Author: Laurie Arnston

Advancing Women Leaders in the New Political Environment

“The role of [a] college president is to be a bridge builder.” This statement by President Yves Salomon-Fernandez of Cumberland County College in New Jersey, made during a session about advancing women’s leadership that focused on the current political climate on campuses, elaborates the need to bring everyone together to work in the best interests of our nation.

Achieving Gender Equality on Campus

Stony Brook University (NY) President Samuel Stanley Jr. and moderator Rosemary E. Kilkenny, vice president for Institutional Diversity and Equity at Georgetown University (DC), discussed the United Nations-backed HeForShe movement and the quest for gender parity on college campuses during an ACE2017 session Match 14.

Intercollegiate Athletics and Academic Integrity: The Importance of Ensuring a Culture of Integrity

The panelists at Monday morning’s ACE2017 session on intercollegiate athletics and academic integrity all came at the topic from different roles and professional backgrounds at their respective higher education institutions. But they all emphasized the importance of ensuring a culture of integrity in intercollegiate athletics—across all levels of competition—and providing student-athletes with every opportunity to be students first and foremost.

Finding Common Ground: Campus Inclusion and Free Speech

Free speech is playing out in new ways on American campuses, which some argue is leading to the corrosion of higher education as a marketplace of ideas. Framed by PEN America’s recent report, And Campus for All: Diversity, Inclusion, and Free Speech at US Universities, Monday’s afternoon session at ACE2017 moderated by ACE’s Lorelle L. Espinosa focused on the dual tension of free expression and inclusion on American campuses.

Deep Economic Development: Partnerships That Are Reshaping Universities and Their Communities

In an ACE2017 panel moderated by ACE’s Louis Soares, presidents Jim Clements (Clemson University) and Gail Mellow (LaGuardia Community College) and Vice President for Economic Development James Woodell (Association of Public and Land-grant Universities) shared insights into the role of higher education in economic development as well as information on partnerships their institutions have undertaken in recent years.

Revamping the Presidential Toolkit Is a Collective Effort

On the final day of ACE2017, Lynn Gangone, vice president for ACE Leadership, Josh Wyner, vice president and executive director of the Aspen Institute’s College Excellence Program, and higher education author and columnist Jeff Selingo joined me for a conversation about the skills and competencies needed by college and university presidents to successfully lead their institutions in today’s day and age.

Diverse Faculty for Diverse Students: How Two Leaders Are Transforming Their Approach

As a Latino and an equity-minded scholar, I often find myself engaged in conversations and attending conference sessions on topics of diversity with other people of color. This is often the case whether I’m at a scholarly conference or most recently at ACE2017, a conference for senior-level administrators including chancellors, presidents, provosts and chief academic officers and deans.

Connections Between Instructional Quality, Student Outcomes and Institutional Finances

During a packed Sunday morning session at ACE2017, three panelists discussed the critical connections between effective classroom instruction, improved student outcomes and institutional efficiency. The session was part of a collaboration between ACE and Strada Education Network to produce research, white papers, and a quality framework on the topic.