Formation Continue du Supérieur

By Matt Reed. I have a history of living in places that get overshadowed by other places. Growing up around Rochester, New York, I learned quickly that when I told people where I was from, I couldn’t say “New York.”  New York City was the center of gravity for the entire state. Read more...

By Matt Reed. How should a college determine whether an adult needs developmental coursework?
For years, most community colleges used a single placement exam and a set of “cut scores” for nearly everybody. Read more...

By Matt Reed. For obvious reasons, I enjoyed the recent IHE piece on the mistakes that rookie deans sometimes make.  The five mistakes it highlights, it gets right, but I’d add a few. Read more...

By Matt Reed. Should community college students borrow more?
It seems like a ridiculous question, given the recent focus on student loan burdens and the move towards free community college. But there’s actually a serious argument for it. Read more...

By Matt Reed. (I should clarify: “dreaded” modifies “lab,” not “computer.” Although they aren’t mutually exclusive…)
Like any good future-oriented sort with a nerdy streak, I harbor a host of techno-fantasies about the future. Read more...

By Matt Reed. Quick, who’s likelier to default on a loan: someone with $100,000 of debt, or someone with $2000 of debt?
If you answered $100,000, sorry. The correct answer is $2,000. And the reasons for that shed light on the whole “student loan crisis” debate. Read more...

By Matt Reed. I could feel the urge to duck as I read this one. A returning correspondent, who is preparing a class on the history of the Middle East, writes:
An issue has, however, arisen regarding one of my new lectures. I happen to have an extremely image-intense lecture style, often showing over a hundred slides in a 50 minute lecture. I confidently assume most of my not-particularly-diverse student body doesn't know anything about Islam. So, I'm doing a lecture explaining the basics of Muhammad's life and teachings. I've therefore made slides showing images depicting various moments in Muhammad's life. On second thought, however, I wonder if showing those images is wise. Read more...

By Matt Reed. In what feels like a previous life, I used to read a lot of midcentury social theory. Some very smart people -- I’m thinking here of folks like David Riesman -- used to argue that the great crisis of the coming decades would be the sudden abundance of leisure. Read more...

By Matt Reed. The twentieth century gave “re-education camps” a bad name.
(I can’t imagine anyone quoting that out of context…)
But short-term college programs for people who already have bachelor’s degrees (or higher) are looking like the new hot ticket for community colleges and for-profit providers. Read more...

By Matt Reed. No, this isn’t about Greece. 
In response to yesterday’s post, which was tangentially related to a Center for Teaching Excellence, an occasional correspondent wrote to wonder why CTE’s and similar centers with different names often choose to ignore Education faculty on their own campuses. Read more...