Blockchain: Creating Education and Workforce Opportunities
Recently, the American Council on Education (ACE) released its findings from a six-month study on the use of blockchain technology in education.
Economy
Life in the Office Will Change – Are You Ready to Return?
In a recently published article, Wall Street Journal reporters Dana Mattioli and Konrad Putzier ask the question, “When It’s Time to Go Back to the Office, Will It Still Be There?” Mattioli and Putzier state that because of the coronavirus pandemic, there will likely be fewer offices in the center of big cities. Companies will build hybrid schedules that will allow workers to stay home part of the week to free up space for social distancing, and smaller satellite offices will pop up in less-expensive suburbs as the workforce becomes less centralized.
How Should We Measure Financial Solvency for Colleges and Universities?
Inside Higher Ed’s Rick Seltzer writes about two initiatives related to measuring institutional financial health. Mr. Seltzer reports that the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA) voted to continue to use the federal financial composite scores as the primary factor for evaluating whether or not institutions are eligible to be members.
A World Without Work: Technology, Automation, and How We Should Respond
College bookstores can be a great source for books that haven’t yet made their way into the popular distribution. On my last trip before the shelter-in-place orders were issued, I visited the University of Pennsylvania’s bookstore and saw copies of Daniel Susskind’s latest book, “A World Without Work.”
Sick to Debt: How Smarter Markets Lead to Better Care
There have been many calls for transparency of costs/prices in healthcare in the United States, as well as proposals for changes in the manner in which healthcare is funded. The most recent major change in our healthcare system was the Affordable Care Act, passed by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama in 2010. The ACA is also known as Obamacare.
Healthcare Choices – They’re Always Personal
I have been interested in the cost of healthcare for many years. When I obtained my first job after college, it was the late 1970s and my company provided medical insurance to all full-time employees at a relatively low cost. In the early 1980s, I was out of town at a client and needed to see a physician. The client recommended that I visit the clinic operated by the local HMO (health maintenance organization). The service was excellent, the cost was minimal, and I wondered why more communities didn’t operate them.
The College Stress Test
My first review of one of Bob Zemsky’s books was in 2008 with Remaking of the American University: Market Smart and Mission Centered, that he co-authored with Greg Wegman and Bill Massy. While Zemsky has written more books post-2008, he’s continued to write about change in higher education and the higher education market.
Graduate Degrees – Worth the Time and Expense?
Not a day goes by where we don’t hear about the shortage of workers with the required education and training for more than six million unfilled positions in the U.S. Early in his presidency, Barack Obama called for increasing the number of Americans earning a college degree to maintain global competitiveness in an era with increasing technology innovations, some used to replace jobs in the workforce. Despite all the attention on higher education attainment, overall enrollments have decreased since 2010, with explanations ranging from a declining birth rate and low unemployment rates to an increasing perception that degrees may not provide the same return on investment for today’s students as for Baby Boomers and their parents.
B-Schools – Ready for a Revolution?
Thanksgiving vacation provided me with some time to catch up on reading. I’ve significantly reduced magazine subscriptions due to their digital availability, but one I continue to receive in print is The Economist. In its November 2, 2019, issue, the magazine wrote about business schools in the U.S. and the market forces forcing them to change.
Keeping Up With Technology, As Observed Through CPA Continuing Education
More than 40 years ago, I started working at Price Waterhouse (now PricewaterhouseCoopers, or PwC). Even though I was on the consulting track, I was encouraged to sit for the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exam and become a licensed CPA. Having this license, along with an MBA, boosted my career and I subsequently served as CFO at five different companies over the years.