Integration of Faith and Scholarship is not “a Given,” Even in Christian Colleges We know we need God to somehow be involved in what we do in our schools. Can Christian schools depend on standard secular methods to achieve spiritual goals? A slavish imitation of a standard academic model tends to leave Jesus out of […]
For the hundreds of small, private colleges and universities that enroll large numbers of “at-risk” students, proactive retention activities are necessary to keep the school solvent. However, while maintaining retention is much discussed, it is rarely addressed in any productive way that sees results. How should schools improve student retention? Too many institutions focus, instead, on […]
Results of Funding Terrorist Training Before the Islamic State dreamed of taking over the world, Osama Bin Laden planned it, prayed for it, promoted it, and finally—he impacted. A key part of his plan focused on funding—funding for training. By promoting violence as a holy duty, Bin Laden recruited young men to training camps, graduating […]
An ‘A’ Does Not Equal Effective Higher Education Assumptions regarding classroom success permeate the education system and families of individual students. For many an ‘A’ is the ultimate prize, a ‘B’ is disappointing, and a ‘C’ may signal inadequacy. Society as a whole, represented by the educational and family structure, seems to confirm this thought. […]
Many business officers holding the title of CFO are really bookkeepers. This is dangerous for the institution and for the employee. An institution hiring a CFO should receive high-level financial management. An unqualified CFO puts him/her self in a precarious position if all he or she is doing is record-keeping and reporting when your employer […]
In the current economic climate when administrators are under pressure to reduce expenses and still increase productivity, they may be tempted to limit professional memberships to one staff member per organization, or they might cut the budget for joining any association altogether. This may be especially true when it comes to the budget allocation for libraries. […]
“Draftee’s Prayer” Dear Lord, today I go to war: To fight, to die, Tell me what for? Dear Lord, I’ll fight, I do not fear, Germans or Japs; My fears are here. America! —Excerpt of the 1943 “Draftee’s Prayer,” quoted in A People’s History of the United States ♥ Nearly one million high school students […]
I have been in a classroom of one kind or another since 1967. I got the call to teach, while serving in the United States Peace Corps in a small mountain village of 8,000 inhabitants at 13,000 feet in the Andes Mountains of Peru. I say “call” because I truly feel that serving in any […]
Sometimes a board member gives nothing other than useless advice. Jesus prayed all night before choosing his disciples. Have you ever wished you had done the same before recommending certain people to join the board? Or, were you stuck with appointed members, people who would not have chosen to serve the school, but who are […]
“Our job is to educate, and any involvement with Financial Aid will just complicate our mission.” Historically, that has been the mindset of academia in general and the administrative divisions of colleges, universities and seminaries, in particular. This is especially true as education access becomes more complex, including such delivery methods as massive open online […]
