Susan Poser, president of Hofstra University (NY), writes:  In early 2022, after six months as the new president of Hofstra University, I and my senior leadership team embarked on an exercise to choose peer institutions. This was done in the context of a multifaceted, yearlong initiative to gather input from students, faculty, staff, alumni, and trustees to kick off strategic planning. How do we define our university, we asked stakeholders, and what are our ambitions? Coincidentally, as we were completing this peer exercise last month, The Chronicle published a visualization showing nearly 1,500 colleges’ self-identified peer institutions.  The visualization shows not only which institutions a college identified as its peers, but also which institutions chose that college as a peer. The visualization is fascinating and reveals a lot about how institutions think about their peers and themselves. 

 

David Wippman, President, Hamilton College andd Glenn C. Altschuler write: In an era of deep partisan polarization, it is not surprising that regulatory responses to the pandemic would both reflect and reinforce political divisions. As a result, in some states, such as Florida and Arizona, efforts by public universities to manage the pandemic have been hampered by executive orders and state laws restricting or prohibiting vaccine mandates and mask requirements.

Sian Beilock, President, Barnard College writes: My colleagues and I recently conducted a study that shows how this process works among high school students who are getting ready to take an AP calculus exam. This study, led by Jalisha Jenifer, a postdoctoral researcher in my lab, pinpoints why some students who spend many hours studying can still walk into tests unprepared.

Michael Schneider, president of McPherson College (KS), writes: As we move toward a post-pandemic economy, it’s time to send a strong reminder to Congress that economic rebound can be supported by increasing the maximum Pell Grant. #Double Pell – a national bipartisan movement to raise the per-person grant from its cap of $6,500 to $13,000 annually – would put a reasonably priced college education within reach of every American student and potentially eliminate their student debt.

Montserrat Fuentes, President, St. Edward’s University writes: We need to urge our lawmakers to double the Pell grant to ensure access and affordability across higher education. The Pell grant program, which will mark its 50th anniversary this June, distributes need-based federal funding to nearly 7 million students each year, mainly undergraduate students from low-income families earning $50,000 or less. Fifty years ago, the Pell grant covered more than three-quarters of the cost of attending a four-year public college, but it now covers less than one-third of those costs.