Defending Higher Education with Kevin McClure

If you've listened to the recent "Take It or Leave It" episodes of the Intentional Teaching podcast, you'll be familiar with Kevin McClure's essay "Higher Ed Is Adrift." In the essay, Kevin outlines some of the many attacks the current U.S. presidential administration is leveraging against higher ed, and he notes that many faculty and staff are finding their institutional leaders' responses lacking. We talked about the essay on the "Take It or Leave It" panel with Betsy Barre, Bryan Dewsbury, and Emily Donohoe and again on the panel with Stacey Johnson, Liz Norell, and Viji Sathy. Since Kevin's essay generated so much good discussion about individual and collective responses to higher ed's current political moment, I reached out to Kevin to see if he would come on the show to dig deeper into this topic.

This week on the podcast, I share my conversation with Kevin McClure, who is a professor of higher education and (as of this month) chair of educational leadership at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. Kevin is also author of the book The Caring University: Reimagining the Higher Education Workplace After the Great Resignation, published this year by Johns Hopkins University Press. That subtitle reminds me that higher ed has had a rough few years, between COVID and the subsequent "great resignation" of staff and faculty and now all the many body blows that the presidential administration is responsible for. We can't seem to catch a break!

If you're feeling adrift right now, I think you'll find some encouragement in this interview with Kevin McClure. Here are three pieces of advice I took away from our conversation:

1. Look to the relationship your higher ed institution has to its local community. "If you were to ask most people in my community of Wilmington, North Carolina, if UNC Wilmington is valuable," Kevin said, "they would say, yes, and that they have confidence in the institution. They send their kids to our summer camps. They attend our sporting events. They get their MBAs there." Kevin argued that in a chaotic and dysfunctional information environment, much of the work of communicating higher ed's value should remain local.
2. Consider ways to repurpose your strengths toward action. Kevin pointed out that he likes being a bridge builder between people who understand an issue very differently. That's something he can use to help faculty and administrators at his institution understand each other and maybe start moving in the same direction. Kevin acknowledged that his preference is often to observe rather than act, but moving toward action is a little easier when he's relying on his strengths. And he argued that we all have an individual zone of action where we can make a difference.
3. If you're in a leadership position, you have a special role to play in prioritizing the wellbeing of staff and faculty. "We have a responsibility as employers to ensure that these are places that are striving for continuous improvement," Kevin said, "where people feel a sense of dignity and mattering, where it's possible for them to see a career path... and to make a life in the community," and a life that they can afford. Kevin noted the value of paying attention to the employee experience, and he pointed listeners to his book The Caring University for practical strategies.

Kevin also had a message for those in higher education who are considering leaving the field altogether. You can hear that message and the rest of my conversation with Kevin McClure here, or search for "Intentional Teaching" in your podcast player.

Showing Value in Centers for Teaching and Learning

Speaking of zones of action, I was honored to be a guest on Sarah Holtan's podcast, Get Down to College Business, to talk about the ROI of centers for teaching and learning. Sarah's podcast explores how colleges and universities can apply "proven business tactics for operational excellence." Many of us in higher ed don't like to think about our institutions as businesses, but with changing enrollments, funding challenges, and new questions about the value of higher ed, Sarah's podcast is a timely one.

Sarah had me on to talk about the value of centers for teaching and learning and to give some advice to institutional leaders on starting and supporting a CTL. We talk about the importance of trust-based relationships between CTL staff and faculty and what it takes to build those relationships over time. We also talk about the value of breaking down siloes between CTLs and academic technology units. And I share a couple of key metrics that CTLs can use to argue their worth to administrators.

Thanks to Sarah for having me on the show! And thanks to Mary Wright for connecting us!

​You can listen to my interview on Sarah Holtan's show here, or search "Get Down to College Business" in your podcast player.

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