One Determined Engineer & the Creation of the Taconite Industry

The drive from Chicago to Ely, Minnesota, goes northwest through Wisconsin, crossing into Minnesota at Duluth. Route 53 winds up steep terrain through the city, heading into Duluth Heights and Hermantown. It’s pretty much due north past the Duluth Airport as signs of human activity thin out. Rice Lake Road winds north and east through…

Credentials and Credentialing

Higher education performs two critical functions: dissemination of knowledge and information (education), and certification of that knowledge and information (credentialing). We spend the majority of our work in higher education on the first half of that equation. We argue about relevance and value, about teaching and research, and wrestle endlessly about better ways to help…

Whose Transcript Is It Anyway?

It’s nearing the start of the fall semester and transfer students are flocking to college. No news with this – every year millions of students enroll in a new college or university. Throughout the nation the process is similar. Students gain acceptance, submit transcript from their home institution for evaluation, and then after processing, are…

Being in/Being and Technology

As I write this on a laptop connected to a local wi-fi, I am sitting in a coffee shop, listening to global house music through a streaming site (Spotify). When I look around, I see other people focused on their phones, tablets, a laptops. People may be enjoying themselves, but they are not idle. The…