Category: Higher education
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The Plagiarism Arms Race: Five Strategies for Higher Education
Policing plagiarism has always been something of a whack-a-mole game. Knock it down in one spot, and it only shows up somewhere else. What we call plagiarism in higher ed today has been around as long as there has been writing. But it hasn’t always been considered plagiarism. All serious readers of the Christian scriptures… Read more
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Are Students Customers? Addressing the Customerization of Higher Education
Students should be more than customers, but never less. Read more
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Textbook Costs: Is The Tide Turning?
Textbook costs have soared, with prices increasing at triple the inflation rate since the 1980s, and now average around $105 per book. Students and faculty faced limited options in combating rising costs until the digital age introduced new resources and shopping strategies. Today, monopolized by a few major publishers who push costly digital access, the… Read more
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Enrollment Cliff or Enrollment Wall? The Peril of Ignoring the Needs of Non-Traditional Students
Small institutions are threatened not so much by an enrollment cliff as by an “enrollment wall,” or the barriers that traditional institutions unwittingly erect for non-traditional students. We are facing a reduction in the number of traditional college-age students and the rise of non-traditional, adult learners. Small institutions are particularly threatened by this demographic shift… Read more
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Transparency Is Overrated
Transparency. It’s what we say we want from everyone: our spouse, our pastor/priest/rabbi/imam, our politicians, our employees, our boss. The great philosopher Billy Joel sang about it: Honesty is such a lonely wordEveryone is so untrueHonesty is hardly ever heardAnd mostly what I need from you Honestly, I doubt it. And I’m being totally transparent… Read more
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Leadership Is Like Bathing in the Dead Sea
Many years ago, my institution paid for me to go on a tour of Israel. As with many such Israel tours, our trip included an overnight stop at the Dead Sea. The Jordan River feeds the Dead Sea, but there is no river outlet for the water that goes into the lake. Instead, the only… Read more
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Be A Solutionist
When I first approached my mentor about my interest in going into higher education administration, the first piece of advice he gave to me had to do with problems and their solutions. Even though the following dictum may seem obvious to many, it is advice too often ignored. Here is our third Earlyism: Earlyism #3: … Read more
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When They Say It Isn’t About the Money
We are given all sorts of justifications by those who have to deliver bad job news to us. “I tried everything I could to prevent it.” “I did my best.” It’s just the world we live in.” “It’s not what I wanted, but [insert name or circumstance] is forcing me to do this.” “We’ve decided… Read more
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The People Who Will Work
From time to time, I’ll be sharing some aphorisms about leadership, management, higher education, and human nature passed along to me by a professional mentor. I’ll not reveal his identity specifically. But in his honor, I’ve dubbed these aphorisms “Earlyisms.” Some who know me well will understand who this person is. Still, I will leave… Read more
