In June 2015, we argued in a NEJHE article “Reducing Math Obstacles to Higher Education,” that intensified efforts to improve math education may make sense for many students, but for other students–those who lack ability or interest in math–the prescription of more math limits their ability to attain a college credential. As a result, heightened math requirements can limit some students’...
Sir Ken Robinson called it “academic inflation.” Boston analytics firm Burning Glass Technologies called it “upcredentialing.” One person who calls himself Biffo the Bear in an Internet chat room called it “degreeification.” Whichever term you pick to discuss the increasing demand for higher education degrees in our workforce, the fact remains that we need our citizenry to be college p...
In 2010, I wrote an essay, "The New Indentured Educated Class," for The New England Journal of Higher Education. This piece was pivotal in raising public awareness about a new group of Americans, an enormous group of us—educated and deeply in debt. At that point, few were talking about the student loan debt crisis, aside from me and a couple of others. However, things have changed—politicians ...
It was disgruntled students that coined this phrase on my last campus. The "Bounce” was costing them precious time spent chasing signatures and removing often-unnecessary registration “holds” when they wanted only to finally get to class! Individually, the students praised our office staff, but begged us to please “talk to each other.” Crazy thought, right?
All this ...
The New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE) will hold its 14th annual New England Higher Education Excellence Awards celebration and dinner in Boston on Friday, March 4, 2016.
Here is a bit about the 2016 recipients ...
The David and Rosamond Putnam Family of New Hampshire will receive NEBHE's 2016 Governor Walter R. Peterson Award for Leadership, named for the late New Hampshire...
Regis North to offer bachelor's degree completion programs in nursing, public health and other health sciences ...
With liberal arts colleges and universities reporting losses in student enrollment and retention, and our nation’s workforce growing older and more diverse, colleges and universities are being forced to rethink their approach to educating and engaging students.
Regis is no e...
Using data from NEBHE "Guide" to discern value of New England colleges ...
The data published by Boston magazine and the New England Board of Higher Education the 2016 Guide to New England Colleges & Universities provided me with the opportunity to examine the higher education institutions (HEIs) prices, defined as tuition and plus fees, as a function of several independent factors including...
It is time to push back at least a little on this very fashionable rubric. While the NEBHE Conference on the subject was generally excellent, especially in the morning, its uncritical acceptance of the whole idea was worrisome. See Center of Attention: Learners.
A fundamental problem is its metaphor. There can be only one “center” of anything, so the question is: In institutions of what use...
Last week, NEBHE convened 300 or so educators and policy leaders for a gathering in Boston on “Learner-Centered Institutions: The Future of Higher Education.”
One key question … what is a “learner-centered institution” anyway? The latest in a torrent of meaningless eduspeak? Or as the conference subtitle suggested, a true paradigm shift in the way we teach and learn?
The definition...
Observations of a retired college president ...
I am sure you've heard colleagues when they return from sabbatical surprised by how much their institutions changed while they were on leave. The apparent change is even more profound for someone who left the arena seven years ago, as I did.
Here are five issues that, in the past few years, have caught my attention either by reading about the...
In June 2015, we argued in a NEJHE article “Reducing Math Obstacles to Higher Education,” that intensified efforts to improve math education may make sense for many students, but for other students–those who lack ability or interest in math–the prescription of more math limits their ability to attain a college credential. As a result, heightened math requirements can limit some students’... 
Sir Ken Robinson called it “academic inflation.” Boston analytics firm Burning Glass Technologies called it “upcredentialing.” One person who calls himself Biffo the Bear in an Internet chat room called it “degreeification.” Whichever term you pick to discuss the increasing demand for higher education degrees in our workforce, the fact remains that we need our citizenry to be college p... 
In 2010, I wrote an essay, "The New Indentured Educated Class," for The New England Journal of Higher Education. This piece was pivotal in raising public awareness about a new group of Americans, an enormous group of us—educated and deeply in debt. At that point, few were talking about the student loan debt crisis, aside from me and a couple of others. However, things have changed—politicians ... 
It was disgruntled students that coined this phrase on my last campus. The "Bounce” was costing them precious time spent chasing signatures and removing often-unnecessary registration “holds” when they wanted only to finally get to class! Individually, the students praised our office staff, but begged us to please “talk to each other.” Crazy thought, right?
All this ... 
Regis North to offer bachelor's degree completion programs in nursing, public health and other health sciences ...
With liberal arts colleges and universities reporting losses in student enrollment and retention, and our nation’s workforce growing older and more diverse, colleges and universities are being forced to rethink their approach to educating and engaging students.
Regis is no e... 
Using data from NEBHE "Guide" to discern value of New England colleges ...
The data published by Boston magazine and the New England Board of Higher Education the 2016 Guide to New England Colleges & Universities provided me with the opportunity to examine the higher education institutions (HEIs) prices, defined as tuition and plus fees, as a function of several independent factors including... 
It is time to push back at least a little on this very fashionable rubric. While the NEBHE Conference on the subject was generally excellent, especially in the morning, its uncritical acceptance of the whole idea was worrisome. See Center of Attention: Learners.
A fundamental problem is its metaphor. There can be only one “center” of anything, so the question is: In institutions of what use... 
Last week, NEBHE convened 300 or so educators and policy leaders for a gathering in Boston on “Learner-Centered Institutions: The Future of Higher Education.”
One key question … what is a “learner-centered institution” anyway? The latest in a torrent of meaningless eduspeak? Or as the conference subtitle suggested, a true paradigm shift in the way we teach and learn?
The definition... 
Observations of a retired college president ...
I am sure you've heard colleagues when they return from sabbatical surprised by how much their institutions changed while they were on leave. The apparent change is even more profound for someone who left the arena seven years ago, as I did.
Here are five issues that, in the past few years, have caught my attention either by reading about the...