{"id":4635,"date":"2020-09-25T12:01:51","date_gmt":"2020-09-25T16:01:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nacacadmitted.wpengine.com\/wordpress\/?p=4635"},"modified":"2020-09-25T12:01:51","modified_gmt":"2020-09-25T16:01:51","slug":"nacac20-pandemic-spurs-changes-in-higher-ed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/admitted.nacacnet.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/2020\/09\/25\/nacac20-pandemic-spurs-changes-in-higher-ed\/","title":{"rendered":"#NACAC20: Pandemic Spurs Changes in Higher Ed"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>In times of great crisis, America has depended on higher education to help bring stability to the nation. The Morrill Act of 1862, which established land grant colleges, was enacted during the Civil War. Decades later, Congress passed the G.I. Bill to assist World War II servicemen.<\/p>\n

A panel of US college presidents told attendees at this week\u2019s 2020 NACAC Virtual Conference<\/a> that universities can play a similar role amid the coronavirus crisis. But colleges must adapt, and state and federal dollars are necessary to reach all those in need of support.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn every moment of great strife and challenge in our nation\u2026America leaned back into educating its citizens and used higher education as a force for good and a force for change,\u201d said Daniel G. Lugo, president of Queens University of Charlotte (NC). \u201cIt is important that we not cede ground on what is right<\/em> about us because, if we do that, we\u2019ll never ever, ever get state governments or the federal government to think of us as a place to make more equitable investments.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026We do need to improve, we do need to be more self-conscious and aware,\u201d Lugo added during the discussion, which was moderated by education journalist and author Jeff Selingo. \u201cBut too often we cede ground on how good we actually are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Higher education can continue to be a vehicle for social mobility in these unprecedented times, but colleges need to change their approach, according to fellow panelists Alexander N. Cartwright, president of the University of Central Florida, and Shirley Collado, president of Ithaca College (NY).<\/p>\n

The coronavirus crisis has jumpstarted efforts to deliver more coursework online, Cartwright said. That work needs to continue, even after the pandemic has passed. The number of traditionally aged college students continues to decline, and colleges need to do more to reach learners of all ages and at all stages in their careers, he said. Quality online degree or certificate programs are one way to do that, Cartwright noted.<\/p>\n

Colleges also need to reflect and celebrate the country\u2019s increasing diversity in their curriculum and faculty composition, Collado said.<\/p>\n

\u201cUltimately students want to know: Do you see me clearly? Will my people be there? Will I belong? And do you believe in my ability?\u201d she explained. \u201cAnything that we can do to widen that pathway and the psychology of what it takes to enter college with that kind of affirmation is really important.\u201d<\/p>\n

Recordings of all conference sessions will be available for purchase through Playback now. Registered attendees can view conference content on-demand for free until Oct. 31. All sessions will be available to registered attendees 24 hours after the session occurs.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mary Stegmeir is a freelance writer and editor. She formerly served as NACAC\u2019s assistant director for editorial content and outreach.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In times of great crisis, America has depended on higher education to help bring stability to the nation. The Morrill Act of 1862, which established land grant colleges, was enacted during the Civil War. Decades later, Congress passed the G.I. Bill to assist World War II servicemen. A panel of US college presidents told attendees … Continue reading #NACAC20: Pandemic Spurs Changes in Higher Ed<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,16,19,6],"tags":[494],"class_list":["post-4635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-access","category-advocacy","category-nacac-national-conference","category-nacac-news","tag-nacac20"],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Mary Stegmeir","author_link":"https:\/\/admitted.nacacnet.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/author\/mstegmeir\/"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/peWmJq-1cL","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/admitted.nacacnet.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/admitted.nacacnet.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/admitted.nacacnet.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admitted.nacacnet.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admitted.nacacnet.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4635"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/admitted.nacacnet.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4635\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/admitted.nacacnet.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admitted.nacacnet.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admitted.nacacnet.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}