EdUp Insights EdUp Insights

With all of the craziness in higher education today, there is a glimpse of the past that gives hope for the future. As we see students and administrators on our campuses begin to push back against disruptive demonstrations, there are strong signals that the heart of higher education still beats, from the front lines to the C-Suite. Higher ed has played a major role in fostering the fundamental principles that make America a pretty cool place to live. There has always been discontent in higher education, and there has always been a response to discontent that moves things back toward normalcy. In this episode I’ll gauge the pulse of higher ed past and present and offer some words of advice.

 

EdUp Insights with Bill Pepicello is part of the EdUp Experience Podcast Network.

Higher education was once a comfortable cocoon where students were incubated until they emerged as fully-formed beings ready to participate in the real world.  There were external social and political influences, to be sure, but they did not generally impact the education gestation process.  Today, the metamorphosis from student to citizen has been supplanted by a chaotic barrage of external forces that often displace teaching and learning at the heart of the higher education ecosystem with a muddled mix of ideology and indoctrination. In this episode I’ll trace the history of this pejoration as I have witnessed it for fifty years.

 

EdUp Insights with Bill Pepicello is part of the EdUp Experience Podcast Network.    

 

 

As higher education leaders look for solutions to remedy current woes besetting the sector, they scour the traditional paradigm for clues. So far, uneven progress has been made.  This could be attributed to the fact that leaders are searching for solutions to problems inside the same system that caused them. Some commentators, notably Gordon Gee, have suggested that answers might be better sought outside the box if higher ed is remain relevant and viable.  In this episode I’ll suggest that working from the inside and outside simultaneously and congruently is possible. I’ll look at what can be learned from external paradigms and applied to a new “supply chain” approach to higher education.

 

EdUp Insights with Bill Pepicello is part of the EdUp Experience Network.

 

Americans today are acutely aware of current social issues and trends, and there are plenty of them. But there is some disturbing evidence that we tend to watch events passively until they begin to impact us personally.  In this episode I’ll look at how social and political problems have crept up on the public and bitten us when we weren’t paying enough attention.  As I’ll opine, the same is true for higher education.  Previously, higher ed stood largely above the fray as an impartial observer and referee amid the vicissitudes of society.  As political and social influences have gained momentum, higher ed gravitated from passivity to deference to acceptance.  Recent events on our campuses are laying bare the consequences.  The lesson here is that what may not affect us immediately can get to us eventually.

 

EdUp Insights with Bill Pepicello is part of the EdUp Experience Network.

As a person of a certain age, many of my favorite films growing up have been remade at least once.  In this episode I’ll get into what crafts a good remake of a classic film, and why some recent attempts have missed the mark.  And why do we call them “classics,” anyway?  Then I’ll look at how this applies to higher education. Having grown up in the classic higher education paradigm, I will examine how current efforts to remake the traditional higher ed ecosystem in the image of the latest trends in social and political influences are meeting with an uneven reception, both inside the ivy walls and in public opinion. And again, I’ll look at how classical paradigms are relevant to understanding where we have been and where we are.

 

EdUp Insights with Bill Pepicello is part of the EdUp Experience Podcast Network

There is an abundance of analyses on the value of a college degree and the expectations of graduates and employers as individuals enter the workforce. A look at some of these studies shows a puzzling misalignment that is frustrating for all involved.  In this episode I’ll look at things from both sides. First, what are the expected returns from a college degree, both in terms of affluence and personal fulfillment?  Is the college degree a necessary asset in securing a good job?  Second, how do employers value a degree as opposed to skills-based ability in the hiring process? Or more to the point, what are employers saying about this as opposed to how they are acting? Finally, how can the expectations of graduates and employers be align to the benefit of all?

 

EdUp Insights with Bill Pepicello with is part of the EdUp Experience Podcast Network