to...

For those insomniacs that read my monthly ramblings, you know I recently took on a new gig.  After ten years serving in my current post,...

Literature is mixed on the value of a tuition reset.  This practice is where an institution, in most cases a private institution, reduces...

For those of us who work in the enrollment management area of higher education, I can likely be called Captain Obvious with this...