When reading research reports, I have a habit of noting specific citations if they interest me. Whether I subsequently access the original source depends on how much time I have and whether the topic is relevant to an article or paper that I am writing. I don’t retrieve older source documents as often as newer ones, since much of my writing involves online learning, a field that is evolving almost as quickly as the technology that supports it changes.
I read an article in the October 15, 2011 issue of The Economist entitled “Trouble in the Middle.” The article begins by stating that interest in MBA programs at American business schools peaked in 2009 and applications have fallen since then. The author states that some business schools are worried that the trend is related to more than just a slow recovering economy, but in fact a greater change.
It is really hard to identify when ethics –or the lack thereof –became a social issue of the magnitude that it seems to be now. When I received my MBA from Tulane in 1978, a course in ethics was required for everyone in the last semester of the two year program. It was considered the capstone course of the MBA program and our professor utilized the case study format.
When our communications staff suggested that I begin a blog, I had major reservations about starting it. I found a website that tracks blogs written by college and university presidents and I took a look at a few of them to see what type of communication was published and how often. I also sent an email to other presidents who had attended Harvard’s New Presidents seminar with me in 2005.
I have had a few weeks to think about President Obama’s Stimulus Act and its impact on higher education. During the same period of time, I have read the daily headlines covering higher education in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Education, and New Realities in Higher Education. The news is not good.
From Thanksgiving to New Years Day and the following weekend, the college football schedule is filled with bowl games. After the New Year begins, college sports fans can turn their attention to the height of the college basketball season that culminates in the annual March Madness NCAA Division I tournament. College athletics is big business although perhaps only ten to twenty Division I programs make money each year.
In July, Richard Stengel, editor of Time Magazine, interviewed Bill Gates about his theory of Creative Capitalism. A six-minute video from this interview is available on Time’s website.
Gates passionately believes that technology provides solutions to many of the world’s key problems. He also believes that life changes due to technology can only occur where people can afford the technology.
