The subtle art of breaking silence
You know when it is happening instinctively. It’s the moment when you sense an implicit silent nudge to tuck in your wings to take up less space, or when you begin to purse your lips…
Opinions
Effective internal communication strengthens community
No matter how many ways a message is delivered, nearly every college president or communications manager has probably heard this from a faculty or staff member or student: “Why didn’t I know about this?” A…
Trusting ‘Collective Genius’ in a crisis
A crisis reveals the strength of a leader. The past year has shown us this fact again and again as we have faced a global pandemic, economic devastation, and a racial and social justice uprising….
Washington Watch: Senate amendment would approve short-term Pell eligibility
Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) have introduced an amendment to pending legislation that would extend Pell Grant eligibility to students in qualifying short-term workforce education programs. The amendment (see p. 30) to…
Championing equality
Last year at this time I was lamenting the cancellation of our 100th Annual Convention — a celebration that we had thoughtfully planned and that I was looking forward to sharing with all of you….
Washington Watch: Recent federal STEM grant opportunities
To promote STEM education (science, technology, engineering and math), several federal agencies — including the U.S. Education Department — recently announced a few STEM-related funding opportunities. In April, ED released two notices for fiscal year…
Headlines
Biden is pushing community colleges even as attendance plummetsQuartzThe reasons for the attendance decline are not straightforward, but the background of the students help illustrate some of the reasons, says Martha Parham, vice president of…
AAPI Heritage Month: Dispelling stereotypes and supporting students
iStock May is Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. Thirty-eight percent of all AAPI undergraduates in the U.S. attend community college, according to the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC). Community College Daily…
Mitigating stereotype threat
When I was a freshman at the University of Alabama in 1992, there were a few times when I was the only Black person in my classes. Some of the classes had between 100 to…
A sabbatical in 2020: Not what I had planned
I wrote my sabbatical proposal in fall 2019, and when I found out it was approved, I was elated. My husband had surprised me that same fall with tickets to Italy for May, and we…