IngenioUs

According to Dr. Tia Brown McNair and the co-authors of her recent book, From Equity Talk to Equity Walk, rhetoric alone about equity, diversity and inclusion won't get the job done in higher education.  During our recent conversation with Dr. Brown McNair, we learn more about what it takes to make equity work stick including having leaders willing to examine their own perceptions of equity, elevating antiracism as an institutional priority by calling out institutionalized racism, and pursuing a facilitated approach to cultural change that helps individuals decipher, from a racial standpoint, the assumptions, implicit theories and values underlying their ways of doing things, among other things.  While there are institutions that are making progress on the equity walk in certain areas, none have fully dismantled institutional racism suggests Brown McNair. This transformation is ongoing and requires higher levels of intentionality and full engagement of educators, accountability, honesty and healing. 

In this IngenioUs Mini episode, we hear from nationally renowned expert on college student recruitment, Jeff Kallay, co-founder of Render Experiences (now RNL+Render), the leading firm for campus visit experiences.  As a respected authority on the emerging “experience economy,” Jeff’s presentations on American generations with particular expertise on the current youth generation and their parents, help colleges and organizations understand generational differences and how to best connect with each unique peer group.

In this episode, Bay Path professor, Dr. Lauren Way talks with Jeff about his upcoming webinar in the Leading Edge Thinking in Higher Ed series, scheduled for December 13, 2021, 12-1 pm (EST).  To register click here.

Based on his latest best-selling book, Failure to Disrupt, it is clear that Justin Reich believes that a digital transformation is, at its core, a very human endeavor. In this week’s IngenioUs episode with the MIT professor, learning scientist and director of the MIT Teaching Systems Lab, Justin separates truth from hype and helps us understand what technology can—and can’t—do to transform learning. According to Reich, learning technologies―even those that are free to access―often provide the greatest benefit to affluent students and do little to combat growing inequality in education. Listen here for Justin’s clear, balanced and insightful take on the failure of technology in learning, what needs to be done to make a real impact, and the critical importance of education as community.

With two doctorates and an MBA, Dr. Mary Beth Cooper was clearly qualified to assume the presidency of Springfield College.  Now in her 9th year, President Cooper has instituted several new innovative partnerships and initiatives that have extended Springfield College's impact in the community and she has gained a reputation as a mission-driven and highly strategic, student-centric leader.  During our conversation we learn about her journey to the presidency, how she thinks about innovation, why she puts so much emphasis on building a strong and collaborative senior leadership team, and her thoughts about the future of the four-year degree. 

Is it time to reform higher education accreditation?  David Staley thinks so.  In his latest IngenioUs blog, he suggests it is time to design a new category of accreditation agency that can accommodate innovative and outside-the-box activities.  According to Staley: 'With an innovation accreditor guiding them and granting them permission, colleges and universities might be unleashed to tackle the unimaginative uniformity that afflicts so much of higher education.'  See here for his blog article.

In this episode, we speak with the pioneering scholar, poet, Dominican immigrant and remarkably inspiring higher education leader, Dr. Daisy Cocco De Filippis, who recently returned to her beloved Eugenio María de Hostos Community College of The City University of New York to serve as President.  A highly student-centric leader, Daisy's tenure as a faculty member, dean, provost and two-time president is marked by a series of bold and wise actions which have strengthened the learning environment and student experience.  During our conversation we learn about the influences that have shaped Daisy's approach to leadership, her love of poetry and the humanities, her belief in the goodness of others and what it is like to be on the receiving end of one of those unsolicited phone calls and gifts from the philanthropist MacKenzie Scott.

In this week’s episode, we speak with educational entrepreneur and innovator of one of higher ed’s most revolutionary experiments, Shai Reshef. Shai is founder and president of The University of the People, the world’s first and only nonprofit, tuition-free, American accredited online university. Driven by a personal passion to provide higher ed access to qualified individuals regardless of geographic, financial or societal constraints, President Reshef has been recognized worldwide for his work including being named as one of Fast Company’s 100 Most creative People in Business. There is a great deal that we can learn from the University of the People’s ultra-low cost college degree model including how to structure a learning experience with what matters most at the core.

Transformational change leadership is all the buzz these days.  And yet, very few leaders have been trained or are skilled in how to actually pull it off.  In this episode, we speak with one of higher ed’s foremost experts on transformational change leadership, someone who has been in the trenches leading organizations through significant, successful change processes:Dr. Wallace Pond.  Having served for decades in multiple CEO, executive, and partnership roles, Wallace is both realistic and insightful about the need today for a new model of leadership.  During our conversation we discuss his recently released book, Leadership in the Real World: Hard Won Lessons from Twenty Years as a Chief Executive in Turbulent Times (2020), and he shares his insights about how leaders can increase their self-knowledge and why compassion and humility are so important today for effective leadership.   

Be sure to register for the upcoming Leading Edge in Higher Education webinar Game Changing Leadership in Times of Profound Change which will be presented by Dr. Pond.  The webinar is free and online and is scheduled for October 20th at 12 - 1 pm (EST).  To register: https://www.baypath.edu/events-calendar/details/game-changing-leadership-in-times-of-profound-change/2021-10-20/

As a highly successful two-time college president, provost and award winning teacher, Dr. Marjorie Hass is very well informed about the challenges facing college and university leaders.  And yet, she is both hopeful and realistic about the future and what leaders need to know and do to navigate these dynamic times.  Recently elected as the first woman president of The Council of Independent Colleges and a philosopher by training, Dr. Hass is the author of a just released and widely acclaimed book, A Leadership Guide for Women in Higher Education (JHU Press, 2021).

In this kick-off episode for Season 3, we talk with Dr. Hass about her impressive professional journey and we are inspired by her insights about what it takes to lead in today's environment while retaining one's sense of self and find joy and purpose in the work.  

For a very long time now, higher education has trended toward growth.  Indeed, the emergence of a new class of organizational type, e.g., the mega university, reflects a business strategy that many institutions are emulating; a strategy rooted in a belief that one's survival in this increasingly competitive environment is best assured through increasing scale.  In this latest IngenioUs blog article, David Staley, Ph.D. suggests another way forward for smaller colleges and universities.  Citing a recent Chronicle of Higher Education article by Scott Carlson, Staley suggests that small colleges might ensure their future through a de-scaled strategy that offers an educational experience at human scale.