Category Archives: Uncategorized

A friend recently asked if I write the entries on Don’s Desk by myself. I thought the quality of writing itself would attest to the lack of any editorial guidance. To remove any doubt, I write these entries by myself. In retrospect, many of the posts would benefit from a strong editorial hand. This week,Continue reading “For Better and Worse”

I at times ask myself whether what we do matters. Do we really change students’ lives? Do we put them on a new path, increase the slope of their trajectory forward, or transform the way they think about the world? I have much anecdotal evidence that this is the case. Students return to tell usContinue reading “Tough Call”

Professor Farah Movahedzadeh wins the prize for doing the best job of keeping me informed about student successes here at HWC. In her latest installment, Professor Movahedzadeh let me know that she and Max Rutter have published in the OMICS Publishing Group- Journal of Mycobacterial Diseases, Volume 2, Issue 5, an editorial paper entitled: AContinue reading “Tuberculosis Drives Student Success”

Dr. John Hader took the lead in creating an English-immersion program for forty nursing students from Shanghai. In addition to the four hours a day in the classroom, Dr. Hader and his able staff (Mary Troken and Tonja Girten) organized trips to the Lincoln Park Zoo, the Blues Festival, and an architectural tour of Chicago. IContinue reading “CCC Develops Exchange with Shanghai Institute of Health Sciences”

The Mayor announced a partnership for HWC Wednesday afternoon.

As some returning Faculty may have noticed, I took my usual position in the lobby on the morning of the first day of classes to welcome our students to (or back into) HWC for the summer session. As has been the case for the past semester starts, student questions humbled me. As readers of theContinue reading “First Day of Summer”

The problem with writing a blog, I am learning, is that occasionally someone reads it. Worse, he may even remember what I wrote. And in the worst of all words, he physically confronts me and asks about something I have written. At a recent party, the host came up to me and said, “I don’tContinue reading “Taking Credit”

Frank Bruni provokes with his Op-Ed piece today in the New York Times, “The Imperiled Promise of College.” While we in community colleges can take cold comfort in the fact that education at our schools is still affordable, the promise of increased wages at the end of the journey is at risk. Students today competeContinue reading “The Imperiled Promise of College”

From Inside Higher Ed comes word that we will soon be holding “Last Rites for Graduation Rate.”  The article says, The Education Department has announced its plans to change how student success is measured in higher education, taking into account students who transfer, part-time students and students who are not attending college for the first time. The departmentContinue reading “Victory – Or Is It?”