ACE staff are blogging on a selection of sessions and other events at ACE2019, the Council’s 101st Annual Meeting being held March 10-12 in Philadelphia.
Tuesday, March 12
Real Students, Real Change: How Students’ Lives Can Transform Higher Education
The ACE2019 closing plenary featured a conversation among a diverse student panel—including Sophia Norcott and Brendyn Melugin, ACE’s 2018 Students of the Year—moderated by John B. King Jr., president and CEO of The Education Trust, on how to get students across the completion finish line. Video of the session will be available soon.
Left to right: John B. King, Jr., former Secretary of Education and president and CEO of The Education Trust; Jonathan Yubi Gomez, student at Lehman College, The City University of New York; Sophia Norcott, a student at Southern New Hampshire University; Darryl Epps Jr., Justice in Education Scholar, Columbia University (NY); and Brendyn Melugin, a student at the University of North Georgia. Photo: Tim Trumble for ACE.
Monday, March 11
An Examination of Food Insecurity in Higher Education
Panelists from Hope Center for College, Harvard University, and Bon Appetit Management Company asked audience members at the ACE2019 session “When Students Are Hungry: An Examination of Food Insecurity in Higher Education” to consider how the problem plays out on their campus.
Ensuring the Success of Men of Color
ACE Vice President Lorelle Espinosa moderated a panel during ACE2019 on “Ensuring the Success of Men of Color: Lessons from Two Statewide Consortia,” featuring panelists Juan Sánchez Muñoz, president of the University of Houston, Downtown; Victor Sáenz, department chair and associate professor at the University of Texas at Austin; and William Franklin, vice president of student affairs for California State University, Dominguez Hills. They explored existing programs of support and the work that still needs to be done.
Assessing Challenges to the Value of Higher Education From a Journalist’s Perspective
There hasn’t been a hotter topic in higher education circles over the past several years than whether the public no longer believes that a college education is worth the cost—or at least as a good a value as in years past—and if so, why? And what can be done to demonstrate to Americans that by any standard, the average person with a postsecondary degree is better off than someone without one? Three veteran journalists gathered at ACE2019 to assess these questions.
International Student Strategies in Difficult Times
The ACE2019 session “International Students: Institutional Strategies in Difficult Times” examined the downward trend in new international enrollment in U.S. higher education institutions, and how institutions are working to address these trends.
Connecting Veterans with Quality Higher Education Institutions
With a growing number of veterans taking advantage of the GI Bill, it is critical for senior leaders on college and university campuses to continually stay abreast of the emerging opportunities and challenges of serving veterans in their successful higher education journey. An ACE2019 session on Monday discussed strategies for success and partnerships that are delivering value.
Monday Luncheon Plenary: Tara Westover Talks to The Washington Post’s Nick Anderson
Nick Anderson of The Washington Post interviewed author Tara Westover about her best-selling memoir Educated and the transformative power of education during the ACE2019 Monday Luncheon Plenary. The daughter of survivalist, fundamentalist parents, Westover grew up in Idaho and didn’t set foot in a classroom for the first time until age 17. Calling it a “book that testifies to an irrepressible thirst to learn,” The New York Times named Educated one of the 10 best books of 2018. Full video from the session available soon.
Nick Anderson and Tara Westover. Photo: Tim Trumble for ACE.
Breakfast Plenary: Talking About Race
Watch Beverly Daniel Tatum, president emerita of Spelman College, and Robin DiAngelo, author and associate professor of education at the University of Washington in a conversation moderated by ACE’s Lorelle Espinosa. The video also features Shaun Harper, professor and executive director of the University of Southern California’s Race and Equity Center, accepting the Reginald Wilson Diversity Leadership Award. See Diverse: Issues In Higher Education for highlights from the discussion.
Left to right: Robin DiAngelo, Beverly Daniel Tatum, and Lorelle Espinosa Photo: Tim Trumble for ACE.
Transforming Professional Learning and Building a New Higher Education Community
At the Monday morning breakfast plenary, ACE Senior Vice President Philip Rogers debuted the Council’s new Learning and Engagement Division, which will develop affordable, scalable, professional learning opportunities to make institutions and leaders more effective through such strategies as regional summits and an online platform called ACE Engage. In this post, Rogers and ACE chief learning and innovation officer Louis Soares explain the new initiative in further detail.
Sunday, March 10
Catherine Bond Hill Gives 2019 Atwell Lecture
Catharine Bond Hill, president emerita of Vassar College (NY), managing director at ITHAKA S&R, and an economist who has focused on higher education affordability and access, delivered the 2019 Robert H. Atwell Plenary address Sunday evening. Her remarks focused on policy changes that would improve access for disadvantaged students including increasing class size, which would allow more to “benefit from the resources of the wealthiest schools.” Read details at Inside Higher Ed, and check back for video from the session.
Catharine Bond Hill. Photo: Tim Trumble for ACE.
Designing Strategies to Support the Mental Health of Students
Campus leadership plays a key role in helping move the needle on long-term, long-lasting systemic change that will serve all students on campus, according to an ACE2019 panel conversation about the mental health concerns of different student populations.
Leading a Community During the Kavanaugh Hearings
When a Palo Alto University (CA) faculty member stepped forward and became embroiled in the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, the institution was pulled into a storm. On Sunday at ACE2019, three higher education leaders reflected on this journey and provided perspective to those gathered during the session “Through the Storm: Leading a Community During the Kavanaugh Hearings.”
Creating Programs for Students With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
This panel explored the range of programs for students with intellectual disabilities and highlighted the institutional support necessary to make these programs a success.
Faculty Impact on Career Readiness
Representatives from Strada Education Network, the Career Leadership Collective, and the Association of College and University Educators (ACUE) joined forces to facilitate the session “From Impactful Classes to Rewarding Careers: The Unique Influence of Faculty on Students’ Career Readiness and Satisfaction” to a packed room of highly engaged attendees at ACE2019.
Creating, Calculating, and Communicating the Value of Higher Education
In the ACE2019 session “The Three Cs: Creating, Calculating, and Communicating the Value of Higher Education,” panelists discussed how a commitment to instructional quality generates educational, financial, and reputational value. They asserted that we create value for our students every time they experience powerful teaching and learning and, upon graduation, send into the world champions of our value.
Global Challenges to Civic Engagement
With civil discourse seemingly deteriorating on campuses and a public that is increasingly questioning the value of higher education, higher education leaders now more than ever are faced with the challenge of re-affirming the public mission of higher education. The ACE2019 session “Democracy, Civic Engagement, and Citizenship in Higher Education: A Global Perspective” looked at the problem.
What Low-Income Students Want College and University Leaders to Know
Four college students who are members of the Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America Scholar community spoke to a room of college and university leaders Sunday at ACE2019 about what low-income students want these leaders to know.
Leveraging Philanthropy
Stephanie Bell-Rose, senior managing director of the TIAA Institute, examines the ACE2019 session “Leveraging Philanthropy to Catalyze Change in Challenging Times” in which she participated as a speaker.
Digital Transformation and the Future of Higher Education Leadership
On the first day of ACE 2019, Rod McDavis, managing principal of AGB Search, led a discussion between John Katzman, CEO of Noodle Partners, ACE President Ted Mitchell, and Carol Quillen, president of Davidson College to explore how higher education leaders are leveraging technology to transform their institutions.
Richard Haass and Lawrence Bacow on Universities and Global Engagement
Former U.S. diplomat Richard N. Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, and Harvard University President Lawrence S. Bacow discussed developments in global affairs that are likely to impact higher education during ACE2019’s Opening Luncheon Plenary on Sunday. Check back for full video from their talk.
Harvard University President Lawrence Bacow, left, with Richard Haass. Photo: Tim Trumble for ACE.
Saturday, March 9
President and CEO of Ms. Foundation Addresses ACE Women’s Leadership Dinner
Teresa C. Younger addressed a crowd of 220 higher education leaders at the ACE Women’s Leadership Dinner Saturday night, stressing the importance of “being the kind of woman.”
Teresa Younger (center) with Gailda Davis, director of ACE Leadership, and ACE President Ted Mitchell. Photo: Tim Trumble for ACE.
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