This Week In College Viability (TWICV) - Special Episode: Dr. Brian Rosenberg, author: 'Whatever it is, I don't like it'. Dec 13, 2023
Dr. Brian Rosenberg is my guest today. His recent book: Whatever it is, I don’t like it, is fascinating in many ways. The 7 chapters are exquisitely balanced and logical as they step the reader through where HE has been, where it needs to go, and how to get there.
The industry is changing. Sticking ones head in the proverbial sand and hoping for the best is a dangerous and problematic approach.
There are folks who will move forward, Dr. Rosenberg offers guidance to them. The first-movers will be at a distinct competitive advantage.
Wait for change, make the change, hide from the change. Whatever it is, I don’t like it, can help you decide which of those roles you want for yourself and/or your organization.
Here are links to purchase the book.
Harvard Education Press
Amazon
Here is the Harvard Press description of Whatever it is, I don’t like it,
An invigorating work that identifies obstructions to transformative change in higher education and offers paths to break through.
In “Whatever It Is, I’m Against It,” president emeritus of Macalester College Brian Rosenberg draws on decades of higher education experience to expose the entrenched structures, practices, and cultures that inhibit meaningful postsecondary reform, even as institutions face serious challenges to their financial and educational models. A lively insider’s account, the book pinpoints factors that hinder the ability of U.S. colleges and universities to be creative and entrepreneurial amid calls to improve affordability, access, and equity for students.
Through pithy personal stories of divisive town hall meetings, multiyear college governance battles, and attempts at curricular reform, Rosenberg illustrates internal and external dynamics that impede institutional evolution. Pressures such as declining enrollment, escalating costs, and an oversupply of PhDs in academia have long signaled a grave need for reform within a profession that, as Rosenberg ruefully acknowledges, lacks organizational flexibility, depends greatly on reputation and ranking, and retains traditions, from the academic calendar to grading systems, that have remained essentially the same for decades.
Rosenberg looks outside the U.S. system to find possible antidotes in innovative higher education models such as student-centered and experiential learning approaches. This thought-provoking work offers ample evidence for presidents, chancellors, deans, provosts, and faculty to consider as they plan their missions to achieve institutional transformation.
Wait for change, make the change, hide from the change. Whatever it is, I don’t like it, can help you decide which of those roles you want for yourself and/or your organization.
Here are links to purchase the book.
Harvard Education Press
Amazon
Here is the Harvard Press description of Whatever it is, I don’t like it,
An invigorating work that identifies obstructions to transformative change in higher education and offers paths to break through.
In “Whatever It Is, I’m Against It,” president emeritus of Macalester College Brian Rosenberg draws on decades of higher education experience to expose the entrenched structures, practices, and cultures that inhibit meaningful postsecondary reform, even as institutions face serious challenges to their financial and educational models. A lively insider’s account, the book pinpoints factors that hinder the ability of U.S. colleges and universities to be creative and entrepreneurial amid calls to improve affordability, access, and equity for students.
Through pithy personal stories of divisive town hall meetings, multiyear college governance battles, and attempts at curricular reform, Rosenberg illustrates internal and external dynamics that impede institutional evolution. Pressures such as declining enrollment, escalating costs, and an oversupply of PhDs in academia have long signaled a grave need for reform within a profession that, as Rosenberg ruefully acknowledges, lacks organizational flexibility, depends greatly on reputation and ranking, and retains traditions, from the academic calendar to grading systems, that have remained essentially the same for decades.
Rosenberg looks outside the U.S. system to find possible antidotes in innovative higher education models such as student-centered and experiential learning approaches. This thought-provoking work offers ample evidence for presidents, chancellors, deans, provosts, and faculty to consider as they plan their missions to achieve institutional transformation.