Student Success

Feel Good

I have been snowed under as we drive toward finalizing our FY13 budgets. This link provided a nice pick-me-up. Thanks to Nikole Muzzy for the solid reporting on the student success stories.

For those of you who don’t read HWC Announce emails but do read the blog (I would love to see the Venn diagram showing those sets of intersecting populations), I happily and proudly recognize the outstanding achievements of our student-run newspaper staff at The Herald, with particular recognition for Greg Fairbanks, Editor-in-Chief, Rachel Banning, Managing Editor, andContinue reading “Hail the Herald”

Fill Out Your FAFSA

A number of our students and staff received nice coverage on Univision about the importance of filling out FAFSA to qualify for financial aid and Illinois MAP grants. Please urge your students to take the time to fill it out. Harold Washington College also received nice air time, with our new logo prominently featured on theContinue reading “Fill Out Your FAFSA”

Job Readiness Workshop

My professional alma mater Accenture is hosting a series of job readiness workshops. CCC has a full write-up on the event here, and I also saw a piece in the Lawndale News. The next Accenture workshop is scheduled for March 29 and will offer City Colleges students lessons on how to build a professional onlineContinue reading “Job Readiness Workshop”

The Life of the Mind

As a liberal arts graduate, I may have some understanding of the discomfort a few faculty express in the recent State of the Union and Mayoral discussions regarding the role of preparing students for careers. If we pigeonhole students into career-oriented tracks, are we robbing them of the ability to participate fully in a civic society?Continue reading “The Life of the Mind”

HWC student Tim Bradford received a necktie signed by Governor Quinn at Illinois Education Foundation’s (IEF) “Suited for Success” event this past Saturday. As he is highly visible on campus, I already thought Mr. Bradford was a pretty sharp dresser. He’ll be even more dazzling after this event, which IEF describes thusly: Suited for Success isContinue reading “Student Success”

Welcome to the Spotlight

Please engage in a thought experiment with me. You are the Mayor of Chicago. You have an opportunity to talk to the Economic Club of Chicago (ECC). ECC members are the corporate elite of Chicago – CEOs, Chairmen, Directors, and Managing Partners and Directors of companies such as Walgreens, Aon, McDonalds, Accenture, JP Morgan Chase,Continue reading “Welcome to the Spotlight”

Thanksgiving

The elevator doors opened on our way down. Six effervescent young women entered. One, recognizing me, said with a laugh, “We’re WICKED.” I knew WICKED was a new student group. I asked what the acronym stood for. “Women Integrating Culture, Knowledge and Ethnic Diversity.” The doors opened again, and five of the six women left,Continue reading “Thanksgiving”

Alumni Success Story

Charles McSweeney tipped me off to this article in the Windy City Times regarding a UCAN (Uhlich Children’s Advantage Network’s) fundraiser on November 3. The highlight of the evening, according to the author, was a speech by an HWC alum. “The UCAN LGBT Host Home graduate spent 15 months in his host home while he finished hisContinue reading “Alumni Success Story”

Word Clouds Cause Death

I used word clouds(1), created through Wordle, to show faculty and staff the results of my one-on-one discussions. Not surprisingly, “students” was the single most-cited word through all of my discussions. I was nonplussed, then, to read this post arguing that the use of word clouds led to the lack of critical thinking about the warContinue reading “Word Clouds Cause Death”