colleges

Reflections on “As bomb threats keep targeting HBCUs, 64 higher ed groups tell Congress to act” [Spitalniak]

On 02/17/2022, in 21st century, colleges, ethics, political science, society, sociology, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

As bomb threats keep targeting HBCUs, 64 higher ed groups tell Congress to act — from highereddive.com by Laura Spitalniak

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

More than a dozen HBCUs have been forced to clear campuses and cancel in-person classes following bomb threats this year. Fisk University, in Tennessee, issued a shelter-in-place order Monday after receiving a series of threats. The same day, Howard University, in Washington, D.C., received a bomb threat for the fourth time since the beginning of January and told students and employees to stay indoors.

All-clear notices have since been issued for both Fisk U and Howard U.

‘You’re Not Safe as a Black Person’: New Round of Bomb Threats Rattles HBCUs — from chronicle.com by Oyin Adedoyin

Excerpt:

The recent string of bomb threats across a handful of historically Black colleges and universities has sparked fear within higher education’s Black community. “This is probably one of the clearest examples of hate crimes based on race,” said Paulette Granberry Russell, the president of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education.

From DSC:
Some of the institutions I saw mentioned were:

Bowie State University, Howard University, Albany State University, Bethune-Cookman University, Southern University and A&M College, and Delaware State University

Can you imagine if this happened at Harvard, Yale, Northwestern, Stanford, and/or similar institutions? You and I both know that if students there kept having to put up with bomb threats and having their in-person classes canceled, there would be hell to pay! There would be a lot more heat in the kitchen. A lot more noise. A lot more overall societal concern.

For me, the bottom line is that this situation is horribly wrong. It’s downright evil. I hope it gets resolved soon, though I have to say that I’m not as hopeful as I’d like to be in this 21st century of ours here in the United States…where I continue to be amazed at our lack of unity, respect, compassion, and caring for other people. The amount of racism and hate crimes in our country is just horribly wrong.

On somewhat related notes, see:

Where HBCU grads are thriving — from linkedin.com by McKenna Moore

Excerpt:

Promotion rates for graduates of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) rose 4.94% in 2021 from the previous year, according to insights from LinkedIn’s data on over 600,000 HBCU alumni. The industries that outperform others in promoting HBCU grads include energy and mining, software and IT services, hardware and networking, finance and manufacturing. And the specific job functions that lead to the best chance of promotion for these alumni are program and project management, marketing, human resources, business development and accounting.

Black talent on the fast track: these 10 paths stand out for HBCU graduates — from linkedin.com by George Anders

Excerpt:

All told, more than 600,000 graduates of HBCUs such as Spelman have profiles on LinkedIn. That makes it possible for LinkedIn’s Economic Graph team to analyze the career paths that these alumni have chosen – and to extract insights about promotion rates by job types, gender and in comparison to non-HBCU graduates.

The overall picture that emerges from this data includes a wide list of career paths where HBCU alumni are thriving, as well as signs that overall gaps between HBCU graduates’ promotion rates and non-HBCU trends haven’t yet closed.

Giving to Community Colleges and HBCUs Soared Last Year — from philanthropy.com by Dan Parks

Addendum on 2/19/22:

Morgan State, Southern Poverty Law Center leaders testify on bomb threats against HBCUs — from highereddive.com by Laura Spitalniak

What can institutions do to get ahead of a fast-changing higher ed market? [Spitalniak]

On 02/17/2022, in change, changing business models, colleges, community colleges, future, future of higher education, higher education, ideas, innovation, leadership, learning ecosystem, pace of change, strategy, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

What can institutions do to get ahead of a fast-changing higher ed market? — from highereddive.com by Laura Spitalniak

Excerpts:

Universities must prepare for a future where students could demand degrees, low-cost options or asynchronous learning. Otherwise, institutions risk becoming obsolete, according to a recent report from consulting firm EY.
Four key recommendations to education leaders are highlighted: Be clear about long-term purpose, consider possible future scenarios when making today’s choices, find leadership talent from other sectors that have already had to reinvent themselves, and invest across current and future time horizons.

Holograms? Check! Now what? [Bieniek @ Webex]

On 02/17/2022, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, 3D, A/V -- audio/visual, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, colleges, communications, community colleges, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, experimentation, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, Holographic comms, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), immersion, innovation, instructional design, intelligent tutoring, K-12 related, law schools, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning preferences, learning spaces, Legal operations, library / librarians, Metaverse, multimedia, Natural Language Processing (NLP), online learning, online media, online tutoring, participation, smart/connected TV, society, teaching online, technologies for your home, telelegal, telemedicine / telehealth / virtual health, tools, training / L&D, ubiquitous learning, universities, user experience (UX), vendors, videoconferencing, Virtual courts and law firms, virtual field trips, virtual K-12 schools, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, virtual tutoring, vision/possibilities, visualizing information, vocational / trades, voice recognition / voice enabled interfaces, web-based collaboration, Web3, by Daniel Christian

Holograms? Check! Now what? — from blog.webex.com by Elizabeth Bieniek

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Two years ago, I wrote about the Future of Meetings in 2030 and hinted at an effort my team was building to make this a reality. Now, we have publicly unveiled Webex Hologram and brought the reality of a real-time, end-to-end holographic meeting solution to life.

With Webex Hologram, you can feel co-located with a colleague who is thousands of miles away. You can share real objects in incredible multi-dimensional detail and collaborate on 3D content to show perspective, share, and approve design changes in real-time, all from the comfort of your home workspace.

As the hype dies down, the focus on entirely virtual experiences in fanciful environments will abate and a resurgence in focus on augmented experiences—interjecting virtual content into the physical world around you for an enhanced experience that blends the best of physical and virtual—will emerge.

The ability to have curated information at one’s fingertips, still holds an incredible value prop that has yet to be realized. Applying AI to predict, find, and present this type of augmented information in both 2D and 3D formats will become incredibly useful.

From DSC:
As I think of some of the categories that this posting about establishing a new kind of co-presence relates to, there are many relevant ones:

21st century
24x7x365
3D
Audio/Visual (A/V)
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Cloud-based
Collaboration/web-based collaboration
Intelligent tutoring
Law schools, legal, government
Learning, learning agents, learning ecosystems, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning spaces/hubs/pods
Libraries/librarians
K-12, higher education, corporate training
Metaverse
Online learning
Telelegal, telemedicine
Videoconferencing
Virtual courts, virtual tutoring, virtual field trips
Web3

Exploring Virtual Reality [VR] learning experiences in the classroom [Dene Poth]

On 02/14/2022, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, adjunct faculty, attention, Augmented Reality (AR), colleges, community colleges, corporate universities / corporate training, digital audio, digital learning, digital storytelling, digital textbooks, digital video, drama/theater, education technology, educational games / serious games, emerging technologies, Emotion, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, faculty, higher education, Holographic comms, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, interactivity, IT in HE, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning preferences, media/film, Metaverse, Mixed Reality (MR), more voice more choice more control, multimedia, smart/connected TV, storytelling, streams of content, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, technologies for your home, telecommunications, telepresence, television, tools, training / L&D, transmedia, ubiquitous learning, United States, universities, user experience (UX), vendors, videoconferencing, virtual K-12 schools, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, virtual tutoring, vision/possibilities, vocational / trades, wearables, web-based collaboration, XR - extended reality, by Daniel Christian

Exploring Virtual Reality [VR] learning experiences in the classroom — from blog.neolms.com by Rachelle Dene Poth

Excerpt:

With the start of a new year, it is always a great time to explore new ideas or try some new methods that may be a bit different from what we have traditionally done. I always think it is a great opportunity to stretch ourselves professionally, especially after a break or during the spring months.

Finding ways to boost student engagement is important, and what I have found is that by using tools like Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR), we can immerse students in unique and personalized learning experiences. The use of augmented and virtual reality has increased in K-12 and Higher Ed, especially during the past two years, as educators have sought new ways to facilitate learning and give students the chance to connect more with the content. The use of these technologies is increasing in the workplace, as well.

With all of these technologies, we now have endless opportunities to take learning beyond what has been a confined classroom “space” and access the entire world with the right devices.

Higher ed groups call for stricter oversight of accreditors [Bauer-Wolf]

On 02/14/2022, in accreditation, business side of he, change, collaboration, colleges, community colleges, future of higher education, higher education, learning ecosystem, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

Higher ed groups call for stricter oversight of accreditors — from highereddive.com by Jeremy Bauer-Wolf

Dive Brief:

Sixteen experts and advocacy organizations in higher education are calling for stricter U.S. Department of Education oversight of accreditors, particularly in how they handle colleges with poor student outcomes.
The groups and individuals wrote to the Education Department late last month recommending ways to make the evaluation process for accreditors more transparent and asking agency officials to more closely scrutinize several major accreditors up for review in February 2023.
Among their suggestions were that the Education Department should make certain documents public early in the process of accreditors seeking department approval, that it should spend more time reviewing accreditors that control access to federal financial aid funds than to those that do not, and that it should develop new regulations to make sure accreditors consider how institutions are serving disadvantaged students.

Another component of the perfect storm within higher education?

On 02/14/2022, in Alternatives, business side of he, colleges, cost of getting a degree, future of higher education, higher education, law schools, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

Wages and Salaries Up 5% for Private Industry Workers in 2021, Less Than Inflation
— from shrm.org by Stephen Miller
Labor costs increased at the highest rate in two decades

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

However, when adjusted for inflation, “constant dollar” private wages and salaries fell 1.9 percent for the 12 months ending December 2021.

Consumer prices rose 7 percent year-over-year in December 2021, the largest 12-month increase in nearly 40 years, the BLS reported on Jan. 12, adding pressure on employers to raise wages going into 2022.

From DSC:
Real wages not keeping up with the rate of inflation here in the United States…this doesn’t look good for the higher education industry here. This could be yet another component of the perfect storm within higher education.

L&D Go Beyond Podcast: Writing Better Multiple-Choice Questions to Assess Learning — from upsidelearning.com by Amit Garg and Patti Shank

Excerpt:

In this episode of the L&D Go Beyond podcast, Amit Garg interacts with Patti Shank, President Learning Peaks LLC. They talk about a very interesting topic – Writing Better Multiple-Choice Questions (MCQs) to Assess Learning.

Higher Ed Dive’s 2022 Outlooks [Higher Ed Dive Staff]

On 02/12/2022, in colleges, community colleges, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, legislatures / government / legal, policy, trends, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

Higher Ed Dive’s 2022 Outlooks — from highereddive.com by Higher Ed Dive Staff
Here are the trends and questions facing higher education that we’re watching, from enrollment pressures to key court cases and for-profit colleges’ future.

Excerpt:

In the first few weeks of the new year, we looked ahead at important trends to watch and questions to ask for college administrators — and any other leaders who care deeply about the higher education sector.

These 2022 outlooks offer a chance to step back and take stock of issues that will be with us through the year. We gathered them here for you in once place.

These 3 charts show the global growth in online learning [Wood]

On 02/12/2022, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, adult learning, Africa, Alternatives, Asia, business side of he, Canada, change, changing business models, colleges, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, cost of getting a degree, digital learning, Europe, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, generational differences, global / globalization, higher education, India, instructional design, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning preferences, lifelong learning, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, online learning, UK, United States, universities, vendors, by Daniel Christian

These 3 charts show the global growth in online learning — from weforum.org by Johnny Wood; with thanks to Ray Schroeder out on LinkedIn

Example chart:

Also relevant/see:

2U plans for international expansion as it integrates operations with edX — from highereddive.com by Natalie Schwartz
Coursera bets on degrees — a small but growing part of the business — from highereddive.com by Natalie Schwartz

The company has launched 13 new degrees with colleges since 2021, bringing the total number of bachelor’s, master’s and postgraduate degrees up to 38, according to Maggioncalda.

…

2U saw $152.4 million from its degree segment in 2021’s fourth quarter, about 11 times the revenue Coursera brought in from its degree business over the same period.

Will this be the straw that breaks the camel’s back? [Christian]

On 02/08/2022, in 21st century, Alternatives, colleges, cost of getting a degree, Daniel S. Christian, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

DC: Will this be the straw that breaks the camel’s back?#highereducation #future #alternatives #costofhighereducation https://t.co/3wm8j5gpIe

— Daniel Christian (he/him/his) (@dchristian5) February 7, 2022

Addendum on 2/12/22:

Tuition, fees continues to rise as pandemic inflation woes hit colleges — from nbcnews.com by Jon Marcus
Inflation is pushing up college tuition and fees while staff shortages are forcing wages and benefits higher. The squeeze comes at the worst possible time for higher education.

Nice to see this discussion from higher education leaders re: K-12 [Christian]

On 02/07/2022, in career development, collaboration, colleges, community colleges, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, curriculum, Daniel S. Christian, higher education, ideas, innovation, instructional design, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, skills, training / L&D, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Students first in K-12: A conversation with Paul LeBlanc — from michaelbhorn.com

Speakers:

Paul LeBlanc, President, Southern New Hampshire University and Author, Student First
Lisa Hite-McIntyre, Vice President, Learning Innovation (Moderator)
Michael Horn, Founder, Clayton Christensen Institute
Dennis Littky, Co-Founder, Big Picture Learning
Lisa Scruggs, Partner, Duane Morris LLC

From DSC:
I wish there were more collaborations and/or discussions like this — i.e., those that involve leaders/administrators, teachers/faculty, instructional designers, curriculum planners, etc. from both K-12 and higher education.

Then, on the other side of the fence, it would be good to have these same folks within K-12 and within higher education talk with leaders in the corporate and vocational worlds — as we need better alignment.

Rethinking the Faculty Role in Students’ Career Readiness — from insidehighered.com by Rachel Toor; with thanks to Ryan Craig for this solid, well-written resource
It’s time for all of us on campuses, not just the people in career services, to step up and help offer the competencies employers say they’re looking for, Rachel Toor writes.

Excerpts:

Career centers on campuses can offer students coaching, resources and connections. But, as Angle points out, they tend to be a just-in-time service. They are also, he says, “scary places for a lot of students.” Many young people don’t want to face the reality of life after graduation. Often, it’s a case of too little, too late.

Instead, they come to people they know—professors like me—for help with cover letters and résumés. And while I can comment on language, until recently I had no idea about how most résumés are read first by a version of R2-D2 and his little robot friends who make up automated tracking systems. If an applicant doesn’t include the right keywords in a résumé or cover letter, into the trash bin they go.

The truth is, I have not applied for a job in 15 years; for many of my colleagues it’s been even longer, and some of them have never worked outside academe. It’s not surprising that employers are seeing recent college grads—smart students, hard workers—who don’t know how to present themselves as potential employees.

From DSC:
I can relate to that part about R2-D2 reading the resumes first (i.e., trying to get by the Applicant Tracking Systems before one’s resume ever makes it in front of the eyes of a fellow human being). Many faculty/staff members and members of administrations haven’t been out interviewing in a long while. So it can be a rude awakening when they/we need to do that.

Also, I wanted to say that it’s not fair to assess the learners coming out of higher education using a different set of learning objectives:

That is, faculty members within higher ed have one set of learning objectives and their students work hard to learn and meet those learning objectives. Unfortunately, those students did what was asked of them, and then they…
…come to find out that the corporate/business/legal/etc. worlds have different ideas about what they should know and be able to do. That is, these other organizations and communities of practice are assessing them on different sets of learning objectives that these same students didn’t cover. Some (many?) of these graduates leave their interviews discouraged and think, “Well, it must be me.” Or they can leave frustrated and angry at their former institutions who didn’t prepare them for this new assessment.

As I’ve said on this blog before, this disconnect is not fair to the students/graduates. We need more mechanisms by which faculty and staff members within higher ed can work more collaboratively with those within the corporate world to better align the learning objectives and the curriculum being covered. If this doesn’t occur more frequently, the constant appearance and growth of new alternatives will likely continue to build further momentum (as they should, given the incredibly steep price of obtaining a degree these days!).

P.S. This disconnect of learning objectives can also be found in what happens with legal education — including having to pass today’s Bar Exams — and then these graduates get out into the real world to find employers who are frustrated that these graduates don’t have the “right”/necessary skills.

“The incentive structure is for law schools to teach students how to pass the bar exam, not necessarily to do the things that employers expect,” Gallini said.

A quote from this article, which I also
want to thank Ryan Craig for.

Unsung Campus: 5 Jobs Powering the Modern College

On 01/31/2022, in career development, colleges, community colleges, Daniel S. Christian, higher education, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

Unsung Campus: 5 Jobs Powering the Modern College

DC: And there are many more *staff* positions that could be included here.#highereducation
https://t.co/JA1L45u6hx

— Daniel Christian (he/him/his) (@dchristian5) January 31, 2022

What Makes a Great School Website Design [with Practical Tips and Examples]

On 01/30/2022, in business side of he, colleges, communications, community colleges, design, education, higher education, ideas, K-12 related, marketing/social marketing, parents/guardians, social media, universities, web design and production, by Daniel Christian

What Makes a Great School Website Design [with Practical Tips and Examples] — from graphicmama.com by Boril Obreshkov

Excerpt:

A school website is much more than means to list information online. It’s the front gate to your school community, representing its values and philosophy. A well-made school website design and structure can help build a reputation for the institution, create an entire concept for how first-time visitors will view it, and ultimately give the school an advantage over competitor schools. In this article, we’ll talk about what makes a great school website, with many examples and practical tips on how to improve your virtual hub of knowledge!

Things Great School Websites
Have in Common >>

Also relevant/see:

Digital branding is key for everyone in education — from thetechedvocate.org by Matthew Lynch

Excerpt:

People in the educational sector tend to face lots of competition. Currently, there are tons of colleges, universities, and most training centers. This means that there’s a high need for everyone in education to venture into the building and create a unique identity for their brands. In this way, people can have the opportunity to stay ahead of their competitors in a tangible manner.

One way that this can be achieved is through educational digital branding. It’s a cost-effective and more efficient means of targeting the right audience. In this piece, we will talk about how you can implement digital branding, especially in education.

You are using your school website wrong — from thetechedvocate.org by Matthew Lynch

Excerpt:

Part of the problem is that developing and maintaining a useful school website is quite a big undertaking but isn’t super urgent. Because of this, it often falls through the cracks. Another issue can be ownership of the project.

Let’s take a look at some of the most common mistakes made when designing and keeping school websites.

S&P raises view of higher ed sector for 2022, but colleges’ fortunes are diverging [Seltzer]

On 01/30/2022, in business side of he, colleges, dangers of the status quo, higher education, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning preferences, online learning, reinvent, skills, staying relevant, strategy, surviving, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

S&P raises view of higher ed sector for 2022, but colleges’ fortunes are diverging — from highereddive.com by Rick Seltzer

Excerpts:

S&P Global Ratings revised its view of the U.S. not-for-profit higher education sector to stable, ending four years of negative outlooks even as it said it is monitoring divergence in fortunes between strong and weak institutions in the market.

Some stressed institutions will be able to leverage high-value real estate, branding or strong programs into a merger or affiliation, according to the ratings agency. But with colleges competing for often-shrinking pools of students, S&P expects more closures — especially of small, regional, private liberal arts colleges.

Also see:

Breaking Down Online Postsecondary Enrollment Growth in the United States — from holoniq.com
Welcome to the multi-speed online enrollment economy. The highs and the lows of the top 20+ institutions.

Digital capability is arguably the number one priority for US universities and colleges. Postsecondary enrollments in the United States are in decline, institutions are bracing for a much bigger 2025 enrollment crash (due to a falling birthrate from the last recession) and a tight labor market is encouraging employers to drop requirements such as degrees and instead embrace faster, cheaper and higher ROI online up-skilling programs.

Learning Ecosystems

Reflections on “As bomb threats keep targeting HBCUs, 64 higher ed groups tell Congress to act” [Spitalniak]

What can institutions do to get ahead of a fast-changing higher ed market? [Spitalniak]

Higher ed groups call for stricter oversight of accreditors [Bauer-Wolf]

Another component of the perfect storm within higher education?

Higher Ed Dive’s 2022 Outlooks [Higher Ed Dive Staff]

These 3 charts show the global growth in online learning [Wood]

Will this be the straw that breaks the camel’s back? [Christian]

Reflections on “Rethinking the Faculty Role in Students’ Career Readiness” [Toor]

Unsung Campus: 5 Jobs Powering the Modern College

S&P raises view of higher ed sector for 2022, but colleges’ fortunes are diverging [Seltzer]

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