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Welcome to The EDU Ledger! We’ve moved from Diverse: Issues In Higher Education.

Section: Opinion

‘Professoring’ While Black: Strategies for Thriving in the White Professoriate

With the acknowledgement of increased White nationalist and supremacist activities happening across U.S. higher education campuses, Black faculty have amplified the call for Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs) to acknowledge the unique challenges that these scholars face.

March 27, 2020

Uncharted Waters: The Top 5 Tips for Transitioning to Remote Learning

This week may mark your first time remote teaching. Maybe your institution remains on spring break, and your transition is next week. Or perhaps you’ve been embroiled in our new normal for a few weeks now. No matter what phase of a COVID-19 environment you are in, as professors all across the world engage in remote teaching, having a plan in place is the best strategy.

March 26, 2020

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Coronavirus Is Not a “Chinese Virus”

All anybody can talk about, even think about, is corona virus, COVID 19, the novel disease that has overwhelmed the world and brought human interaction to a hard stop. Calling it “the Chinese virus” only worsens the situation. Regardless of whether it is deemed “racist,” the persistent use of the term even after protests, is problematic. It only harms our efforts to control the spread of illness by adding animosity to the air.

March 25, 2020

African-American

COVID-19 Comes to Campus: What Hurricane Katrina Tells Us About the Current Campus Crisis

We are living in pandemic pandemonium, where panic is the prevailing mode of operation. Every college and university is operating with all hands-on deck, altering their operational norms; the result is that campus employees—academics, practitioners, and leaders—are beyond exhausted. Yet, for those of us who have witnessed campuses in crisis, all of this feels eerily familiar. As two higher education professionals and scholars who worked on the ground through Hurricane Katrina and studied campus crisis response, we are extremely reflective and vigilant about how we move forward in this new reality.

March 25, 2020

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The Flaws With College Rankings

I would never suggest getting rid of rankings altogether. They serve as a great starting point for students who are researching potential schools, and they encourage schools to constantly strive for growth and improvement. Specific ranking lists that provide information on the best colleges for veterans, undergraduate teaching, and affordability can be quite helpful. However, it is important to note the limitations of the ranking system and to encourage students to find the school that is the best fit for their individual needs.

March 24, 2020

Asian American Pacific Islander

The President’s Diversity Values Stink

While there is no vaccine for COVID-19 we do have a vaccine for the ignorance of xenophobia. It’s called knowledge. President Trump can use a little of that right now, instead of shooting from the lip as he did numerous times on live television last week.

March 24, 2020

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Faculty & Staff

The Four E’s to Increasing Diversity of Course Materials

Academia does not always reflect the racial and ethnic makeup of the student body. Schools in diverse areas do not necessarily have a high number of minority faculty members and the texts and readings assigned to students are often written by White authors.

March 23, 2020

Rebecca M Entress

Love in the Time of the Coronavirus

The world is in a panic and chaos brews in the media and in the communities where we live. How does one make sense of and put words to this epidemic that has become known as the Coronavirus (COVID-19)?

March 23, 2020

Reflections on the Professional Development of a Successful Senior Diversity Officer in Higher Education

At a time when colleges and universities are faced with a plethora of challenges associated with modeling a complex campus community that mirrors the faces of the social and cultural demographics of our respective states and society, many university executive leaders such as presidents and chancellors look to key individuals to lead diversity, equity and […]

March 17, 2020

COVID-19: Be a Part of Flattening the Curve

What is a pandemic? A pandemic is a disease outbreak that is global in nature. Pandemics are well-documented in the recorded history of humankind. The evolution of the coronavirus, or COVID-19, as a pandemic, represents a first. A brief review of other pandemics sets the stage for our current challenge while also providing lessons to […]

March 16, 2020

What Will Happen to the Most Vulnerable Student Populations During the COVID-19 Public Health Crisis?

Over the last few days, hundreds of colleges and universities have decided to encourage students to move out as soon as possible and handle the remainder of the academic semester online. While major precautions are necessary to help avoid making this public health crisis any worse, the announcements have made one thing clear: institutions assume that students will be able to figure out where to live, how to eat, and how to finish the semester in a matter of days.

March 12, 2020

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Leadership & Policy

Decide For Yourself About TSU Presidency

With all due respect to Dr. Walter M. Kimbrough and his opinion piece, “A Warning to Anyone Thinking About Being the Next TSU President,” Texas Southern University (TSU) is an outstanding educational institution and does not have a Board of Regents that needs to be wiped out by our governor.

March 12, 2020

Stepping Away from the Brink: Part VII: Faculty and The Academy

Faculty, in conjunction with students, represent the core of an academic institution. Without either, colleges and universities don’t have a purpose. It is faculty who provides education, advice, and enlightenment to our next generation of leaders, entrepreneurs, politicians, educators, and hopefully change-makers. However, as higher education continues to find itself on the brink, questions around the appropriate faculty structure remains critical to thinking of the future of institutions.

March 11, 2020

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Coronavirus Silver lining—Online Learning?

Let’s face it. Learning isn’t about entering in engaged conversation while standing in togas. It’s the changing world of teaching a younger generation already well attuned to technology. Coronavirus fears have resulted in some unintended positive consequences.

March 11, 2020

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You Can’t Compromise With Racism: College Leaders Must Address Our Ugly Racial Past

Institutional leaders must move beyond rehearsed rhetoric and seek to forcefully tackle their institutions’ problematic racial histories of exclusion and exploitation of people of color. This process requires identifying and addressing current policies, practices, and symbols that make campus environments openly hostile, unwelcoming, and disempowering for students of color. Such action is necessary to create equitable environments that affirm, welcome, and support all students.

March 10, 2020

From Business Schools to Boardrooms, a Proactive Approach Will Advance Gender Equity

On this year’s International Women’s Day, I vividly recall the life-changing advice I once received about the delicate balance between career ambition and family.

March 8, 2020

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When Inhumanity ‘Trumps’ a Fundamental Basic Need to Live and Learn

Far too many families live in food deserts – low income communities, more than a mile from a grocery store, and many do not have a car. Many grocery stores do not accept food stamps (#sigh). Estimates indicate about 25 million families are trapped in food deserts; a disproportionate percentage are families of color — Black and Hispanic – in both urban and rural communities. Their mental and physical health are compromised based on food insecurity and/or access to unhealthy food options that are affordable. When hungry, any food is better than no food. Some policy makers appear to be clueless or uncaring about this. Where’s the humanity, I ask rhetorically? #absent.

March 7, 2020

Faculty & Staff

Authorship: The Elephant in the Room

When it comes to tenure-track faculty positions, and pursuing tenure altogether, there’s no doubt that one item stands above all others: Research. Even in the field of higher education, a field that is supposed to critically reflect on the issues of the academy, including the shortcomings of tenure processes, our programs still emphasize the same flawed indicators: Research -> Publications -> Authorship.

March 4, 2020