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Matthew Lynch published in Equity, HBCU's, Matthew Lynch

3 Easy Ways New Teachers Can Organize for Maximum Success Before School Starts

As the new school year begins, most students look forward to joining their new class, and as a new teacher, you hope to make this academic school year as effective for your students as possible. Being a superstar teacher brings to mind engaging your students and upholding your standards, but the truth is that much of your success will actually come from the efforts you make before your students even set foot in the classroom. Staying organized is actually very important and will save you from a lot of headache later on. Here are three organization-related tips to use that will set you and your students up for success before they even set foot into your classroom.

  1. Arrange your classroom in a way that works best for you and your students.

The set up and layout of the classroom will determine the ease with which the children can move around the classroom. When setting up a classroom, you also want to consider your teaching style. Here are just a few things you should consider when deciding the layout of the classroom.

Teacher’s desk. In the traditional setting, this is one item that is generally kept in the far corner of the room or toward one wall in order to avoid the teacher’s desk being in the middle of high traffic. On the other hand, if your approach to instruction is likely to be more flexible and interactive, you might want to have the teacher’s desk closer to the students’ tables and chairs.

Students’ desks. The layout of students’ desks depends on the kind of interaction that you want with students. For example, for sessions that involve direct instructions, it is best for students to face the front of the room. On the other hand, when you want students to work in groups, it may be better to group students in clusters.
Overhead projector or multimedia projector screen. Remember to keep the screen at a height and angle that allows everyone to see the screen easily. You can make sure of this by sitting in each seat to determine if you can view the screen comfortably from all positions.

Classroom supplies. Keep frequently used items closer to the students. Items used less often can be stored in a cabinet. The pencil sharpener and trash should be kept slightly away from the students to avoid distraction.

Announcement board. Decorate the board to liven up the classroom, as well as to communicate with students about important events during the academic year. Consider these suggestions:

  1. Make the board colorful with project work that has been completed by students.
    b. Put up a “quote of the day” that is relevant, inspirational, and motivating. You may also make this a revolving duty of the students.
    c. Allow students to put up pictures of places they visited on a holiday.
  2. Make sure you have all your supplies handy.

Okay, so now you have decided on the layout of your classroom and feel that you are ready for the new a new batch of students. Not really! There are many other things that you need to prepare before you can feel comfortable about welcoming your new students.

Being an organized teacher will make your life a whole lot easier; trust me. If you have your materials and supplies in one place, you will not have to frantically look for folders or paper clips at the last minute. It will also help your classroom management efforts and decrease the frequency of classroom disruptions and misbehavior. Ensure you have the following supplies:

  • Textbooks
    • Plan books
    • Classroom reading books
    • Attendance register
    • Paper clips
    • Grade book
    • Rubber bands
    • Stapler and staple pins
    • Tissue
    • Pencil, pens, erasers and pencil sharpeners
    • Tapes of different kinds
    • Folders and folder tags

Take home packets are also a must for students at the start of the New Year. This packet helps you communicate important information to students and their parents. If you keep parents informed from the beginning, you have made the first step in building strong parent-teacher relationships. Make sure that you include the following in the take home packet.

  • Welcome message to parents
    • School rules
    • Supply list
    • Emergency and approval forms to be signed by parents
    • Transport rules and bus route
  1. Organize your cabinets.

From the very beginning of the school year, there is so much paperwork that a teacher needs to keep track of. As a result, your cabinets can quickly look as if though they have been hit by a tornado—overflowing with folders, teaching materials, handmade cards from students, and other supplies. Use these tips to keep your cabinet organized and in order:

  • Create a designated place for your material. All folders should be marked and kept in one place. There should also be a separate place for personal belongings.
  • Highlight all original copies of master sheets with a yellow colored highlighter, to tell you that this is the master, preventing you from giving it away or losing it.
    Label all your files and folders, and mark the worksheets based on the folder that they need to go into. Once you have identified the specific folders that each worksheet goes into, you can ask a student or volunteer to help you with the filing.
  • Many times there are some sessions in a year that require more material than others. If you feel that material from one session is crowding your cabinet, try putting all the relevant teaching material into one box. Remember to label it and store it in a cabinet in the classroom. You can then find all the required material ready for use when the time comes.

Then, every three months go through everything in your cabinet and throw away any unnecessary items. When you discard items, put them in a carton labeled as ‘free’ and let everyone know that they can dig around to see if they can use anything. Something that you discard may be useful to someone else.

Bonus tip: Do these during the first week of school to stay in control.

Completion of items on the following checklist will surely help you feel more comfortable, organized, and in control when the horde of excited students appear at your door on the first day of school!

  • Prepare class rolls and records
    • Create nametags for each child
    • Get to know the schedule for each student, including gym, art, library and lunch
    schedules
    • Create a folder that can be used by a substitute teacher in case you are unable to
    make it to the school; this should include the daily schedule and seating chart
    • Create a file for each student that contains information about the child and
    • correspondence from parents
    • Develop tentative lesson plans for the next week and place them in a folder

By starting the year off with a bang, you are setting the tone for the rest of the school year. Instead of dealing with classroom management issues, organizational issues, and disgruntled parents, you will be able to enjoy a relatively stress free year. Good luck to you and I hope you have an outstanding year.

 

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Matthew Lynch published in Diversity, HBCU's, Higher Education

Are Colleges Doing Enough to close the Achievement Gap?

There’s a lot of talk in P-12 learning about how exactly to best close the achievement gap, or the space that separates traditionally advantaged students with those who have historically been at-risk where academics are concerned. By the time students get to college, the emphasis shifts slightly to focus more on the diversity of who is on a university campus and less on outcomes. Without the stringent assessments that are now synonymous with the P-12 process, colleges have an easier time simply making appearances when it comes to the true success of all students on their campuses.

This isn’t to say that there is no accountability – several independent associations and often the colleges themselves release data on graduation rates, post-grad employment rates, and even the amount of debt incurred by students. Yet when it comes to truly closing the achievement gap between students from all life backgrounds, ethnicities and races, P-12 institutions seem to be held to a higher standard than their 13 – 20 counterparts. This is not only a disservice to the students, but to the American population as a whole that then misses out on enjoying the innovation, advancement and prosperity that comes with a more highly educated public.

So how can colleges step up their game when it comes to closing the achievement gap?

What’s working

It’s only been in the last decade or so that colleges have begun to recognize that different students need different guidance to reach that graduation podium. It’s why a crop of programs designed for first-generation and minority college students are flourishing across the country. These initiatives run the gamut – from recruiting these students, to providing intense mentorship programs, to partnering with community businesses for job placement. Targeting the guidance of students based on their backgrounds is vital to getting them their degrees and all of this conscientious hard work by universities is certainly making a dent when it comes to higher achievement from traditionally at-risk college students.

Overall colleges are doing a better job in recent years of providing a full career arc before students set foot on campus. This gives them an idea of what to expect when it comes to the courses they will take, the mentorship programs available, the potential for internships, and the job placement initiatives. For students who are putting their working lives on hold to obtain a college degree, a greater understanding of what that means in long-term financial terms is necessary to convince them the leap to college life is a good one.

What needs work

For all of the strides college recruiting programs have made, there is still an overarching theme that recruiting new students is an isolated process. Get the kids on campus, then move on to the next batch. In reality, recruiting should be a very small part of a larger strategy that not only brings students of varied backgrounds to campus, but sustains them until graduation. Some schools are improving in this regard, but there’s still a lot of work needed to flip this mentality from one of solitude to solidarity with other student help groups.

The need for an affordable college education is mentioned so often that it seems that we are all becoming desensitized to it. The reality is that having affordable college, not just providing loans to students, will go a long way towards helping close the achievement gap. Initiatives like providing the first two years of community college for free to qualifying students, and even student loan forgiveness programs for high-demand jobs, are a few ways that the dream of a college degree can become more accessible to minority, first-generation and other at-risk students.

 

There’s a reason so much attention is paid to closing the achievement gap in P-12 classrooms: a better educated public means a stronger economy, greater industry competition on a global scale, and an overall better quality of life for all citizens. It is high time colleges stepped back from their diversity plans long enough to question whether those efforts are truly doing enough to close the country’s achievement gap for life. Continued targeted guidance throughout the college process, improved recruiting, and a bigger push for affordable college are a few ways that the U.S. college and university landscape can step up its efforts for equality in higher education achievement.

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Matthew Lynch published in Equity, HBCU's, list, Matthew Lynch, Mississippi

4 Interesting Facts about Education in Mississippi

Mississippi is my home state, and an interesting state at that. Some time ago I wrote an article about what MLK would say about education in Mississippi, and I wrote it because of some startling realities about education in this state. I brought up that 24% of people in the state are estimated to live below the poverty line, and that many of Mississippi’s poorest residents are children of color — many of them are black children. For this reason, among others, Mississippi may need special attention when it comes to addressing P-12 education.

Here are a few sobering facts about education in Mississippi.

  1. Public education in Mississippi is ranked last in the nation year after year. Public education in Mississippi ranked last, yet again, on Education Week’s Quality Counts report . The state received an “F” grade for academic achievement, and a “D” for the chance of success for students.

There is no easy fix for this. Even academic programs targeted for at-risk students can only go so far. With a poverty rate of 24 percent in the state, the problems that impact student success in classrooms extend far beyond it. To really see a difference in student outcomes, the state needs economic initiatives that boost the life quality of residents and give more opportunities to students once they are done with school. Recognizing that these outside factors go hand-in-hand with student outcomes in classrooms is the first step toward moving Mississippi out of last place and putting it on course to be a P-12 leader in the country…

  1. Mississippi is short on education funding—by $1.5 billion. Durant Public School teachers in Mississippi spend their evenings on the Internet, browsing for math and other problems to give their students because the school doesn’t have up-to-date textbooks.

School leaders say that new books aren’t in the budget, nor are reading coaches to help improve the districts academic rating of “D.” To save money, teachers and their assistants have already been reduced and administrators took pay cuts.

The troubles in Durant, located about 60 miles north of Jackson, illustrate a picture of the state as a whole. Mississippi legislators have ignored a state law and spend $1.5 billion less on education than what is required; the cuts in the state are the deepest in the country.

State funding was originally cut as tax revenues plunged during the recession. According to early estimates, the state could fall $280 million short again in 2016.

Durant has 588 students in grades K-12. The teacher turnover rate is high, and when new teachers are hired they tend to be recent graduates who are inexpensive to bring on board.

Sanders-Tate, the superintendent in Durant, dreams of raising the schools rating from a “D” to “A,” but knows it’s a challenge.

“When you don’t have what you need, you’ve got to make do,” Sanders-Tate said. “I’m tired of making do for the kids when they deserve the best like everyone else.”

  1. Mississippi has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the nation, with 50 births for every 1,000 young women between 15 and 19 years old. Despite this, attempts to educate young people in the state about safe sex practices have been met with hostility.

Alarmed by the high rates of teen pregnancy, and high number (76 percent) of high school students who report being sexually active by age 17 in the state, members of the business community lobbied the state to make sexual education courses mandatory in public schools. Those lobbying won a partial victory — but actual implementation of the rule has been slowed down in the religious and conservative state.

The Los Angeles Times reports that mother Marie Barnard was pleased when Mississippi made sex education mandatory after many decades of disallowing it. She was less than pleased, however, when she found out one of the “lessons” involved students passing around an unwrapped piece of chocolate candy and observing how “dirty” it became with more contact. The message does not provide an educated view on sex, or show respect to young people who have been sexually active, she said.

The candy example is just one way the noble goal to educate Mississippi’s youth about responsible sexual activity has gone awry. Part of the enacted law requires parents to sign a permission slip allowing their children to take sex ed courses in the first place. There are also issues of enforcement and the exact curriculum being taught. Individual districts, for example, can choose to implement abstinence-only sex education classes.

So it seems the battle for a sexually-informed generation in Mississippi wages on, even in public school classrooms.

  1. Mississippi received a grade of “B” for its early childhood programs, compared to a national average of “D+.” There is a silver lining to every cloud. Despite being one of the worst-performing states in many categories of education, Mississippi ranks second nationally when it comes to Head Start enrollment (third nationally when it comes to Kindergarten enrollment and access to full-day Kindergarten programs). Getting kids signed up for early childhood programs is just the start of course. These children need to learn enough while in those classrooms, but getting them started as early as possible is definitely a step in the right direction when it comes to the future academic success of students in the state.

It is also one of the relatively few states in America that is pushing for mandatory Kindergarten. Representative Sonya Williams-Barnes, a Democrat from Gulfport, authored of “KIDS Act” that would change the mandatory school age for children in the state from 6 to 5 years old, in essence making Kindergarten mandatory for children in the state.

So how does Mississippi stack up against other states when it comes to the Kindergarten issue? There are only 15 states and the District of Columbia that require Kindergarten by law, and there are actually six states that do not even require public schools to offer Kindergarten. Despite the bad rap Mississippi often gets when it comes to student achievement numbers, the state does pretty well on Kindergarten access and has nationally high numbers for attendance. So adding in a Kindergarten requirement would not make a huge difference in the amount of kids who attended, but will just be more of a formality.

All this said, where Mississippi could really use the legislative boost is when it comes to pre-K education — an area where strides are being made. The Mississippi Department of Education reports that two-thirds of all the kids who entered Mississippi public Kindergarten in the fall of 2014 did not have the base-level skills required for adequate learning. In my opinion, the age of 5 is too old for mandatory education in the state, but it will probably be a few more decades before Mississippi, or any other state, requires it any younger. Hopefully this latest proposal will pass with no problems to show that state leaders are unified when it comes to early childhood education initiatives in Mississippi.

My home state of Mississippi needs to make some big changes as soon as possible. I want nothing more for the state to have sufficient money to put towards improving education, and to see the ratings improve drastically.

Click here to read all our posts concerning the Achievement Gap.

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Matthew Lynch published in HBCU's

HBCUs face peril under proposed education plans

From President Obama to Hillary Clinton, both Democrats have or will face backlash for their plans to make education more affordable.

Sounds crazy on the surface but the criticism has merit.

According to The Huffington Post, Clinton’s education plan would undermine the funding of some HBCUs and would likely force a few to close.

“Free tuition to any community college and reduced tuition to public institutions, will expedite the extinction of several HBCUs. Without federal and state investment in public historically black campuses which lack unique programs, modernized facilities and marketing resources, students of all races will flock to larger, more developed predominantly white colleges.”

In essence, plans presented by Clinton and other candidates who lean left would take federal and state money used to aid HBCUs and refocus the dollars towards a general fund that will help schools that traditionally serve the general population.

Hypothetically, schools that aren’t necessarily in need of more federal assistance would receive extra dollars and some HBCUs would be left in the cold.

This is likely an unintended consequence of ensuring that more low-income students have proper access to higher education. In doing so, Clinton and other candidates may end up isolating a voting bloc that they desperately need.

Read all of our posts about HBCUs by clicking here.

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Matthew Lynch published in HBCU's, Higher Education, list, Matthew Lynch

3 Quick Facts about College Dropout Rates

There are a lot of metrics in place that gauge the effectiveness of P-12 schooling in the U.S. and shine a particularly bright light on public schools, particularly when they are failing students. Dropout rates are just one of the factors taken into account when these numbers are calculated and tend to weigh heavily on the schools and districts who have low percentages.

The same does not seem to be true once the high school years pass though. Compared to P-12 institutions, colleges and universities seemingly get a pass when it comes to dropout rates – perhaps because in the past, higher education was considered more of a privilege and less of a right. A college dropout was simply walking away from the assumed higher quality of life that came with the degree, but still had opportunity to excel without it.

That’s not the case anymore. As of 2013, 17.5 million students were enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities.  More than ever, colleges and universities have a responsibility to not simply admit students, but ensure they are guided properly to graduation. In other words, institutions of higher education should not be able to just take their student’s money and say “good luck.” They should provide the tools necessary for students to successfully achieve a college education and anticipate the issues that could prevent that.

Authors Ben Miller and Phuong Ly discussed the issue of the U.S. colleges with the worst graduation rates in their book College Dropout Factories. Here is some information about those schools—it may shock you.

  1. Some colleges have graduation rates as low as 8 percent. Washington Monthly that ranked the U.S. schools with the lowest six-year graduation rates among colleges and universities, including public ones like the University of the District of Columbia (8%), Haskell Indian Nations University (9%), Oglala Lakota College (11%), Texas Southern University (13%) and Chicago State University (13%).
  2. Several of these schools have high percentages of underrepresented minorities attending. A quick scan of the University of the District Columbia’s official page shows graduation rate numbers through the end of the 2003 – 2004 school year (the past nine years, strangely, are nowhere to be found). The school boasts 51.2 percent underrepresented minorities in the study body, including 47 percent that are Black.

In the case of Chicago State University, the latest statistics show some improvement from the 2010 ones. The six-year graduation rate is up to 21 percent – but the transfer-out rate is nearly 30 percent. The school has 92 percent underrepresented minorities that attend – 86 percent who are black and 70 percent who are female.

But good are those numbers if these students are not actually benefitting from their time in college because they receive no degree?

  1. P-12 schools rigorously track and hold themselves accountable for dropout rates. Colleges do not.

In all cases of college dropout factories, the P-12 institutions chalk up a victory on their end. They graduated the students and also saw them accepted into a college. What happens after that is between the students and their higher education choices.

This, to me, is a problem. The accountability for student success extends beyond the years that they are in P-12 classrooms. Graduation from high school, and acceptance into college, should never be the final goal of P-12 educators. That is not a victory. That is only halftime.

As far as the colleges and universities are concerned, higher accountability should be demanded from educators, students, parents and really any Americans that want the best economy and highest-educated population. Public institutions, in particular, should be subject to restructuring or take over if dropout rates are too high. The lack of delivery on the college degree dream at many of these schools is appalling, frankly, and has gone on long enough.

What do you think—should colleges be more accountable for the graduation rates of their students, especially given the necessity of a college education today?

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Matthew Lynch published in Equity, HBCU's, Higher Education

Diverse Conversations: The Crucial Role of Student Life

In this installment of “Diverse Conversations,” I sat down with Dr. Marcus Chanay, Vice President of the Division of Student Life at Jackson State University. Dr. Chanay is a expert in the area of student life, having spent a decade helping to shape and mold his department. In this interview, he discusses the crucial role that student life plays within the modern university. Without further ado, let’s begin.

Q: What role does student life play at a medium-sized urban HBCU?

A: Student Life plays a vital role in the holistic development of students especially at HBCU’s. At Jackson State University we meet the students where they are and ensure they are competitive in this global world and are successful citizens. We believe in developing their mind, body and spirit as they are engaging in their academic pursuant. We work with our students in becoming civic minded professionals. All students are required to have a minimum of 120 hours of community service and or service learning hours to graduate from Jackson State University. For our student engaging in the community the University has received the Carnegie Foundation Award for the Advancement of Teaching for our Community Engagement Classification through 2014 and the 2010 President’s High Honor Roll for Commitment to service. As a medium sized HBCU we are engage our students in leadership through our Center for Student Leadership and Inclusion which our 120 Student Organizations are housed and our Student Leadership Institute. As a medium sized HBCU we are preparing our students for graduate and professional school and careers through our Career Services Center. Our students participate in our Tigers2Work which alerts them of employees on campus, graduate professional day, Military Day, Federal Works Forum, Internships and Career Fair. Our goal is to ensure we provide as many opportunities to ensure students success.

Q: What is the relationship between student life and the academic program?

A: The relationship between student life and academics is seamless. Our Service Learning offering is a great example for the past 10 years Student Life and Academic Affairs have had a great relationship in developing service learning courses and ensuring all students enrolled in these courses have off-campus sites to ensure their success. We established a Service Learning Fellows program which Deans and Chairs make faculty recommendations. Through this year long process faculty were coached in learning how to develop their courses to involve a service learning component. We now have course offerings for all five academic colleges.

Q: Please talk more about student life in the context of Jackson State University’s Strategic Plan. What excites you and what possibilities do you see?

A: The Division of Student Life was very much a part of the University’s Strategic Plan. The University believes every student has an opportunity to be a leader and every student should be engaged in the community through civic engagement. This is a very exciting time at the University where we believe there is only “One JSU.” From the moment our students step on campus to when they walk across the stage at commencement, we as a University believe students are our priority. Engaging our students in community service gives them an opportunity to give back. These students are our future so we want to ensure our preparation ensures their success. We want our students to believe they are future leaders of tomorrow in their perspective disciplines. Our President Dr. Carolyn Meyers fully understands this and fully believes in the “One”. In her vision it’s all about the students, without our students, where would we be.

Q: How do you, as Vice President for the Division of Student Life, interact with students?

A: As Vice President I totally enjoy the interaction with students. I make myself assessable and support students and student organizations in their endeavors. I believe in walking the campus, hanging out with students in the Student Center. Involvement with students keeps the pulse going. I have an open door policy for all students and will go all the way with students to help them achieve their goals. I am a mentor to many current and former students, something that I do not take lightly.

Q: What do you think are the biggest challenges facing college students today?

A: There are many challenges I thing that students are facing today, trying for find the ability to afford college tuition. Many of our students struggle each semester with trying to pay for school. The sad part about many students is they have debt from undergraduate and they have not even stepped into a graduate program and they are unsure of what they want to do. Students come to college with dreams of what they want to do or what mom, dad, grandparents want them to do but are underprepared. Students are also faced with trying to find themselves. They are not sure who they are or really what they really want out of life. Social media has taken over our students. They tend to be more engaged in twitter, instagram, facebook, etc., instead of books

Q: What are some of the biggest changes you’ve witnessed during your time at Jackson State University?

A: The biggest changes at Jackson State are the combination of facilities, academic offerings and support services being offered. I have been at the University since 2001. In that time I have seen the construction of our Walter Payton Recreational & Wellness Center, Student Center, College of Liberal Arts, College of Business, Campbell College Suites, Engineering Building, Johnson Hall, One Jackson Place and the renovation of Dixon Residence Hall and the Reddix Office Complex. I have seen and experienced academic offerings increase which includes our engineering program, Ph.D. in Urban Higher Education and the establishment of the School of Lifelong Learning, to name a few. These past 12 years I have seen the development of many support services for our students which include Center for Service and Community Engaged Learning, Center for Student Leadership and Inclusion, JSU Veteran Center, University Commuter Program, Parents Program and the Latasha Norman Center for Counseling and Disability Services.

Q: What’s your proudest accomplishment in your time here?

A: I have many proud accomplishments at the University. The one that rally stands out is when this student from New Orleans, LA came to the University as a freshman in the Fall Semester of 2005, the same fall that Hurricane Katrina hit. The hurricane hit during the first week of the semester beginning. This student was one that was hanging with the wrong crowd and found himself getting into trouble during freshmen orientation. When the Hurricane hit his family was displaced. This actually increased his acting out. In his first semester, he was in trouble at least three times and was on the verge of being suspended from school, at that time I was the Dean of Students. I and two other co-workers decided to take this student under our wings. As we begin to learn more about him, he begins to trust us and slowly began to pull away from his crew that he was hanging with. The trust led him to improve in grades which lead to a summer intern, which led to him graduating with honors participating in several student organizations and going on to pursue a M.B.A and is now successful and working for a fortune 500 company.

Well, that concludes my interview with Dr. Marcus Chanay. I would like to thank him for consenting to this interview and for his contributions to the field of higher education.

 

Read all of our posts about HBCUs by clicking here.

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Matthew Lynch published in Equity, HBCU's, Higher Education

Diverse Conversations: The Academic Entrepreneur: Supplementing Your Income

More and more academics are recognizing the potential to supplement their income from higher education positions with out-of-the-box projects and schemes. To try and get to grips with the so called academic entrepreneur, I met with Shonell Bacon, Instructor of Mass Communication at McNeese State University.

The goal of this discussion is to help other academics understand the relationship between academic standing and entrepreneurship, how you can marry the two concepts together to generate supplementary income.

Q: So, the first question is about characterization – how would you characterize the academic entrepreneur in today’s world? Who are these people and what is it that they are doing, what makes them unique? What, too, are the benefits of being an academic entrepreneur in terms of how it benefits the individual and one’s career in academia?

A: The academic entrepreneur is someone who knows what their talents are and is able to capitalize on them. That’s my short definition. They are able to take those qualities that make them excel in the academic arena and apply them to additional revenue streams. I’m not sure if they are unique so much as their are always looking for opportunities. They are broad thinkers with narrow goals and lanes to optimize success for those goals. ——-

Q: Considering your own experiences and efforts in academia and the business world, can you share some insights about what it is like to be an academic entrepreneur and what it is that’s particularly advantageous about this approach?

A: For me, the biggest advantage to this approach is how I use knowledge from these two worlds, academic and business, to better myself in both worlds. For example, outside of academia, I am an author and an editor. With both, I constantly use my creativity; my knowledge of grammar, structure, and organization; my ability to think outside the box to strengthen my own writing as an author and others’ writing as an editor. When I’m in the classroom, I bring these tools with me. When I’m considering academic research projects, I use my creative, my outside-the- box thinking to explore topics that on the surface might not seem as academic as other topics, but in the end, they are creative endeavors for me that satisfy their academic requirements.

Q: How would you describe the relationship between entrepreneurship and academia?

A: How, would you say, is the world of higher education working to accommodate entrepreneurialism? I think, more or less, I cover the first question in bits and pieces in other responses. With the second question, I would probably say that higher education’s embrace of technology, especially with moving some classes online, allows for this accomodation in a way because it forces educators to think outside the box and figure out how to deliver the same quality education electronically. That might not seem like a big thing, but I think about my first foray into online teaching, and I clearly remember how teaching online made me consider how I might offer my expertise in other areas digitally. The minute I had to reconsider and think creatively about my teaching, those same reconsiderations came to me in regards to entrepreneurial endeavors. I also think about the “leisure learning” style courses that are offered at most colleges and universities. Oftentimes, these courses enable academics to make a little money in activities outside of their academic work. For example, I’ve taught leisure learning classes in fiction writing, fiction workshop, and developing projects for submissions. These courses allowed me to blend my teaching qualities with those qualities often exhibited in my entrepreneurial activities. I also think that schools, such as University of Phoenix, those schools that offer credit for “life learning” and business activities and experience suggest that entrepreneuralism–the work we do outside of academia–is important.

Q: What, would you say, are some of the biggest challenges for someone in academia looking to also become entrepreneur, looking to take that step to achieving some real financial independence through entrepreneurial ventures?

A: Biggest challenge is time. I think about my own experiences, and I can say that most of my time is dedicated to academic endeavors. Work doesn’t end because you leave your campus office. With working 60+ hours a week, sometimes more, academics often don’t have the time for entrepreneurial activities, especially if they want to have some life to live while also taking care of home and family. And that time affects them in another way, too, because you have to make time to think on the idea of entrepreneurship: what skills do I have as an academic? How might those skills be useful outside of academia? What non-academic skills do I have? How can I bridge these skills to develop real financial independence through entrepreneurial ventures? There has to be time taken to consider these questions and others before a person can even get to developing the success s/he wants.

Q: Do you think entrepreneurship is something that more academics will go on to embrace? How do you see the role of the academic entrepreneur emerging? Do you see it expanding, perhaps? If so, why? If not, why not?

A: I definitely think more academics will embrace entrepreneurship. One reason will be out of necessity, say for example, the need for additional money. But others will come to embrace it because we live in such a fluid, technological world where one person can seamlessly move in and through many identities at any one time. Technology, whether it’s the actual device, or the app, or the software, etc., enables us to branch into other arenas, and more academics can take part of entrepreneurship through technology. Because of technology and the ability for an academic to blend multiple identities simultaneously, the field will definitely not only emerge, but also expand. I definitely see this more so for the future as younger academics come into the landscape, particularly those who are digital natives, from birth living with Internet and the many other advances of technology.

We would like to thank Shonell for sitting down with us.

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Matthew Lynch published in HBCU's, Higher Education

HBCU Insights: A guide to maximizing your HBCU experience

A column by Larry J. Walker

Over the next several weeks thousands of students will arrive at private and public HBCUs throughout the nation. A new cadre of scholars will continue the tradition of contributing to education, literature, politics and science. However, the beginning of the school year includes a variety of challenges for students. For instance, anxious first generation college students may struggle balancing the expectations of family members and peers while adapting to a different environment. Students transferring from another post secondary institution have to meet the expectations of faculty members while developing relationships with classmates. By contrast, returning students fresh from a summer internship, international travel or vacation will easily transition into their respective on or off campus housing. The varied experiences of each group add to the overall campus environment and offer opportunities for students to connect. Maximizing academic and social experiences at an HBCU can propel the career of new and returning students. Since their inception HBCUs have successfully prepared students to challenge injustices and overcome economic and political barriers.

Throughout the Civil Rights era students and alumni of Lincoln University, Morehouse College, Howard University and Shaw University successfully challenged discriminatory policies. Today, HBCUs continue the tradition of fighting for social justice by challenging students to defy conventional thinking regarding ethnicity, gender and race. Embracing HBCUs distinguished history of fighting injustices represents one of the many benefits of attending these institutions. For example, students benefit from enriching social experiences including homecoming, step shows, pageants, student organizations, fraternities and sororities, rallies and protests. Although HBCUs offer rich social experiences they provide a roadmap for budding entrepreneurs and change agents.

Ensuring students capitalize on opportunities to network with future corporate leaders, venture capitalists, social activists, app developers and trendsetters are crucial. HBCUs provide nurturing environments that allow students to develop strong relationships with peers while simultaneously examining important issues including income and health disparities. New students have the opportunity to interact with administrators, faculty members and staff developing cutting edge technologies, supporting emerging leaders and eradicating deadly diseases. In addition, HBCUs provide Black students with safe campus communities that embrace cultural diversity and beliefs. Supporting certain cultural norms including communalism makes HBCUs unique in comparison to other post-secondary institutions. For this reason, students should become actively involved in a variety of activities to fully embrace the HBCU experience including:

  • Joining student government, clubs, honor societies, Black Greek lettered organizations (BGLOs): Participating in on campus student organizations provides vital training for individuals interested in a career in public service. Furthermore, members of student government develop important skills that are transferable to the workforce and help students’ identify and address pressing issues. Honor societies offer scholarships, opportunities to network with scholars from other schools and give students a competitive edge when applying to graduate or professional school. BGLOs traditionally refer to members of the National Pan-Hellenic Council including Alpha Phi Alpha, Omega Psi Phi, Kappa Alpha Psi, Phi Beta Sigma, Iota Phi Theta, Delta Sigma Theta, Alpha Kappa Alpha, Zeta Phi Beta and Sigma Gamma Rho. Each organization has a long and distinguished history of fighting for equal rights throughout the globe.
  • Continuing the fight for social justice: The majority of HBCUs have chapters, groups or individuals involved in important issues including the National Association of Colored People (NAACP), #BlackLivesMatter, National Urban League, National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) and 100 Black Men of America among others. Joining an organization focused on closing inequities is consistent with the history of HBCUs.
  • Research opportunities with faculty, staff and off campus institutes and think tanks: HBCUs have a distinguished intellectual history of cultivating the minds of young academics dedicated to solving important issues. Continuing the tradition of challenging economic, educational, political, social and technological issues is vital. Ambitious student’s interested in examining important issues benefit from opportunities interacting with knowledgeable experts in various disciplines. Furthermore, working with a mentor establishes relationships that could lead to research and/or publication opportunities after college.

Students attending HBCUs have the chance to honor the memory of alumni that fought to address national and international issues including Kwame Nkrumah and Martin Luther King, Jr. Recent incidents including the murders in South Carolina highlight the importance of working together to solve problems that continue to persist. It is imperative that students utilize opportunities to interact with individuals with similar interests. Establishing relationships with peers could led to addressing systemic issues that undermine efforts to create an egalitarian society.

Read all of our posts about HBCUs by clicking here.

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Dr. Larry J. Walker is an educational consultant focused on supporting historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). His research examines the impact environmental factors have on the academic performance and social emotional functioning of students from HBCUs.

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Matthew Lynch published in HBCU's, Higher Education

Let’s Sum Up Louisiana’s Approach to Higher Education Spending with 5 Events

A report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) shines a spotlight on how far funding for higher education has fallen since the start of the recession. Particularly for states in the south, funding “is down by more than 35 percent since the start of the recession.”

Overall tuition at public four-year colleges is up almost 30 percent since 2007. Even worse for students who attend schools in the south– like Florida and Georgia–the report states that tuition skyrocketed 60 percent.

Considering the government has cut Pell Grants and wage growth has been stagnant, such a steep rise in tuition has likely priced many students out of attending college.

Louisiana is no exception to the Southern states whose policy has once included serious budget cuts for higher education. But, believe it or not, even Louisiana, one of the most severely cost-cutting states, has had a turnaround when it comes to higher education. Here are five steps in the journey to keep Louisiana’s colleges safe from loss of funds.

  1. Governor Bobby Jindal suggested cuts to higher education—as high as $600 million. Louisiana State University (LSU) went so far as to draw paperwork to file for academic bankruptcy just in case the state decided to go through with the decreases.
  2. Louisiana legislators approved a “spending plan that favors higher education.” The plan included $615 million in new revenue that would save the state’s colleges and universities, including LSU, from having to lay off employees and cut programs and services due to the budget shortfall.

According to NOLA.com, the original plan had the House Appropriations Committee raising close to $1 billion. Because that plan didn’t go through, the House still had to make cuts. Fortunately for higher education, those reductions were redirected elsewhere.

Healthcare funding will “fall $180 million short” and the new University Medical Center in New Orleans is missing close to $90 million due to the lack of state revenue.

On one hand, it’s great that the future of the state’s college students will not be compromised due to a budget shortfall, but Louisiana’s most vulnerable may be in peril because of bad money decisions by the state’s leaders.

  1. The state’s scholarship program called TOPS would see funding limitations as a result of the budget shortfall. This will require families in the state to assume more responsibility “for coverage more of their tuition bills moving forward.”
  2. Louisiana education leaders are asking for “twice as much money next year” after the state’s budget crisis this past year.

Currently state schools receive nearly $770 million in funding, but due to the shortfall and other needs, leaders are requesting $1.4 billion in funding for 2016-2017.

But the request is steeped in good news. While Louisiana may have budget issues, the additional money is needed to keep up with a growing workforce in the state.

“Higher education needs to add slots and expand programs at both two-year and four-year colleges to meet these needs, but doesn’t have resources to do so currently,” officials said.

According to NOLA.com, the state’s job market demands cannot be met if new money isn’t approved.

It will be tough sledding as education leaders had to fight just to get the current level of funding. In order to meet budget needs, many states–including Louisiana–will cut higher education funding to stay afloat.

NOLA.com reports that “[s]ince 2008, more than $700 million has been removed from Louisiana’s colleges and universities’ budgets — a larger cut than any other state higher education system in the country has had to endure.”

It’s why leaders are concerned that filling critical positions in the state’s workforce will be compromised if the new money isn’t approved.

A decision on when, or if, the request will be approved will not come until the state legislature meets for its next session in 2016.

  1. Bobby Jindal wanted more education cuts in Louisiana. Governor Bobby Jindal reportedly wanted to cut over $600 million from higher education, but was rebuffed by leaders in the state legislature.

In speaking with the press in late 2015, Jindal notes that he was upset that lawmakers didn’t cut from the state’s higher education fund.

To close the state’s budget shortfall, lawmakers used money from the rainy day fund. Despite Jindal’s opposition, the fact that higher education funds weren’t slashed even further is good for just about everyone else.

Nola.com notes that the move saved many schools from being reorganized.

“The Louisiana Legislature voted overwhelmingly last week to draw down around $28 million from the rainy day fund to cope with a midyear budget shortfall. The move allowed public colleges and universities to avoid reductions in the current budget cycle — though the outgoing governor said he would have preferred more reductions.”

Governor-Elect John Bel Edwards says that he wants to increase the budget for higher education, which will undoubtedly appease education leaders in the state.

Louisiana changed their course, but many other states are not so lucky. Students are being priced out of attending post-secondary institutions, the quality of higher education has been compromised, and we’re still grappling with how to properly keep many colleges afloat.

That, unfortunately, is the price we pay for bad policy.

Thoughts on the trend of higher education cuts? Did Louisiana make the right decision in bucking this trend? Please share your thoughts.

 

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Matthew Lynch published in Equity, HBCU's, Higher Education, list, Matthew Lynch

Top 3 Award-Winning HBCUs

In recent years, HBCUs have been closing at an alarming rate. It can seem like these schools, once meant to provide education opportunities to black students when they were restricted from predominantly white universities, are becoming obsolete in the eyes of some people.

Despite the perception that historically black colleges and universities may not be as relevant today as they are in the past, many schools, such as Spelman and Morehouse, are thriving and are even trailblazers in the in-demand STEM arena.

Here are three award-winning HBCUs that are doing exceptional things.

  1. Dillard University, nominated for six awards in 2015. Dillard University in Louisiana has always been known as one of the nation’s best HBCUs, and recent news that the institution for higher education has been nominated for a number of awards at the HBCU National Media Summit should come as no surprise.

The university’s president, Walter Kimbrough, is up for Male President of the Year, and the school is also nominated for Best Choir and Best Fine Arts Program.

According to The Times-Picayune and NOLA.com, of the HBCUs in Louisiana nominated for awards, Dillard received the most.

In addition to President Kimbrough, choir, and fine arts, Dillard was nominated for “Best Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) program (Physics); Female Faculty of the Year (Kemberley Washington); and Male Alumnus of the Years (Michael Jones, ’82.).”

Other HBCU’s from the state (Louisiana) nominated for awards are Xavier and Southern University.

This is great news for Dillard as this will surely shine a bright spotlight on how well the university is doing. Heralded as one of the best liberal arts colleges in the south, it shows through the nominations that Dillard has received. Honors like this come at an important time for HBCUs that are increasingly competing with online degree programs and increasing quality of community college offerings. Congratulations to Dillard and the other HBCUs nominated.

  1. Claflin University, HBCU of the Year for 2015. Raising $92 million to improve the university, receiving a $75,000 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and hosting the South Carolina Collegiate Journalist of the Year are fairly significant achievements all on their own. One university can claim them ALL as its own, though.

Claflin University was just named HBCU of the Year by the HBCU Digest Alumni Association.

According to thetandd.com, the school likely got the award mostly for its participation from its alumni, though. The involvement of graduates who are returning their financial and workforce bounty back to their alma mater are boosting the clout of the HBCU.

“The combined success of the campaign and the generosity of Claflin alumni were largely responsible for Claflin winning the HBCU Digest Alumni Association of the Year Award. In 2013, alumni annual giving rose to an all-time high of 52.2 percent, among the best in the nation for all colleges and universities. Claflin continues to be the perennial leader among HBCUs in this category.

Claflin came just $8 million short of the goal for its capital campaign. The school’s board of trustees led a charge to raise  $100 million to “build the endowment, strengthen academic programs and enhance facilities.”

Claflin has less than 5,000 students, so successfully raising nearly $100 million to improve the school’s positioning to recruit and make it more viable makes the feat look even better.

Alumni involvement, specifically financially, isn’t likely to tail off anytime soon. That’s good news for any student looking to call Claflin home for the next four years and really for other HBCUs that are hoping to recruit students.

  1. FAMU, the highest-ranked HBCU in the country during 2015. The good news continues to roll in for Florida Agriculture and Mechanical University. Last week the school’s SGA President, Tonnette Graham, was named  chairwoman of the Florida Student Association.

Now this week FAMU President Elmira Mangum was awarded HBCU ‘President of the Year’ at the AARP HBCU Awards at Hampton University.

“Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) President Elmira Mangum, Ph.D., was awarded the prestigious Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) “Female President of the Year” Award presented by the HBCU Digest Friday night at the annual AARP HBCU Awards ceremony at Hampton University,” according to WCTV.tv.

Magnum’s presence has been good for the university. The article further states how well she’s been received and awarded this past year. In addition to receiving this award, she was also honored at the Onyx Awards, named  to the USDA Agricultural Policy Advisory Committee (APAC), and was placed on EBONY magazine’s list of 100 powerful people.

In conjunction with Magnum’s good news, FAMU was recently named  as the top HBCU in the nation by U.S. News and World Report. That’s a pretty big deal.

Recruiting students to these prestigious universities should be easy. The accomplishments of schools like FAMU, Dillard, and Claflin that attract news attention are good for all HBCUs because they lift the credibility, relevance and overall name recognition of the schools.

Check out all of our posts for HBCUs here.

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