The Dream Dean

Friday, January 29, 2021

Music Meditation: Ancestral Home (R Carlos Nakai) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-RGBQicUns

Question: What is an unpopular opinion or belief you have?

Answer: That higher education (colleges and universities) have fucked up student success. I’m actually writing (actually, it’s more like ranting) about the fact that there’s no “student” in student success. If you look at most institutions in higher education, most of the metrics/numbers attached to student success are focused on retention and graduation rates. And that makes me ill! I would argue (and I have data to back me up on this) that most students want to be healthy (holistically – physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually), happy, successful, and connected. And if they can get a degree while achieving the four other things, that’s a bonus. Most institutions (and administrators) believe that students want a job after they graduate; actually, students want to have a great life – with a good job being a part of the equation. And here’s a note to administrators – although most parents would say that they want their son or daughters to get a job after they graduate, what they want more is that their children have a better life than they (the parents) had – especially those on the lower income level.

I chuckle because when you talk about advising and coaching in higher education, the aim of both is keeping students in college and getting them out of college. Again, focused on institutional goals. Registration, scheduling, and degree evaluation is the main focus of advising on my campus (UNCG); I have yet to meet ANYONE at the higher level of student success having conversations about the role that we should be serving when working with students – helping them transition form where they are at to where they want to be! Student success peeps talk about goal setting, but specifically in the context of getting a degree and getting a job. Where does an interest in sky-diving show up in a typical conversation with an advisor/coach? However, if you want to spend time talking about time management, study skills, note-taking, and test-taking, I’m all ears. Yes, that’s serving the students well – if the focus is on getting in and getting out. Again, institution goals.

I can hear my advising/coaching colleagues arguing that they do more than that, but it’s minimal at best. And don’t get me started on career services! How do we prepare students for an economy where 40% of the current workforce are independent workers – and could be as high as 50-75% by 2030? How are institutions preparing students for an unpredictable future? Having the learn the skills of adaptability and flexibility, plus understand that failure is a learning experience, not the end of the world. We have more support staff to help students on probation (less than a 2.0 GPA) than to help students with a GPA above a 2.0 (which is all you need to graduate in most majors) but cannot get into a major because of higher GPA requirements. Does anyone see a problem with this picture?

Most institutions are focused on the metrics (retention and graduation rates), the money (donations and research dollars), and the prestige (rankings). And that’s it. But what if you can combine

So again, where is the “student” in student success?

P.S. I actually have a plan to address this – coming soon…

Other Stuff

Today, I’m going to share one of my favorite motivational songs that I had a chance to listen to this morning. Funny, although I wasn’t really motivated to work out this morning, once the song, “Good Life” by One Republic came on, I was able to step up my game. If you don’t know the song, here’s the link to the video:

• Good Life (One Republic) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZhQOvvV45w

And here are the lyrics:

Woke up in London yesterday
Found myself in the city near Piccadilly
Don’t really know how I got here
I got some pictures on my phone
New names and numbers that I don’t know
Address to places like Abbey Road
Day turns to night, night turns to whatever we want
We’re young enough to say

Oh, this has gotta be the good life
This has gotta be the good life
This could really be a good life, good life
Say oh, got this feeling that you can’t fight
Like this city is on fire tonight
This could really be a good life
A good, good life

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

To my friends in New York, I say hello
My friends in L.A. they don’t know
Where I’ve been for the past few years or so
From Paris to China to Colorado
Sometimes there’s airplanes I can’t jump out
Sometimes there’s bullshit that don’t work now
We all got our stories but please tell me
What there is to complain about

When you’re happy like a fool
Let it take you over
When everything is out
You gotta take it in

Oh, this has gotta be the good life
This has gotta be the good life
This could really be a good life, good life
Say oh, got this feeling that you can’t fight
Like this city is on fire tonight
This could really be a good life
A good, good life

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
A good, good life
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

Hopelessly
I feel like like there might be something that I’ll miss
Hopelessly
I feel like the window closes oh so quick
Hopelessly
I’m taking a mental picture of you now
‘Cause hopelessly
The hope is we have so much to feel good about

Oh this has gotta be the good life
This has gotta be the good life
This could really be a good life, good life
Say oh, got this feeling that you can’t fight
Like this city is on fire tonight
This could really be a good life
A good, good life

Oh, oh oh, oh yeah, a good, good life, good life
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Whoa, whoa, listen

To my friends in New York, I say hello
My friends in L.A. they don’t know
Where I’ve been for the past few years or so
Paris to China to Colorado
Sometimes there’s airplanes I can’t jump out
Sometimes there’s bullshit that don’t work now
We all got our stories but please tell me
What there is to complain about

Is there a song (or a couple of songs) that just lifts your spirits and make you smile, like this one does for me? If so, please share.