Provost Blog

 I had the opportunity over break to make some headway on the ever-growing pile of books to read. One in particular, about sustained excellence in higher education, really got me thinking about our challenges and opportunities. The book is Becoming Great Universities - Small Steps for Sustained Excellence by Richard J. Light and Allison Jegla (Princeton University Press, 2022). Light and Jegla's study focuses on what they describe as ten core challenges that most colleges and universities face. They admit, there are clearly many more than ten challenges faced by colleges and universities today. These are common challenges as identified by Light through a series of several hundred interviews. In discussing each, they offer examples of institutions that have successfully addressed them, as well as some cautionary tales of failure. While I think in one way or another Christopher Newport faces all ten of the challenges that Light and Jegla focus on in their book, as I consider our nea...

I've been thinking a lot lately about the teacher-scholar model, which characterizes teaching, learning, and faculty life at Christopher Newport really well in my mind. I'm wondering if we need to be more purposeful in using the term and more clearly articulate its meaning and benefits to us and our students. In its broadest description, the teacher-scholar model defines a model of education where faculty are actively involved in the development of knowledge in their disciplines through research and creative works, and this scholarship provides unique teaching and learning opportunities for their students. These unique teaching and learning opportunities include research and creative collaboration with faculty which leads to close mentoring relationships, the ability to conduct independent research overseen by faculty, the ability to conduct applied research and service in the community, and ultimately the ability to learn from faculty who are current in their fields. The dash ...