The Student Success Movement’s Next Push: Career Services: A Q&A with Bridget Burns, Executive Director, University Innovation Alliance
Earlier this month, the University Innovation Alliance announced its next scale project, with a cohort of seven institutions teaming up to close the gap between college and the workforce. This next scale initiative, which received $2.4 million in funding from Strada Education Network, will involve career services professionals developing innovative concepts to pilot both on…
Read MoreEquity: Everything and the Kitchen Sink
Equity seems to be the “it” term of the day when it comes to student success and college completion. You’d be hard pressed to find an institutional strategic plan or statewide task force report focused on increasing postsecondary attainment that doesn’t reference a commitment to equity, or its oft used counterparts, diversity and inclusion. Everyone’s…
Read MorePartnering to Improve Student Success in Central New Mexico: A Q&A with Angelo Gonzales
Insights & Outlooks: What do you think distinguishes or differentiates the role that a community-based organization like United Way of Central New Mexico can play in supporting student success at the local level? Angelo Gonzales: As the Chief Strategy Officer at United Way of Central New Mexico (UWCNM), I direct all of our grantmaking and…
Read MoreBalancing Quality with Innovation: Key Issues at Stake in Negotiated Rulemaking
This month, watchers of higher ed policy were busy with talk of negotiated rulemaking (or “neg reg”), as the U.S. Department of Education kicked off a series of significant proposed regulatory changes with far-reaching consequences. Federal law requires the Department to follow this complicated process in order to make any regulatory changes to programs authorized…
Read MoreSetting the Agenda: Key State Higher Ed Issues to Watch in 2019
The dust has (mostly) settled on our 2018 election season, giving way to a holiday season filled with tidings of good will and hope for renewal in the New Year ahead. And while some of us may be thankful for a reprieve from the election scoreboard watch, the constant barrage of political ads, and uncertainty…
Read MoreFrom New Hampshire to Nairobi: How SNHU is Scaling Breakthrough Learning for All Students
Insights & Outlooks: Tell us about your own journey to getting involved in education professionally and becoming president of SNHU. What experiences inspire and motivate you to do this work? Paul LeBlanc, SNHU: My own story is that of an immigrant family and first-generation college student. I grew up in a working-class, melting-pot community in…
Read MoreNavigating the New Higher Learning Landscape
Today’s students need access to a variety of higher learning programs that equip them with the tools they need to succeed in the evolving workforce. The linear path from high school to college and employment is increasingly insufficient: today’s students may need several entry and exit points to and through higher learning throughout their lives.…
Read MorePutting Students First: What Does It Look Like in Policy and Practice?
From his time as a college president and a university trustee to his work as U.S. under secretary of education, few have had a more up close and personal view to the work of improving American higher education than Dr. Ted Mitchell. Today, he continues that work as the president of the American Council on…
Read MoreCreating Student-Centric Support Systems for Military-Connected Students
Prior to the Post 9/11 GI Bill, little focus was put on promising practices to support military and veteran students in their pursuit of higher education. With the passage of this comprehensive benefit in 2009, administrators at colleges and universities throughout the country began the mad dash of trying to find ways to best support…
Read MoreSquaring the Circle for Adult Learners: How to Connect Prior Learning with the Liberal Arts
With the increase of adult learners in today’s higher education landscape, currently 27% of the undergraduate population, it is essential that colleges and universities meet both the unique educational needs of adult learners and maintain curricular quality. Fortunately, these two goals are neither mutually exclusive, nor are they incongruent with pathways we now see from…
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