Beyond Dialogue: Dealing With Some of Higher Education’s Most Intractable Challenges

There is no shortage of articles and seminars on the challenges facing higher education.

At the same time, there is a clear shortage of significant conversations on how to deal with these challenges.

Based on hundreds of conversations with campus leaders, I know why these conversations are so scarce: people are afraid. They fear they will be ostracized by the higher education community of which they are a part.

Consider, for example, the issue of high cost. While most agree that high cost is an issue, almost no one wants to look at ways to really reduce cost. One president called any such discussion “a real career killer.” A second described the cost issue as a “third rail”; referring to the third rail on a subway track that carries the electric current that powers the train. Anyone who touches the third rail is electrocuted. Another president said the cost issue was simply “untouchable” and his hope was to retire before having to deal with it.

Unfortunately, while higher education dithers, the challenges mount. At the very least, we need significant dialogue to identify these third-rail issues. But more importantly, we need to begin developing solutions.

What I am proposing is a three-step process to help us move beyond dialogue.

First, I would like you to post what you believe to be the top three untouchable issues facing higher education.

Second, I will organize your responses into broad categories. My goal is to identify the top three to five issues.

Finally, Stamats will organize a dialogue around each of these issues. We will try to find the best thinkers and doers from across higher education and create a venue where their work can be shared.

Let’s begin with a question: what do you believe to be the top three challenges facing higher education? (Please either post a comment or e-mail your three challenges to info@stamats.com.)

Thank you in advance for your interest,
Bob Sevier

Photo by hexodus…