Rethinking PLA: The Urgency of Counting Prior Learning
As the country works toward economic recovery in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, there are at least 10 million unemployed Americans, many of whom are looking to higher education as a pathway to their next career step. Now more than ever, adult learners are keenly aware of the return of investment they receive from…
Read MoreHigher learning for a higher purpose: Fighting inequality in the ‘human work’ era
COVID-19 has upended the global economy with astonishing speed and severity. Millions have had their work environments drastically changed, or even worse, now find themselves without work and with few options. In contrast to past recessions, certain industries are bearing the brunt of the damage. Sadly, they happen to be ones that offer employment to…
Read MoreTime to Innovate: How We Can Harness an Unprecedented Moment in Higher Education to Better Serve Student Parents
Before the COVID-19 pandemic upturned how all of us work and learn, nearly four million student parents—more than a fifth of the entire U.S. undergraduate student population—faced near-impossible demands on their time and resources as they worked to juggle school and child care. Life before the pandemic was not working for most student parents. To…
Read MoreStudent Parents and the Opportunity to Support Multiple Generations of Families
For 14 years, I have been an Institutional Researcher at Monroe Community College (MCC) in Rochester, NY. On March 17, 2020, I filled the largest bag I owned with my work files and locked my office door. I then headed across the quad to pick up my five-year-old from MCC’s Richard M. Guon Child Care…
Read MoreThe Way Forward in Higher Education
Six months ago, St. Petersburg College operated quite differently. Our ten campuses and learning sites were bustling with students hurrying from classroom to classroom while faculty prepared for vast numbers of in-person lectures and labs. COVID-19 and tragic occurrences of racial injustice have changed everything. Not only for us, but for people and institutions around…
Read MoreQ&A with Commissioner Kim Hunter Reed, Louisiana Board of Regents
A Q&A with Commissioner Kim Hunter Reed of the Louisiana Board of Regents. 1. This is, of course, an unusual school year. What does the fall look like for colleges and universities in Louisiana? This academic year will be one of the most challenging we have ever faced—with a global pandemic, racial unrest, and significant…
Read MoreQ&A with President Lyle Roelofs of Berea College
Berea College, the first interracial and coeducational college in the South, focuses on learning, labor and service. The College admits only academically promising students with limited financial resources, primarily from Kentucky and Appalachia, although students come from 40 states and 70 countries. Every Berea student receives a Tuition Promise Scholarship, which means no Berea student…
Read MoreA Fall Like No Other
Whether one is returning to college or entering college for the first time, Fall of 2020 is clearly a fall semester like no other. While higher education institutions (HEIs) have been dealing with the coronavirus pandemic since the Spring 2020 semester, what occurs at these institutions this fall will be highly scrutinized and analyzed. Important…
Read MoreToday’s Students Didn’t Need a Pandemic
Today’s students didn’t need a pandemic. They didn’t need the added financial pressures, their kids at home, and their lives interrupted. They also didn’t need a pandemic to know that higher education wasn’t built for too many of them, or that changes need to happen to support their success. Today’s students—adult students, student parents, low-income…
Read MoreWorking Together During the Crisis
When I was asked to contribute to this blog, I wanted to sit down and write a piece full of professional assurance and effortless insight. Something pithy and quotable that captures a moment in higher education. But then I thought a little bit more about this particular moment in higher education and I am equal…
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