Link to supplemental blog

Here's the link to my China blog: http://deloresinchina.wordpress.com/ ... According to information provided on the Great Firewall of China Blogger, Blogspot, and even Google will likely not be accessible to me while I'm in China. Wordpress looks like it is ... so to help document my experiences & keep everyone at home up to date, I created a new blog. Come on over to Wordpress for the journey!

Teaching in China

...just learned that I won't be able to access blogspot while teaching in China this summer ... I need to find a new blog home for the trip ...

End of Semester

The last two weeks have flown by. I returned from NOLA just two weeks ago, came down with a terrible cold, and now we're at the end of the semester. Funny thing is that at week 15 of the semester, I feel like I'm just hitting my stride with the class I'm teaching (two sections of organizational theory). I have a lot of great ideas for how I'll approach this class the next time I teach it -- including changing one of the texts in favor of another. The students are so inspiring: They are curious, honest, supportive of our learning community, and committed to our shared success. I appreciate the joy of teaching even while it's often a challenge.
I'm going to take my own advice regarding writing and work on the "at-least-one-hour-a-day" approach. I'll need to schedule the time just as I'll schedule time for yoga, blogging, and so on. But I know for sure that if I don't put it on the calendar, it doesn't happen.
Thanks, everyone, for a great semester!

Ready to Head Home

I've been here in New Orleans since last Wednesday night. The two conferences have been great: the first focused on research, the second on practice. Both provided opportunities to network, learn about research, and hear about some of the innovative practices at community colleges. Most colleges are facing the same issues no matter where they are in the U.S.: increasing enrollment, shrinking revenues, and vacancies at the executive leadership level that they can't fill. There are really some tremendous opportunities for people who want to become college Vice Presidents and Presidents; yet, the daunting challenges are keeping many away. I'm looking forward to studying (and reporting on) those colleges that are investing in professional development and succession planning. It's so important to develop folks who are really excited about stepping into these key leadership positions. So, future leaders ... think about it. What do you need to do to prepare yourself for the next steps? There are lots of professional development activities -- check out AACC: there's the Future Leaders Institute and other activities. For student affairs professionals, look to NASPA: there's the Stevens Institute, new SSAO institute, and many others. Develop a strategic plan for your professional development -- we need you!