A personal note

Learning at Westminster is by (my) design a blog of small essays about issues in higher education. It is also, in the words of one commenter, "dry (in a good way)." Dry, usually. In a good way--occasionally, I guess.

So let me step outside of my regular blog persona (or perhaps it is an anti-persona) to say that my wife and I are taking our oldest daughter to college this weekend, and the prospect has left me in a heightened version of my typical emotional state--optimistic, afraid, and likely to be surprised by whatever happens next.

Too much talk about college in the HE administration world is about programming, retention, curriculum, etc. I talk it all the time. I tell parents about Westminster's strengths, I mentor their kids. My courses carefully incorporate college-wide learning goals, active pedagogies and the like. I work to make sure that my institution does the best it can to help its students learn and become what they ought (and what they want).

Let me just acknowledge, though, that as a parent taking my kid to school, programs, curriculum, campus culture, support systems, faculty preparation, student loans, and the rest get me only barely beyond cold comfort. At a basic level, they don't touch on the things most on my mind--my daughter is leaving, we hope we've been good parents, and there is little but uncertainty and exploration ahead.