How to send thoughtful guest speaker invitations (opinion)
bortonia/DigitalVisionVectors/Getty Images Speaking events, such as lectures and workshops, are a mainstay of ongoing education and professional development for most workplaces. Speakers are invited to share their expertise, fill knowledge gaps and inspire an audience. Much of the guidance around these events is centered around skill development for the speaker: preparing a topic, use of […]
How Oct. 7 changed higher ed—and how to move forward now
In retrospect, perhaps it was inevitable that the horrifying Hamas attack on Israel last Oct. 7—and the escalation of horrors that ensued when Israel invaded Gaza—would light a spark on many U.S. campuses. But few could have predicted the breadth of the repercussions that would ripple out across the world of higher education. As the vigils […]
How to prepare for and protect your career against layoffs (opinion)
The long-feared enrollment cliff—the result of a projected decrease in high school graduates—is no longer a distant threat. It’s here. Across the United States, colleges and universities are grappling with declining student numbers, leading to program closures and escalating layoffs. For many faculty and staff members, such employment changes come without warning and lack transparency, […]
How to better justify intercollegiate athletics (opinion)
colematt/iStock/Getty Images Plus How can university and college presidents, and the boards that hire them, better justify the expenditures on intercollegiate athletics, particularly at the Division I level, when They are extracurricular activities that have no relation to an academic degree? They make completing certain degrees, such as engineering or biochemistry, virtually impossible due to conflicts […]
How to think about teaching writing in a GenAI world
The other day I had a friend, someone who knows my work, and who even works in education-adjacent spaces ask, “Have you written anything about that ChatGPT stuff?” Have I? It seems like that’s all I’ve been writing about, to the point where I purposefully go looking for any other topic for this space these […]
Presidents grapple with how to respond to student protesters
When Michigan State University students established an encampment to call for divestment from Israel over civilian casualties in Gaza, President Kevin Guskiewicz visited the site to speak with student activists about their concerns. In response to similar protests, presidents at Emory University, University of Texas at Austin, and elsewhere sent in the police, who arrested […]
How to write meaningful recommendations about other people (opinion)
It’s 5:30 a.m. I am up before the day starts to write yet another recommendation letter. I have to get up earlier than usual to make sure that the letters due today or tomorrow do not get lost in the rush of the day. They are nonnegotiable; not for me, but for the people whom […]
Teach students how to translate their learning for employers (opinion)
Here are some things faculty members say when administrators start talking about career readiness: “We are not here to teach skills.” (The word “skills” often comes out covered in stank.) “We teach students how to think critically, communicate clearly, and analyze interestingly and those are things any employer should value.” “We need to make sure […]