The Edge: I'm retiring, but you're not rid of me yet

After more than 36 years, Goldie Blumenstyk steps away from The Chronicle, with reflections on her career and on key issues for higher ed's future. ADVERTISEMENT [The Edge Logo]( You can also [read this newsletter on the web](. Or, if you no longer want to receive this newsletter, [unsubscribe](. I’m Goldie Blumenstyk, a senior writer at The Chronicle covering innovation in and around higher ed. But not for long! So this week, I say farewell to this regular newsletter, with some looking back and looking ahead. Also, my colleague Graham Vyse shares advice on making dual-enrollment programs more effective. ADVERTISEMENT SUBSCRIBE TO THE CHRONICLE Enjoying the newsletter? [Subscribe today]( for unlimited access to essential news, analysis, and advice. And … that’s a wrap I hate to bury a lede, so here’s the news: After more than 36 years as a Chronicle of Higher Education journalist, and eight years before that at The Orlando Sentinel, I’m retiring. My last day is September 6. But you’re not getting rid of me that easily. I’m planning to keep my eye on higher-ed developments of interest, continue to attend conferences and convenings here in Washington, D.C., and around the country, and occasionally weigh in as an event participant, and with dispatches on what I’m seeing. Higher ed, I guess I just can’t quit you. I haven’t done a lot of reflecting yet. But in many ways, considering that [the previous issue of this newsletter]( focused on innovation in state policy, I feel as if I’m stepping away in a full-circle moment. My first beat here, starting in 1988, was as a “state reporter,” and one of my earliest stories (so old that there’s no version of it in our digital archive) was a profile of a young, ambitious governor named Bill Clinton, back when being an “education governor” meant investing in higher ed, not [attacking it](. Clinton was one of the governors [whose career trajectory I followed]( for several years, including four invigorating days in 1992 when [I covered the Democratic National Convention]( in New York City, where he became the nominee. Seeing Clinton on stage last week at the 2024 convention, on my TV this time, was nostalgic, even though higher ed didn’t get a lot of mentions from him or many other speakers. Notably, the few mentions that I heard from Chicago seemed centered on college affordability and the need for more career paths that don’t require a degree. In many ways, my Chronicle career seems to have evolved as the higher-ed sector did. I covered states when they were hotbeds of education action, shifted to “business and philanthropy” as colleges were increasingly looking to benefactors and outsourcing as tools for financial sustainability, and then spent a lot of years writing about the emergence of the ed-tech industry, distance education, and [a cool new system for connecting people to information]( then known as the World Wide Web. In fact, this newsletter has its origins in a daily newsletter The Chronicle used to publish called Wired Campus; some of you were probably even subscribers to it. I also spent years immersed in the for-profit-college industry. That beat connected me to the other higher-ed topic highlighted during the Democratic convention, [Kamala Harris’s legal actions against the “predatory” practices]( of the for-profit Corinthian Colleges when she was California’s attorney general. A different beat also got my head around some testy legal battles involving [university inventors and intellectual-property rights](. Covering higher ed provides a fascinating lens on society, and this position has given me opportunities I never could have imagined. (I guess I can ’fess up to this now: When I took this job, I expected to stay maybe a year or two because, honestly, the organization and the publication seemed kind of stodgy to me when I came aboard. I adjusted, and this place has evolved a lot, too.) And that state-reporter beat and other assignments also helped me find my way to corners of the country I might never have seen — [Bozeman, Mont.]( [Durango, Colo.]( [Houghton, Mich.]( and [Lawrence, Kan](. (I never set foot in Hawaii, Nebraska, or North Dakota, but I hope I’ll find reasons, higher ed or otherwise, to complete my state-bingo card soon.) Thanks to The Chronicle, I’ve had the privilege of meeting some of the smartest, most dedicated folks “in and around higher ed” that I could have ever hoped to know — and no shortage of scoundrels, too. I’m forever thankful for a job where going to work meant seeing [the inside of a rule-of-law education program]( at Beijing’s Tsinghua University, touching [artifacts of history alongside a scholar]( exploring her mother’s Holocaust experience, going [caving in Kentucky]( with an expert in karst studies, [hitting the slopes with a historian of ski-lodge culture]( exploring [architectural features of college fitness centers]( in Boston, and, hardship of hardships, [taking the measure of a campus creamery]( in Connecticut. Yeah, I’ll definitely miss all that. And I’ll miss my regular interactions with you. I began writing this newsletter in this form in June 2018 (hat tip for the idea to Brock Read, now The Chronicle’s editor, and Scott Smallwood, then managing editor, who went on to co-found [Open Campus]( with the goal of letting all of you in on the conversations I was hearing while I was out and about in the higher-ed world — and also establishing some conversations of our own. You all kept up your side of the bargain, especially during those early days of Covid, when few of us were going very far. These newsletters have been enriched more times than I can count by the wisdom you’ve let me share with fellow readers. Thank you. (Thanks also to my colleague Sara Lipka, who brought her own passion and curiosity to the task of regularly editing this newsletter. Ditto to the unsung heroes on the Chronicle copy desk whose keen eyes and thoughtful questions kept me from embarrassing myself.) I just realized that my retirement coincides with the 10-year anniversary of the publication of my book, [American Higher Education in Crisis?]( No, I don’t expect to write another book. I think one was enough for me. And besides, higher ed hasn’t begun to solve the many, many challenges I outlined a decade ago. Still, it would be hard to walk away completely from 36 years of immersion in the ins and outs of higher ed. So I won’t. There’s so much happening right now in the arenas I’ve been following that still keeps my curiosity fired up. Among them: - How colleges can better serve adult students and student parents. - How institutions make the necessary financial and academic adjustments to this post-expansionist era we’ve now entered. - How colleges can better connect with rural and urban populations that don’t see higher ed as necessary to their future. - How to help students — especially those from less-advantaged backgrounds — prepare themselves for careers and fulfilling lives after graduation. Those are some of the themes I hope to stay plugged into. And that last one should be especially fun because it intersects with the creative ideas in a soon-to-be-published book, [Hacking College]( by my Chronicle colleague Scott Carlson and his co-author, Ned Laff. I’ll also be paying close attention to a theme I’ve returned to often in this newsletter: the role higher ed can play — must play — in fostering the highest ideals of our American democracy and our pluralistic society. That’s no small responsibility. But given the times we’re in, it’s never been more necessary. So for now, let’s not call it goodbye. I won’t be in your face as regularly as you’ve become accustomed to. But I won’t be far either. Making dual enrollment work As dual-enrollment programs expand nationwide, colleges and school districts should be sure they’re planning intentionally, setting clear goals, and fostering strong collaboration for consistently high-quality instruction, experts said in a recent Chronicle virtual forum. Here are two takeaways from “[What’s Next for Dual Enrollment?]( which was moderated by Ian Wilhelm, a deputy managing editor at The Chronicle, and underwritten by the Ascendium Education Group as part of our [series on student success](. Know your “why”: Whether you’re establishing or expanding a dual-enrollment program, you need clear objectives — a big-picture vision and specific, measurable goals, said Amy Williams, executive director of the National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships. Reflecting on her past work leading dual enrollment for the Montana University System, Williams said, “We were very clear on what we were trying to accomplish.” That was to expand offerings across schools of different sizes and types, and to offer courses in math, writing, and career and technical education for potential careers in health care, data science, and advanced manufacturing. Simply expanding a dual-enrollment program without an intentional approach can replicate existing inequities in the education system, said John Fink, a senior research associate and program lead at the Community College Research Center. He encourages “active work against that.” Work to ensure quality, not just access: A “colleague-to-college connection” is critical to building college-level rigor into a high-school setting, Williams said. That means strong, continued collaboration between college and high-school instructors. The hiring of high-school teachers can be based in part on their credentialing for dual credit, said Marissa Moreno, executive director of School and College Partnerships at Lee College, in Texas. Her college holds special professional-development workshops, she said, for its faculty members and the high-school instructors who teach in the dual-enrollment program. Also key is to offer high-school students extra support during the first six weeks of a college-level course, Fink said, because “that’s when the rubber hits the road for adjusting.” — Graham Vyse Join me at the Chronicle Festival next month Even though I’m retiring, I’ll still be part of The Chronicle’s annual ideas festival, “[The Road Ahead to 2035]( which takes place online from September 10 to 12. My contribution involves a conversation with Eboo Patel, founder of Interfaith America, on how higher ed can prepare students to live and work in our increasingly fragile democracy. We’ll be sure to touch on some of the provocative ideas he outlined in [this recent Chronicle piece]( about colleges’ need to prepare for a chaotic fall. The agenda also includes many other terrific guests, with several of my colleagues as moderators. We hope you’ll join us for some or all of the programs. Registration is free. Sign up [here]( to watch live or later on demand. -30- Got a tip you’d like to share or a question you’d like me to answer? Let me know, at goldie@chronicle.com. If you have been forwarded this newsletter and would like to see past issues, [find them here](. To receive your own copy, free, register [here](. If you want to follow me on LinkedIn, you’ll find me [here](. On X, [@GoldieStandard]( is my handle. On BlueSky Social, it’s [this](. UPCOMING WORKSHOP [The Chronicle's Women Leading Change Program | September 2024] Join The Chronicle’s Women Leading Change Program this September! This virtual leadership series will provide critical context, creative strategies, and guided exercises that target the professional development areas most important to women at different leadership levels across academe. [Learn more and register today.]( Goldie's Picks COLLEGE ACCESS [Free Community College Just Keeps Growing. Will It Pay Off?]( By Amelia Benavides-Colón [STORY IMAGE]( This month, Michigan and Massachusetts began covering tuition costs for a broader swath of state residents. Campus leaders say they are already seeing positive signs. TRIVIA TIME [How Well Do You Know Higher Ed? Take Our Quiz.]( By Audrey Williams June [STORY IMAGE]( Answers are drawn from The Chronicle’s newly released Almanac, our annual data-driven portrait of academe. 'ON SETTLER COLONIALISM' [The Idea Fueling the Student Protest Movement]( By Evan Goldstein [STORY IMAGE]( Are colleges facing — and facilitating — an intellectual crisis? CAREER RESOURCES [Finding a New Job] [Read the August collection]( for advice on finding a new job. Learn how you can start preparing for the fall job search now, how to find jobs overseas, and more. 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