Insights
Ideas have more potential when you share them. Here are some of ours.
Intelligence – Real or Artificial?
Assumed within the term “artificial intelligence” is a difference between that kind of intelligence and the real thing—actual, true, non-artificial intelligence, whatever that is. It’s like the difference between artificial flowers and real ones; artificial flowers lack certain key characteristics of real flowers (notably, the things we most appreciate—subtle or powerful scents, the silky way they feel to the touch, their delicate combination of grandeur and fragility). But artificial ones do possess other features that real flowers cannot claim (durability, sustainability, and manufactured consistency). Still photographs taken with careful attention to lighting and setting may make it hard to differentiate real from artificial flowers at a distance, but all it takes is a closer look and a quick touch to remove any uncertainty. Wait, though, what do we mean by photographs? It may be hard to tell the difference between the old kind that required actual film and developing in darkrooms from the digital “photos” (such as the ones we take too many of with our smartphones). Digital pictures can be very easily adjusted and manipulated, so it’s not as easy to tell whether an image is real as it is with real and artificial flowers. Distinguishing a digital [...]
The Crossroads of Higher Education: A Story of Challenge and Opportunity
We're at a turning point in higher education. The old models are being tested by new realities: tighter budgets, shifting student demographics, and a growing mental health crisis among our young people. But within these challenges lies the potential for a renaissance, a chance to redefine what higher education means in the 21st century. For years, universities have relied on traditional funding streams and enrollment patterns. But the landscape is changing. Federal funding is tightening, and the rising cost of tuition is making many question the value of a four-year degree. Add to this the increasing anxiety and stress faced by students, and it's clear we need a new approach. But here's the exciting part: universities are beginning to embrace innovative solutions. They're becoming more entrepreneurial: forging partnerships with industry to create real-world learning experiences and generate new revenue streams. They're going global: expanding their reach through online programs and international collaborations, attracting students from diverse backgrounds and preparing them for a globalized world. They're prioritizing student well-being: investing in mental health resources and creating supportive campus environments where students can thrive. This isn't just about survival; it's about creating a more relevant, accessible, and impactful higher education system. [...]
Challenges: Plural, Integrated, and Potentially Transformative
This is a very hard time; we march on. Even in today’s dark and uncertain environment for higher education, colleges and universities are trying to advance strategic priorities, support students, faculty, and staff, and move forward toward a sustainable future. But immediate threats and looming dangers repeatedly flash into life, interconnect, reinforce, and become stressful distractions that steal resources and interrupt or stall progress. Today, we can seldom say “the problem is…” because the challenges facing us have become too complex and nuanced for such singular and definitive statements. What we’re encountering over and over again is problems that are not only complex and nuanced, but plurally so; they are also interwoven and interdependent, and likewise plurally so. That describes today’s existential cauldron in higher education. Change is the partner, or implementation plan, of existential crises. Making sense of complicated, integrated problems in times like these spins us into change, and existential problems upend everything about risk analysis. Changes that may have once been unimaginable become indispensable; we entertain actions that might actually be transformative when serious threats to vitality and viability accelerate and multiply. Transformation, of course, means non-trivial, non-incremental, and usually disruptive change. But some varieties of [...]
Engaging Prospective Candidates During Conference Season
Across the nation, higher education professionals are gearing up for conference season— where industry leaders share knowledge, gain tools to strengthen their strategy and practice, and expand their professional networks. However, savvy campus leaders also know that this is an opportune time for another goal: engaging talented professionals looking for their next career step. Many of our clients have fantastic positions open with hopes of securing stellar candidates before summer, and while conference engagement is not a substitute for an active, strategic recruitment process, it can complement the efforts of K&A and your campus in attracting a strong candidate pool. These benefits include the opportunity to: Informally introduce yourself and your leadership style to potential candidates who align with your vision. Identify highly talented and innovative professionals from across the nation through their presentations, roundtable discussions, and spontaneous conversations. Access a large, often untapped, pool of potential candidates who may not have been familiar with your institution or role yet—bringing a diversity of experiences, fresh perspectives, and creativity to your campus. Of course, conferences and other large events can also bring their own set of challenges; it can sometimes feel overwhelming to navigate as you seek to connect with [...]
Why? – Essay for the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education
I want to reflect on where we are, and what we in higher education might expect from the new presidential administration—and then return to a few much larger and increasingly pressing “why?” questions about higher learning, higher education, and the students we serve.
Don’t Look – Essay for the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education
We must ensure the safety and promote the well-being of all in our campus communities. We must not tolerate discrimination, violence, or threats of violence on any basis; we must not countenance hate speech.
Patterns and Politics – Essay for the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education
The intrusion of courts, Congress, state legislatures, and governors into higher education has become so common, so ordinary, and so unsurprising that any of us can easily slide into numbness. But interference in the research, teaching, service, and operations of colleges and universities will advance only political aims.
Beyond “Just Like Everybody Else” – Essay for the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education
The facts that graduate students are older, may have their own families, often work to support themselves, have different stage-of-life health and well-being challenges, and are closely engaged with (and often dependent on) faculty mentors are not reasons to dismiss or ignore their needs as still-developing people.
Health, Public and Private – Essay for the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education
In many ways, then, COVID-19 introduced public health methods, practices, and results to campuses for the first time... How might a systemic, campus-wide approach, grounded in public health theory, better support a fully inclusive community?
Personal, Political, and Pandemic – Essay for the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education
The Supreme Court’s decision will complicate plans on many campuses to develop health-promoting universities with an inclusive and caring spirit. What the Court’s decision and new state laws will not prevent is students coming to health and counseling centers with unwanted pregnancies, or in need of reproductive health services that healthcare professionals may be forbidden to provide.
An Ounce of Prevention – Essay for the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education
Too many students have come to believe what they do matters more than who they are. Too many think “busy” equals “worthwhile.” The differential suffering imposed by inequity has cheated too many out of their potential.
Not Impossible Dreams – Essay for the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education
The problem is not that we don’t know, or haven’t known, or can’t know what to do; the problem is that opportunities for change have been submerged, stifled, and snuffed out by the intransigency of staid institutional, organizational, and commercial culture. But change is the partner, or implementation plan, of existential moments.