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Note: The following guest post comes to us courtesy of Jacob Bell, a junior at the University of Maryland pursuing a dual degree in journalism and general biology. He currently works as the staff writer and web content manager for Student Voice and is a general assignment reporter for the University of Maryland’s student newspaper, The Diamondback. Jacob is also the features chair of “Stories Beneath the Shell,” which is an online multimedia publication. You can learn more about Jacob by connecting with him through LinkedIn or following him on Twitter, @realjacobbell.

The word ‘queer’ can mean many things. It can be a noun or an adjective, derogatory or empowering, a reference to gender and sexual identity or a departure from normalcy. It can also be a verb. “To queer something,” according to Dr. Charlie Glickman, a sexuality educator of nearly 25 years, “is to take a look at its foundations and question them.”

For Alex Borsa, a junior molecular biophysics and women’s, gender and sexuality studies double major at Yale University, it is the verb form of queer which matters most. As the president of the university’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Student Cooperative, which serves as the umbrella organization for all of Yale’s LGBTQ groups, Borsa works to increase visibility of queer and marginalized students and make the campus a safer, more inclusive environment.

Borsa achieves these goals, in part, through his participation with IvyQ, an annual, inter-Ivy League LGBTQ conference that attracts 300 to 500 attendees. The conference advocates social organization, political activism and community building among LGBTQ students and groups.

“It is the only time that students are in such a large space comprised of almost only LGBTQ people,” Borsa said. “Being at a social event with 500 queer people is something most people don’t get to experience, [and] does a lot to change people. It was probably the single most transformative process I’ve been to in my college experience.”

Yale hosted the 2013 installment of the IvyQ conference, which has made its way to a different Ivy League school each year since its inception in 2010. Borsa served as a volunteer coordinator for the event, and assisted former Yale conference chair Hilary O’Connell with event production. In spite of a blizzard that struck New Haven, Connecticut, the same weekend as the conference, the Yale IvyQ team was able to deliver an event true to the mission of IvyQ, according to Borsa.

The 2013 conference offered light entertainment, such as dances, lunches and group breakout sessions, as well as 30 to 40 formal colloquiums and workshops from a series of students and guest speakers about topics including gender activism, asexuality, and the meaning of the LGBTQ community now versus in previous decades.

“These are always going to be issues,” Rebby Kern, the media communications and programs manager for Campus Pride, the leading nonprofit organization dedicated to making higher education more LGBT-friendly, said. “But if we can come to a place where we can talk about these issues … in a safe environment, I feel we’ve done our job as far as a movement.”

The conference also prompts discussion on issues, such as class, privilege, mental health, race and racism, that are present across many colleges and universities and affect marginalized groups related to or outside of the LGBT spectrum.

These discussions play a large role in IvyQ’s ability to “queer the campus,” or “challenge, question and deconstruct the status quo,” of the host school, Borsa said.
And as the number and diversity of the voices contributing to the conversation increases, so does the pressure on higher education to improve existing systems.

“I think student voice means not being afraid to challenge large institutions, even the administration itself, on how we think Yale should be bettered,” Borsa added.

In April, Yale held a weekend-long mental health and wellness event to address complaints from students and groups like IvyQ regarding the slow response times and lack of information coming from its Mental Health and Counseling Department, which 22 percent of the student body visits at least once per year, according to a 2011 report.

In the same month, Yale also held Take Back the Night, an event where students shared sexual experiences through speeches, poetry and song to raise awareness about sexual violence and community respect.

“For me personally, the idea of institutional commitment is the big thing,” D. Andrew Porter, a summer fellow at Campus Pride, said. “ [As a movement], we’re not just talking about LGBTQ students, and that’s causing campuses to look at all students who fall under that big umbrella word, ‘diversity.’”

The next IvyQ conference will be held in the fall of 2014 at Dartmouth College, which has received news coverage and student criticism in the past year concerning the school’s handling of homophobia, racism and sexism both on campus and in Dartmouth Greek life. In February, students presented the Freedom Budget, a sweeping reform that enumerated more than 70 actions the college could take that would help confront and diminish discrimination.

The school’s president, Philip J. Hanlon, and then interim provost, Martin Wybourne, released a statement in the wake of the Freedom Budget outlining steps the administration planned to take to address the students’ suggestions, such as allocating millions of dollars to hire and attract a more diverse campus faculty, and expanding a university program that supports minority groups in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields.

By April, however, student dissatisfaction was not quelled and resulted in protests outside the president’s office and the administration building.

For Nathen Huang, a senior psychology major at Columbia University and leader of Columbia’s IvyQ organization, Dartmouth’s hosting of the conference comes at an opportune time, one in which the school’s administration is primed to listen to the voices of campus students.

“Student voice is the opportunity to offer insights to improve the community or build new relationships that have never been explored before,” Huang said. “Even if not every one who goes to IvyQ comes from the activist community, there are also people who [are involved in other ways], and they’re able to express their own ideas and opinions.”

Going forward, Borsa, Huang and fellow IvyQ members want to increase access to the conference through additional funding so more people can contribute to the discussion. They also hope the organization continues to spark conversation between university officials and students about how to better educational environments.

“It’s important for everyone to think of these things,” Borsa said. “That doesn’t mean you have to be on the front lines of everything, but it does mean that it’s important to think about how social factors shape your everyday life. IvyQ challenges people to see things in a different way.”

(Dartmouth’s Office of Pluralism and Leadership did not respond to Student Voice’s request for comment before this story’s publication).

Note: The following guest post was by Anthony Ashton, litigation partner at the law firm of DLA Piper LLP (US) in the Baltimore office. He conducts annual trainings for educators and administrations and regularly advises them on legal matters. He has served on the Boards of multiple schools, and is a former teacher and guidance counselor. Contact information: [email protected]

Whether the job title is Principal, Headmaster, Head of School, or Dean, the top administrator of a private primary or secondary school is effectively the CEO of a company. CEOs of most successful companies are aware of the laws that apply to their businesses, and budget annually for legal services. A smart CEO regularly consults with the company’s in-house general counsel or what is effectively outside general counsel. Even small private schools typically have multimillion dollar annual budgets. Despite this, many schools have exactly $0 built into their budgets for legal services. Because numerous and varied laws apply to, and have the potential for devastating effects on schools, presumably, this missing budgetary item is due to a failure to appreciate the need for, and usefulness of, competent legal advice, rather than apathy for the law. This article will explain why best practices include annual training for faculty, staff, and administration on key legal topics, and regular access to legal advice.

At its core, education is a service industry. Unlike other service companies, schools have two subsets of clientele, parents and students, who have divergent legal obligations, legal rights, and legal standards of behavior. For example, although they are not the recipients of the services provided by schools, parents are contractually obligated to pay tuition. Despite the fact that students have no obligation to pay tuition, schools owe a legal duty to students to ensure students’ safety while on school grounds or at school-related activities.

Tip One: Annual Risk Management Training

A school can breach this duty by failing to protect a student from harm caused by school employees, fellow students, and even the student herself. Although the law requires adults to protect themselves by acting as reasonably prudent persons, children are required only to act as reasonable persons of their age would act. In short, children are allowed to behave as children. This lowered standard of care also applies to how children interact with one another. It is incumbent upon school personnel to act in a manner that reduces the risk to students and, in turn, the school’s potential liability. Consequently, risk management training should be a part of school personnel’s annual training, and should occur as close as possible to the beginning of each school year. Assuming a school has an attorney on retainer, this should be included in the legal services provided. The adage “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is especially true in the school setting. It is easy to criticize actions after an injury or complaint from a parent. The goal is to avoid such injuries and complaints. Training faculty, staff, and administrators to conduct a risk/benefit analysis (consider the best and worst probable outcomes) before each interaction with children provides great protection for the students and, as a result, the institution.

Tip Two: Annual Training Regarding State Reporting Obligations

Because many states have reporting obligations related to suspected child abuse and neglect, a school may breach the legal duty to a student by failing to protect a student from harm that takes place outside of school and unrelated to school activities. Reporting obligations may require school personnel to report suspected abuse from parents or other household members. In short, the school may be obligated to protect a member of one group of its clientele from a member of the other group of its clientele. Reporting suspected abuse may result in embarrassment to, and anger from, the person ultimately responsible for paying tuition and determining whether the student remains enrolled at the school. Thus, there is an inherent conflict of interest. The law, however, does not care about this conflict. Next, there may be reluctance to report because abuse subjectively may be associated with lower income, less educated families, rather than the population served by the school. The law, however, does not care about the socio-economic background of the child or suspected abuser. A firm understanding of the legal reporting obligations is a must, and training on this topic should take place annually.

Tip Three: Have a Copy of Child Custody and Visitation Court Orders

Schools also may be drawn into disputes between feuding parents. Divorced or divorcing parents may argue as to who is permitted to perform child pick-ups, agree to fieldtrips, or make other educational decisions. As a consequence, the school may be caught in the middle of two members of one group of clientele. It is important that schools: (1) know whether there is a court order regarding custody and visitation; and (2) be able to understand the legalities of any such order. Again, the best practice would be to have an outside counsel on retainer to explain the implications of these court orders. Court orders will typically set forth if one parent has primary custody or the parents have shared custody, who may make educational decisions, who is responsible for paying tuition, etc. By being able to knowledgably refer to a court order, school personnel potentially can avoid being intimidated by parents seeking to take actions contrary to the court order. A typical example of such an action involves Parent A attempting to deny Parent B visitation or custody rights because Parent B is delinquent in spousal or child support. Parent A may instruct the school not to allow Parent B to pick up the child from school. The school, however, has no authority to stop a parent from acting in accordance with a court order.

Tip Four: Annual Sexual Harassment Training

As with all service industry companies, schools are labor intensive. Accordingly, sexual harassment training for all employees related to how they interact with each other should take place on an annual basis. In addition, each school should have a written policy addressing the protocol for reporting, investigating, and handling allegations of harassment. In recent years, the media and, consequently, the public at large has become enthralled with student-teacher sex scandals. Accordingly, there should be annual training related to inappropriate interaction with students. Training should include guidelines regarding dealings with students in person, via telecommunications devices, and social networks. School personnel should avoid being placed in any situation where they have to deny wrongdoing, and explain their actions. School personnel must be hyper-vigilant in ensuring, not only that there is no improper interaction, but that there is not even the appearance of such. The cardinal rule should be: “perception is just as important as reality”.

Sixty of the nation’s largest school districts are joining President Obama’s initiative to improve the educational futures of African-American and Hispanic boys, beginning in preschool extending through high school graduation — dubbed the “My Brother’s Keeper” program.

The districts, which represent around 40 percent of all African-American and Hispanic boys living below the poverty line, have committed to improve access to high quality preschool, track data on male students so educators can notice signs of struggle as soon as possible, increase the number of boys of color who are enrolled in gifted, honors and Advanced Placement courses, strive to reduce the number of minority boys who are suspended and expelled, and increase graduation rates among minority males.

The initiative, announced in February, is a five-year, $200 million plan.

Minority students have experienced inequality in American schools for many years. Data from the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights tells us that minority students are suspended and expelled at notably higher rates than Caucasian students. They also attend schools with less experienced teachers than their white counterparts.

Boys who are minorities are at the highest disadvantage among students; black and Latino boys are less likely to graduate from high school than white boys, and also less likely than African-American or Latino females. In elementary school, they already drop behind their white peers in reading skills.

My Brother’s Keeper initiative also addresses the needs of Native American and Asian American boys.

It is so important to help prevent all students from falling behind their peers, which is why I am a huge believer in this initiative. I am glad that sixty more school districts are joining forces to work hard to make sure minority boys have great shot at success in their lives.

Note: The following guest post comes to us from Julie Bradley. She has been an educator for more than 30 years. Her expertise has taken her to outback Australia and around the world presenting to educators and parents on spelling and foundational skills. Mrs Bradley is Managing Director of Smart Achievers, a worldwide distributor for Smart Words Spelling, Reading and Perceptual Motor Programs.

There are 30 rules that govern the spelling of English words.

By learning just one spelling rule, you can spell 9,000 words. Learning the rule for words that start with a hard ‘c’ or ‘k’ gives the knowledge to use the /k/ sound.

Are you confident teaching this rule?

Over the years, the traditional teaching method requiring kids to learn lists of words hasn’t been effective. Perhaps that’s the method our teachers used with us when we were kids or how we were instructed to teach. But this method doesn’t work.

Here’s why. For a student to learn a list of words, they have to memories them. Every week they have to learn new words.

But get this:

• The human memory can cope with approximately 2000 sight sound symbols.
• The English dictionary has 2 million+ words.
• The average adult has 40,000 to 60,000 words in their working vocabulary.
• Well educated people know about 200,000 words.
• The average six year old knows 10,000 words.

This means, to be ‘average’, students need to learn 4,000 new words a year.

That is 11 words per day.

To learn 200,000 words by the time a student turns 26 they must learn 27 words a day, 365 days a year. You are not going to make the grade if you’re learning to memorize a list of 20 words per week.

It’s possible that many people, teachers included, fall significantly short of this mark. Kids tend to memorize their list of words, often without knowing why words are spelled the way they are. The added dilemma for many students is they have to do this without memory training, so they will soon be overloaded.

Considering an estimated 98% of English words follow the 30 Rules of Spelling – it’s very important that we teach our students those rules. But the most important thing is for teachers to also know the associated rules so they can refer to them and explain them simply to students.

To tackle these issues, Smart Words is designed to teach you the rules so you can apply them with ease. Smart Words aims to help you improve your kids spelling accuracy, quality of writing and ability to read words.

When a student is able to read and write with confidence, it then frees up thinking space so they can think about the Science or the Maths they’re trying to understand. It gives them thinking space to make their writing interesting by adding adjectives and adverbs.

It is reassuring to acknowledge that the Australian Curriculum emphasizes that competency with Literacy be prioritized above other subject areas as success in other subjects is often dependent on a child’s success with reading and writing.

How are your students going with their spelling? Do you have students who don’t apply their spelling list words to their writing? Let me know in the comments. I would love to hear what strategies have worked.

Note: Julie Bradley has been an educator for more than 30 years. Her expertise has taken her to outback Australia and around the world presenting to educators and parents on spelling and foundational skills. Mrs Bradley is Managing Director of Smart Achievers, a worldwide distributor for Smart Words Spelling, Reading and Perceptual Motor Programs.

Do you know a kid who feels so much shame for not being able to read and spell that they don’t want to go to school? A kid who’s very frustrated because they just can’t figure out how to spell or read words? Or perhaps you have a kid who believes they’re “dumb” because they’re struggling while everyone else ‘gets it’? How many of you have changed the word you want to write because you can’t spell it?

Although school is for learning, it just breaks my heart to think that many kids do view themselves that way. And it’s stories like this one that pushed me to travel to Minnesota, USA to work with English guru, Denise Eide.

Denise taught a group of us how to make reading and writing easier for kids to learn how to spell words. I’m so excited by what I learnt that I decided to share some of it with you.

30 spelling rules and 74 phonograms

‘Aha!’ moments seemed to happen frequently for me as Denise shared her research and knowledge. They included her explanations of the 30 Spelling Rules and 74 Phonograms. It is so much easier if you know this stuff!

By the way, a phonogram is the picture of a sound.

Phonograms represent the sound, whereas letters don’t.

For example, the phonogram G represents /g/ and /j/. The rules explain its usage.

The group can now argue why most English words (98%) follow the rules and explain away all those exceptions people seem to think exist.

Denise’s explanations were simple. They made so much sense that I find it easy to remember them.

I’m bringing home some packs of her Rule Cards for all of you and they will be available as soon as my shipment arrives. Every teacher, parent and child will want one. They are brilliant and with them you’ll be creating spelling champions in no time.

Learn the history of phonograms

Denise told us fascinating stories about the history of phonograms which will make teaching them so much more interesting.

Can you believe that the reason we have O representing the /u/ in ‘mother’ and ‘love’ is because the monks who had to copy script, many hundreds of years ago, found there were too many up and down strokes if they used a U? Can you guess what they did? They changed the U to an O.

Try writing the words as ‘muther’ and ‘luve’ and you can see how confusing it is.

Denise calls them the Lazy Monks.

I imagine that with a bit of flourish the kids would love the story and they will never forget how to spell words that apply to Rule # 3.

Note: Julie Bradley has been an educator for more than 30 years. Her expertise has taken her to outback Australia and around the world presenting to educators and parents on spelling and foundational skills. Mrs Bradley is Managing Director of Smart Achievers, a worldwide distributor for Smart Words Spelling, Reading and Perceptual Motor Programs.

Another amazing session in Minnesota, USA with spelling guru, Denise Eide, was on Greek and Latin roots. You might wonder why we need to bother with these when we are learning how to spell words in English. What’s interesting is that 95% of multisyllabic words in English are based on Latin and Greek roots.

Here are some key points from the lessons:

Knowing the history of words and sounds helps us to understand how to spell them. If we know which, when and how to use suffixes and prefixes we can extend our working vocabulary by thousands of words in one lesson, in one day.

We have to start getting smarter in the way we are teaching our kids. This is very important if we want our kids to be considered literate and to know 200,000 words by the time they are 26 years old.

A list of 20 words a week is not going to help kids make the grade. In fact, they won’t even rate as ‘average’ if they learn 100 words a week. They have to learn 27 words a day, 365 days a year, for 20 years to rate as ‘well educated.’

With some clever teaching, kids can learn how to spell thousands of words. We can help them do this with simple explanations and a few well planned activities.

When kids know how to spell words, they know the code needed to read and write. Reading won’t teach kids to spell, though. If they don’t know the code well, they won’t trust it enough to use it. That’s why we have so many struggling readers today.

No kid should be left behind. You may think ‘so what if they can’t spell?’ Did you know that 85% of juvenile offenders are functionally illiterate? Literacy rates are closely tied to delinquency and are considered by some to be the best predictor that a kid may end up in prison or on welfare. Today, 70% of inmates are functionally illiterate!

So my question is: what do you want for your kids?

In four days in the Minnesota, USA I have learnt amazing ways to make it easier for our kids to learn how to spell words so they can achieve success in both reading and writing.

I can’t wait to get home and start sharing it all with you.

Join my quest to help kids so we don’t hear any more sad stories of kids feeling “dumb” and ashamed because they can’t read and write.

Let’s change our children’s lives for the better, today.

Note: The following guest piece comes to us courtesy of Harman Singh, CEO of WizIQ. He founded the company in 2006, which has evolved to be the first and only online global education marketplace to offer live instructor-led learning. His career as a visionary e-learning innovator spans more than 13 years. Singh has successfully leveraged technology to replicate the classroom experience online making it more accessible, for both students and teachers. Singh has directed the company’s growth, while developing and creating WizIQ’s vision and business strategy.

As technology advances, we have more access to information. One technology, Massive Open Online Courses (better known as MOOCs) is beginning to change the way we look at education. These online courses are free and filled with information on just about anything you want to learn – from project management skills to learning a new language. And because MOOCs are free, access is open to anyone with a computer.

Just as learners have open access to MOOCs, instructors from schools and universities to a variety of education providers, and practically anyone with a skill to share can host a MOOC. The emergence of MOOCs has the potential to inevitably change the way we receive our education.

Just how prevalent are MOOCs? There are hundreds of MOOCs globally, some from even established universities such as Harvard and Stanford. MOOCs fill a void for learners who lack the time – and/or dollars – to physically attend a course featuring high-quality content. Needless to say, MOOCs are regarded as a game-changer in online education.

But are they really changing the game in learning?

Why MOOCs Aren’t Working Right Now

In the future, MOOCs have the potential to completely transform education. However, as of right now, don’t expect to see universities shutting down as a result, as some experts have begun projecting. Despite the recent rapid rise in MOOCs, this format continues to be an evolving model, and one that isn’t quite established yet.

Despite the seemingly unlimited access to free information through MOOCs, a 2012-2013 study conducted by MIT and Harvard revealed an overwhelming 95 percent of students dropped their online courses before completion, a rate substantially higher than traditional education’s dropout rates. While some students have expressed satisfaction taking MOOCs, others give various reasons for dropping them. Among the most common reason cited behind this dropout rate: there is no live teacher engagement.

Currently, just 10 percent of MOOC registrants complete their courses. Why – if all the materials are free and available with the click of a mouse? MOOCs are structured using a series of pre-recorded video-based, self-paced classes offered to students for free. There are no live instructors to help facilitate the classes, lectures or content. There is also no straight-and-narrow path from beginning-to-end and the format does not encourage the exchange of different thoughts and ideas among learners. The lack of live instructor involvement also means no follow-up with the student, or any assurance along the way that the student’s learning trajectory is heading in the right direction. At the course’s conclusion, only the learner can determine if he or she was successful.

The modern MOOC – without live and interactive teacher engagement – is essentially an Internet version of a book. That said, there is tremendous potential for the MOOC to evolve in a major way. To reduce dropout rates, the MOOC must be structured around live teacher engagement.

Some online learning platforms are now taking notice of this need for student-teacher engagement. At WizIQ, for example, our platform is an open marketplace where anyone can offer a MOOC, but we are integrating actual teacher engagement into the MOOC, filling a need within the online education sector.

Still Plenty of Room – and Time – For Growth

With the potential evolution for more online courses to include live instructor interaction, MOOCs can have a significant impact in higher education. Economics alone provides a huge advantage for MOOCs. According to a Deloitte study: “Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs): Not Disrupted Yet, But The Future Looks Bright,” in 2003, the total amount of student debt in the U.S. had reached more than $200 billion. Just nine years later, that debt ballooned to $1 trillion. In that same study, since 2000, the tuition cost in colleges has increased by 72 percent, whereas earnings for people ages 25-30 have decreased by 15 percent. Looking at this information, it’s obvious that economics are on the side of MOOCs.

Some colleges have partnered with companies to develop programs and pipelines that meet the student’s current and future needs. This type of partnership could also help students enter the workforce fresh out of graduation. If, somehow, MOOCs are able to establish similar partnerships with companies and provide better opportunities for students to find work, there is a real incentive for people not to go to college and just register for MOOCs. This shift will not occur anytime soon, however, because the social pressure to go to college and get a degree still exists. Such pressure results in the ongoing issue of student debt in our country. When this pressure no longer exists, and when economics play a larger role in determining how students receive their education, it is at that point when MOOCs could potentially replace higher education as we know it.

In addition to its potential in higher education, MOOCs that feature instructor engagement will also benefit those taking courses to enrich their lives. Classes like learning an instrument, a foreign language or how to cook would be enhanced by the presence of a live instructor, who can exchange feedback with the student on whether or not the assignments are being done properly. Programming courses on WizIQ, for example, allow students access to remote, virtual labs with live lab instructors to run programs practicing real world scenarios. This method is far more efficient than learning from a video-based course, or trying to understand course lessons on YouTube.

Where Will MOOCs Be Just Two Years From Now?

Within the next two years, MOOCs will quickly evolve from lacking teacher engagement to having a lot of teacher engagement. Right now, it’s essentially a model where computers are teaching students. This model is simply not sustainable in the long run without live student-teacher engagement. Teachers are the key that unlocks learning in these courses. They help students resolve issues and problems.

Will the biggest change in online education moving forward be putting live teachers at the center of the MOOC (not just on video)? We will know the answer very soon.

Read all of our posts about EdTech and Innovation by clicking here. 

In the past, college presidents from other schools and college vice presidents have most often ascended the ranks to fill empty presidential seats. While this still happens about 19 and 25 percent of the time, respectively, other leaders like provosts and deans are increasingly being considered to fill the college president vacancies. Some schools even search outside the college community to find leaders from other industries that fit the bill. There is really no hiring formula that applies to all college president spots and a “qualified” candidate could feasibly jump several levels of hierarchy to claim the spot.

Lately the academy has turned to former military officers to help lead their institutions. Recently, I sat down with Gen. Charles Krulak, president of Birmingham-Southern College to speak to him about how he used his distinguished career in the military to transition to a successful career in academia.

Q: What drove your decision to enter academia following your military career?

A: I did not actually join academia right after my military career. Rather, I first became the chairman and CEO of an international bank. Then I joined the board of a professional football team here in the United States and a professional soccer club in the United Kingdom, as well as the boards of Union Pacific and Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold. It was only after all those activities that I realized that what I missed more than anything was the relationship I had in the U.S. Marine Corps with the young men and women of today. The desire to reconnect with the next generation of leaders led me to seek a college presidency.

Q: Why did you choose Birmingham-Southern College?

A: Interestingly, I had never even been to the state of Alabama, nor had I ever heard of Birmingham-Southern. My name had come up in presidential searches for three other colleges or universities when I was invited to visit the city of Birmingham on an unrelated matter. While I was here, a friend who knew I was looking for a new challenge told me about BSC, which was currently looking for a new president. My wife and I visited campus and we spent six hours on an individual tour in which we replicated all the activities we had experienced while going through the interview process elsewhere. At the end of those six hours, we knew without a doubt that BSC was the place for us. Why? First off, the quality of the students. We found great young men and women of character who were clearly more driven to serve on Main Street than to profit on Wall Street. Second, we met a remarkable, selfless faculty who truly believes that the education they provide can and should be life-changing. Third, I encountered a staff who clearly saw that their main purpose was to serve the student and the faculty members who teach the students. All in all, there was a unique sense of family that I found at no other campus.

Q: How has your military background influenced your presidency?

A: As a military officer, I spent a lifetime around men and women who truly reflected the diversity of our nation. While BSC is a welcoming campus that has always strived for diversity, when I arrived, I didn’t encounter the magnitude of diversity I was accustomed to. That has now become a priority for the whole college, and we’re taking proactive steps to address the situation. Although we’ve just started out, we’ve become a more representative campus in a very short time, and that includes students, faculty, and staff. For instance, in the class that matriculated this fall, 22 percent identified as Asian American, Hispanic, African American, Pacific Islander, Native American, or multiracial.
Another thing: the military is often seen as a very hierarchical organization with little room for consultation or discussion. The reality is totally different. And so I’ve tried since arriving at the college to make sure communications remain open and to strive for transparency and informed debate, especially between administrators and the faculty. I really want to make sure I get input from the broadest possible perspective, especially as we shape the college’s future.

Q: What can higher education learn from the military, and vice-versa?

A: The biggest takeaway is that at the end of the day, character counts. The effectiveness of a professor or a staff member—or the president!—is directly related to her or his strength of character, moral courage, and integrity. We need to remember that our role is not just to prepare students mentally, but also to develop their strength of character, for that’s what will sustain them when they’re in the “real world.” The military, on the other hand, could learn a lot from higher education. From an administrative perspective, higher ed. has shown me how to slow down and value the process, especially when it comes to shared governance. From an educational one, we need to remember that there’s a huge difference between simply training young people—that is, loading them up with specific knowledge—and truly educating them to be critical thinkers, problem-solvers, and connectors of ideas. That’s what colleges like Birmingham-Southern do so well, and it’s why the U.S. will continue to be a leader in innovation well into the future.

Q: As a former member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, you’re clearly a strong leader. What do we need to do to create the next generation of leaders?

A: First off, I believe that leaders are made and not born; that you can in fact learn leadership. Also, leaders must have a foundation and that foundation is a strength of character. Thus, as you’re developing young leaders, you must start with that foundation and then build it up from there. The specific traits, methods, and even “tricks” that help make leadership effective are nothing without that basis in character, which is why I feel that’s one of the most important things we help develop as educators.

Q: What do you like to do in your spare time?

A: What spare time? Seriously, along with my “day job,” I attend almost every sporting event, performance, and other event on this campus. I love being out there to support the students! And then there’s travel to visit alumni and spread the word about BSC in other cities. My wife and I love to read, do crosswords, and watch movies. But the reality is, at least 90 percent of my time is spent on campus.

We would like to thank General Krulak for participating in this interview.

Immigration reform has been a hot button issue in the United States for decades. Earlier this year, the Obama administration, along with members of the Republican Party, outlined a plan for comprehensive immigration reform. When they sit down to work out the details, it is critical that higher education finds its way to the center of the discussion. A college education is a virtual prerequisite for securing the American dream and currently it is an option that is off the table for more than one million undocumented students. In order to learn more about the intersection of higher education and immigration reform, I sat down with Luis G. Pedraja, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Antioch University in Los Angeles.

Q: How does the lack of legal immigration options affect the college prospects of the children of illegal immigrants and their futures?

A: Children of illegal immigrants face limited prospects, greater financial burdens, a lack of support networks, and fear. While some states allow undocumented students to attend state institutions, pay in-state tuition, or provide some level of state financial aid, many states bar them from even enrolling. In addition, they cannot receive federal financial aid, loans, or work-study money. Because of their status, most of them will not find substantial employment that will allow them to pay tuition. Unless they receive scholarships, the majority of private universities will be out of reach. The few who do attend colleges most likely will have to work several low paying jobs to cover living expenses and tuition while they attend classes, often preventing them from full-time studies. In addition, they must cope with the constant fear of deportation for them and their families.

Q: By taking the option of attending college off the table for millions of immigrants, it seems that we are going against the values and principles upon which this country was founded. What are your thoughts?

A: Our country was founded on the principle that all are endowed with three basic rights: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The sole crime of the undocumented is the pursuit of these basic human rights. Most of these students came as children, some as infants, brought by parents hoping for a better future and the need to survive. Their economic woes often resulted from unfair trade, economic exploitation, and conflict—at times due to U.S. and European trade practices and politics. These children did not choose to break any immigration laws. Most were educated in our schools. Some were even born here, but unable to obtain birth certificates out of fear. They do not always have options to return to their home countries, where they no longer fit or have ties. Thus, they are trapped, victims of circumstances, with limited future prospects for education, gainful employment, and economic survival. To penalize them for actions over which they had no control would be akin to giving a ticket to everyone riding in a car.

Q: How should immigration reform address this?

A: I would like to challenge our political leaders to make education a path to citizenship. While broader reform is necessary, making higher education in particular a path to citizenship can benefit not only undocumented students, but also our nation. Let me elaborate. First, although the majority of undocumented students are already fluent in English and can function in American society, a higher education will ensure it and quiet some critics. Second, the attainment of a higher education degree will demonstrate their work ethic and abilities to be productive members of society. Third, education as a pathway will enable these students to seek gainful employment and contribute to society. Fourth, we train a large contingent of foreign students that eventually take their acquired skills abroad; an education pathway will keep highly skilled and talented individuals in the U.S., contributing to our economic development. Finally, research shows that individuals with some college education tend to earn more than those without. This will enable them to have greater purchasing power and contribute more to taxes. Current research indicates that undocumented laborers pay taxes, but because of the level of employment they can attain, their tax contribution is not as high as other groups.

Q: How does the reluctance to pass immigration reform affect the U.S. economy?

A: Studies indicate that close to 65% of job openings in the next five years will require at least some college education. While many countries invest in education as a way of strengthening the economy, it is one of the first items we tend to cut. Currently, only about 40% of the population attends college. This is creating a gap that will have a significant impact on our economy, leading to the erosion of the middle class, increased unemployment, and lower purchasing power. To strengthen our economy and leadership in the world economy, we need to be increasing access to education and encouraging more people to attend college to ensure a skilled workforce in our country.

Barring undocumented students from attending college only aggravates matters. First, it prevents the students from obtaining better employment that will increase their purchasing power and tax contributions. As a result, these young men and women will have a grim future, with limited prospects of finding better jobs. In addition, they will be more vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. Second, by not having sufficient skilled labor within our country, we risk that industries will be more drawn to relocate research and production to other countries, again lowering our GDP and our economic power. Instead of exporting talent to other countries, we should be importing individuals who will contribute to our economic growth. To some extent we already bring talented and skilled laborers to our country from abroad, so why not grow our own who already share our values? Third, by educating these men and women, they will be able to attain better employment and bear a greater portion of our tax burden, which will be necessary to sustain our aging population. Fourth, these students can be “ambassadors” to other countries, serving to bridge our interests and values to those of other nations and cultures.

Our failure to pass immigration reform ultimately cripples our economy by preventing us from keeping skilled individuals in our country and from bringing those with skills that we might be lacking. Immigrants are economic drivers. They do not take jobs from Americans; they often serve as the backs upon which America is built and often do the work that most of us are unwilling to do.

I would like to thank Dr. Pedraja for participating in this interview and for his insightful commentary on the intersection of higher education and immigration reform.

The Washington Post reports that the average college student will graduate with $25,000 in debt. With over $1 trillion in outstanding loans, student debt outweighs credit card debt and is exempt from bankruptcy protection. Even with these startling statistics, students will continue to borrow money in order to pay for college. College and university financial aid departments must operate at an optimal level in order to ensure that students have access to viable financial aid options and that federal regulations are followed. In order to find out more about the financial aid side of higher education, I decided to interview Steve Booker, director of financial aid at Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla.

Q: How do financial aid operations fit into your overall campus environment?

A: Financial aid is a critical piece in ensuring students who enroll at Rollins College are able to graduate on time. We work with families to plan out their four year college career and estimate total loan debt as well as out-of-pocket amounts. This way, we eliminate as much of the unknown costs as possible.

Q: How is your financial aid office perceived by your office, others on campus, and students?

A: Finances are personal and can be intimidating for families and students. As such, faculty and staff across campus are the first line of identifying potential issues through interactions with students. They often identify students who are struggling financially and help these students contact our office. When faculty and staff provide the introduction to the Financial Aid Office, students are more at ease and we can work together to find solutions.

Q: What is greatest challenge related to financial aid that you will face on your campus in the next five years? How is your institution preparing to address this challenge?

A: Our greatest challenge continues to be the rising cost of education and the lack of planning by many families. More families seek financial aid and need assistance. In
order to encourage more planning, our office visits local high schools for presentations as well as partners with programs such as Take Stock in Children and College for Every Student in order to get the word out about financial aid options earlier in a student’s education. The earlier we can raise the awareness of college and need for planning, the more options available to the family to save and prepare for the cost of college.

Q: What effects have state budget cuts had on your institution?

A: As a private institution, the state budget cuts impacted us a bit differently. Many of our students receive Bright Futures and/or the Florida Resident Access Grant (FRAG) which provide funding for Florida residents. Bright Futures has not risen as quickly as the cost of college and the test score requirements have increased significantly, which reduces the number of eligible recipients. FRAG has been reduced over the past few years, but is now steadily rising. These programs are important to our Florida residents and help reduce the amount of loans a student will borrow.

Q: What, if anything, can institutions do to stop the upward spiral of college costs and the increasing need for additional student aid funds?

A: Alternative delivery methods can help reduce certain costs. For example, online courses reduce the costs of transportation and potentially books. Also, providing information earlier to families including options to save can help families be in a better position at the point of college entry.

Q: Federal regulations stemming from a school’s participation in the federal student aid programs are increasingly reaching into other departments at a school (e.g., campus safety, admissions, records). How is your school making sure the entire institution is in compliance with these increasingly far-reaching regulations?

A: Through external and internal audits, we are able to stay on top of the reporting and disclosure requirements. In addition, the Office of Institutional Research provides a secondary check to ensure documents and notifications are available.

Q: How can a financial aid director raise the status of his or her office in the eyes of a college president?

A: Make sure that the Financial Aid Director either has a “seat at the table” or ensure that his/her direct supervisor is able to articulate the financial aid needs of the student body.

Q: If you were standing before Congress today, what would you want to tell them about student aid?

A: Financial aid is an important piece of the puzzle in bridging the gap between a family’s finances and the cost of higher education. Providing clear, concise, and accurate information for families to rely on and plan their educational career is critical. As a community, we need to reach families much earlier in elementary school in order to assist in the planning and preparation process. This should include incentives for families to save for higher education as well as provide a blueprint for children to succeed at each grade level. Recognizing the behaviors of academically successful students and breaking that down into achievable steps at each grade level (i.e., learning how to study, how to ask thoughtful questions) will provide opportunities for students to flourish.

This concludes my interview with Steve Booker. I would like to thank him for consenting to this interview.