10 years and counting...

This summer will mark the end of my tenth year working in higher education. Approaching that milestone has made me quite introspective, thinking back over the past decade and wondering what the next ten years might hold.

Of course, ten years is relatively little time in the realm of higher ed. I know staff and faculty who have worked at their respective institutions for over 30 years. From that point of view I am still at the beginning of a (hopefully) long career. Even so, it seems important to take this opportunity to reflect on the past, present and future of my career and my perspective on higher ed as a whole.

This being 2008, what better way to explore my thoughts than through a blog? In the great sea of blogs it seems unlikely that anyone will ever notice mine, but who knows? Maybe someone will come across it and share some of their own insights.

One idea I'm especially interested in is the constantly changing nature of higher education. Internal and external forces come together to make colleges both dynamic and stagnant. Institutions are constantly changing their goals, methods and roles in society. At the same time they stubbornly hold onto old values and philosophies.

This often contradictory nature makes higher education a fascinating field; no doubt that is one reason the past ten years have gone by so quickly!