MONTCLAIR, New Jersey—Montclair State had been a university for only a few years when Susan Cole took over as president in 1998. She wanted the job—her second presidency—because she saw vast, untapped potential on the campus of 12,000 students. She also felt certain that she could, pretty quickly, ensure the institution lived up to its […]
In "The Death and Life of Great American Cities" Jane Jacobs reminds us that "Lively, diverse, intense cities contain the seeds of their own regeneration, with energy enough to carry over for problems and needs outside themselves". Among both urban and exurban cities alike schools, colleges, and universities enjoy a time-honored, town-gown relationship where the […]
To combat a surge in opioid overdoses and continued abuse of alcohol, colleges and universities are expanding services and facilities that aim to keep students in class as they recover from addiction. Along with counseling and academic advising, these centers host watch parties, hiking trips and other activities students can enjoy sober with peers also […]
It is no coincidence that at a time of staggering family college debt burden, hands-on learning is experiencing a revival in schools, colleges, and universities across the Nation and around the world. Students and families perplexed and frustrated by the gainful employment vs. tuition gap are looking for more practical (maker) skills from their next […]
When the economy tanked in 2009, the trustees of Hamilton College in upstate New York made a major investment in the future of admissions practices—they shifted from need-sensitive to need-blind admissions, while remaining a school that promises to meet full need. The trustees of the 1,850-student liberal arts college provided bridge funding of five $500,000 […]
The momentum building behind higher ed analytics is hardly surprising, considering the explosion of tech tools available to make sense of institutional data. What might surprise some, though, is who on campus is responsible for predictive analytics. Rather than assigning the task to institutional research or creating a new department, schools are tapping administrators in […]
Vocation. This is a word with deep and important significance. Liberal Arts. This is an ideal of education with an equally deep set of meanings. Liberal arts colleges already do a great job developing a diverse group of socially responsible, critical thinkers, but they must start guiding students to their true vocation. For liberal arts […]
Almost everybody ranks colleges these days—old stalwarts like U.S. News & World Report, influential upstarts like Washington Monthly and click-baiting websites that measure everything from campus sustainability to most attractive students to coolest mascots. William Destler, president of Rochester Institute of Technology in New York, even found his university named one of the "geekiest" in […]
Vocation: It’s a word with deep and important significance. Liberal Arts: This is an ideal of education with an equally deep set of meanings. Liberal arts colleges already do a great job developing a diverse group of socially responsible, critical thinkers, but they must start guiding students to their true vocations. For liberal arts colleges, […]