Some random questions for this fine Friday.

• Would the work week be more fun if every day felt like Friday?
• Does working from home make you feel like you never leave the office?
• Is routine the killer of creativity or the foundation for it?
• Why does Converse make the Chuck Taylor shoe a 1/2 size too big?
• Why are some of the most critical professions paid the least?
• Is one rock any dumber than a box of rocks?
• Why do people not value online learning as much as in-person?  Is it the lack of learning or the crummy content and delivery?

Ok, discuss.

Higher Education has been pushing “Student Success” as an outcome model.  I would say that over the past 5 years or so, this term has been used to define a wide variety of things relating to students.  I’ve heard it talked about with small wins, like course completion.  It is also used to celebrate larger wins like degree completion and university transfer.

Don’t get me wrong, measuring and celebrating small and large wins are important.  Knowing the uniqueness of each student can be important as well in measuring true success.  The challenge in higher education is coming to a consensus on what “Student Success” really means.  It seems like the target constantly moves.  I also wonder if the definitions that institutions use is coming up short.

Should we be measuring student success beyond what they did at our colleges?  If you are a community college, should you measure the graduation rates of your transfer students?  What about job placement in you occupational programs?  For Universities, should you be measuring job placement?  What about graduation rates from graduate programs for your students who moved on to graduate schools immediately after their undergraduate degree?  I guess I wonder if student success should be tied more to longterm outcomes rather than short term wins?

If your average student goes to college to get a job in their chosen field after graduation or make more money, it seems like this should be a top indicator of student success.

What your definition of “Student Success?”

I have been thinking lately about all the high school students across the globe who are preparing to graduate May and June.   For many, the college years will be their next life chapter.  I have some advice for now and over the next few years……

1.  Choose your college based on what you need, not what their reputation is.  Can they help you achieve your dreams?  Will they help you achieve your dreams?

2.  Do some soul searching for what you want to achieve in your life.  Make sure you are following YOUR dreams.

3.  Spend some time thinking about what you love to do.  What major do you need to do that for a living?

4.  Choose your college and major based on #2 and #3.

5.  Choose your major as quickly as possible.  Taking a bunch of classes to figure it out can delay your graduation and cost more money.

6.  Decide if student loans are the best way to go.  You could be paying them off for a really long time.  Like 20 years!  You have to pay interest on those loans.

7.  Taking student loans is necessarily bad, betting on yourself can be a good bet.  Just balance out what you want to do with what it will cost to get there.

8.  Surround yourself with people who will support you in achieving your goals.

9.  Be a support to others trying to achieve their goals.

10.  Be an active learner.  Participate in class discussions.  Be someone your team can count on for group projects.

11.  Build your resume with your actions in college.

12.  Find a mentor.  This should be someone who can help you improve, not just someone you like.  Your mentor should be someone who pushes you to achieve your goals.  If you are not sure who to ask, talk to your faculty member about what your goals are.  They may have someone they can recommend.

13.  Be focused on your career.  College can and should be fun, but in the end it is about being employable.  Don’t forget that.

15.  If the door of opportunity cracks open, kick it wide open and step through the door.  Seriously.  Too many people let great opportunities pass them by because they were afraid of the unknown.  Think about someone who you think has lead an interesting life.  Do you think they let opportunities pass by?  NOPE!

16.  Dream every day.  Never let your mind stop thinking about all the wonderful possibilities life has for you.  Lets change that.  Don’t just dream.  DREAM BIG!

17.  Make friends with the quiet people too.  You will find that they may be the most interesting people you know.  They just don’t feel the need to tell everyone how great they are.

18.  Get to know the people teaching your classes.  This is important in all learning modalities.  You should know the teachers and coaches in your online classes as well.  More importantly, you want them to know you.

19.  Network, Network, Network.  You never know when you will need someone to help you out.

20.  When you finally get your degree and your first “real” job, take the time to say thank you to the people who helped you get there.  Not a text or an email.   Make it meaningful.  They cared enough to help you achieve your goals, the least you can do is let them know they matter to you.

Higher education has become a master of assessment.  I have been wondering lately if we are actually measuring the things that truly matter.  We are so tied to what our accreditors want to see that I wonder if we are losing site of the big picture.   Does it matter if we can check every box on our learning outcomes if students graduate yet didn’t develop the skills to be employable?

What is the main reason students go to college?  My personal experience tells me that the main reason has something to do with jobs and making money.  Are we preparing them to do this?  Are we requiring enough hands on project based learning to build their resumes to make them marketable?  One college internship doesn’t seem like enough anymore.

Maybe we should be measuring our success by their success AFTER they graduate, not just how well they moved through our course and degrees?

What are your thoughts on this?