On Thursday, we officially opened the year with our faculty-staff institute. Our speaker was Dr. Kathleen Gabriel of California State University, Chico. She is the author of a GREAT new book- Teaching Unprepared Students. I read about it in Inside Higher Ed, and once I read the book, I knew she would be a great choice.

The premise is that we have to do much more when working with unprepared students. Many HBCUs have a significant student population that comes from poorly performing schools, and in need of remediation. In Arkansas, over HALF of ALL STUDENTS require at least one remedial course in college. So we needed to hear new strategies.

She focused a lot of engaging the students, and that starts with knowing their names. She challenged us to know all of our students. I did a quiz and had 12 student leaders come before the institute, but only a few could name most. So we have a lot of work to do.

I'll be following up with our faculty especially. She challenged them to give points in the syllabus for each student meeting them during office hours so they can learn about the students. This was a great idea and I hope most faculty will at least try it.

The Prez