Features
Many American colleges should be proud of how they navigated COVID-19. The next draft of history should reflect their success.
Campuses across the country are moving toward a more a sustainable set of pandemic-response practices—a transition with which much of society is struggling. Longwood University’s Justin Pope thinks history will show that many liberal arts colleges were in the lead, both in 2020 and today.
The Changing Landscape of Partnerships in International Education
COVID-19 has undoubtedly altered the higher education internationalization landscape, most significantly in the prioritization of lasting, high-value partnerships. Gone are the days of signing memoranda of understanding for the sake of ceremony, and here to stay are meaningful and sustainable partnerships—for both parties—many with a focus on student mobility.
Time is Running Out to Make Simple Fixes to GI Bill Education Benefits
Changes are needed to the Isakson-Roe Act of 2020 so service members and their families can get the most our of their education benefits. Can Congress get this done?
Smith College Replaces Student Loans With Grants, Making Access and Equity a Priority
Beginning in fall 2022, Smith College will replace federal loans with institutional grants for all current and future undergraduates. Smith President Kathleen McCartney explains the three reasons that drove this decision.
How Centering Learner Success Helped Us Face a Year in Flux
While launching a new program requires a great deal of thinking and planning, few would have imagined the sudden emergence of the global pandemic that upended all our well laid plans in 2020 and 2021. Fortunately, the inaugural cohort of the ACE Learner Success Lab (LSL) not only pivoted successfully to a virtual environment, but learned to collaborate and thrive.
Veterans Need Colleges to Keep Some Pandemic-Driven Changes
The flexibility that colleges and universities introduced during the pandemic provided an unexpected benefit for student veterans that shouldn’t be thrown out if and when the world can go back to normal, write Warrior-Scholar Project CEO Ryan Pavel and Amy Bernard of the Bush Institute.
Virtual Learning Can Be a Gateway to Increasing Equity in Higher Education
Much remains uncertain about what the fall 2021 semester will bring, but it’s increasingly obvious that expanded online offerings will be a welcome development—both now and for many years to come. Read more from Joseph I. Castro, chancellor of The California State University.
Bringing Jobs and Workers Together in the New Skills Economy
Bridging the disconnect between learners and employers requires a new approach to help open opportunities for people who have historically been underserved by the current system. Can blockchain help fill these gaps?
A Trauma-Informed Lens for Addressing Race-Based Incidents on Campus
As campuses deal with the impact of COVID-19 and systemic racism, campus leaders have an opportunity to make sustainable, structurally supported change that provides foundations for reparation, reconciliation, and healing for campus communities.
Do Institutions Really Know What Is Going on With Their Students’ Mental Health?
A number of studies, articles and blog posts in recent years have hinted that campuses are figuratively hanging off of a mental health cliff. Kate Wolfe-Lyga and Marcus Hotaling write that while numerous factors that have likely contributed to this increase in need, the main concern is whether colleges and universities have the capacity to support their students’ mental health.
The Advantages of Being a New President in a Virtual World
Cathy Sandeen joined Cal State East Bay as president in the middle of the pandemic. To her surprise, virtual leadership has had unmistakable upsides.
Shared Equity Leadership: Transforming Campus Communities Is a Collective Responsibility
Shared equity leadership can help dismantle the systems that perpetuate inequities by drawing upon the strengths of a range of campus stakeholders rather than the perspective of a single leader.