I have written a number of times about the roles many of our Founding Fathers played in establishing and cultivating higher-education institutions, especially liberal-arts colleges. They believed that for a democratic republic to succeed, and ideally flourish, an informed electorate was a necessity. This was a stark contrast with the European model that carefully limited access to a university education to the elite as a way to centralize and protect power.

A decade before the American Revolution, John Adams shone a light on this strategy in A Dissertation on Canon and Feudal Law:

The poor people, it is true, have been much less successful than the great. They have seldom found either leisure or opportunity to form a union and exert their strength; ignorant as they were of arts and letters, they have seldom been able to frame and support a regular opposition. This, however, has been known by the great to be the temper of mankind; and they have accordingly labored, in all ages, to wrest from the populace, as they are contemptuously called, the knowledge of their rights and wrongs, and the power to assert the former or redress the latter. I say RIGHTS, for such they have, undoubtedly, antecedent to all earthly government, — Rights, that cannot be repealed or restrained by human laws — Rights, derived from the great Legislator of the universe.^[1]

An educated electorate and citizenry were critical to the functionality of a democratic state. Like many aspects of our founding, practice fell far short of principle, and we perpetuated the sins of our fathers by limiting who counted as citizens and who possessed suffrage. In the 235 years that have unfolded since the Constitution defined whom we count and who can vote, we have seen a number of landmark efforts of progress.

• Thirteenth Amendment (1865) abolished slavery
• Fourteenth Amendment (1868) granted citizenship to formerly enslaved people
• Fifteenth Amendment (1870) prohibited race as a factor in voting rights
• Nineteenth Amendment (1920) granted the vote to women
• Twenty-third Amendment (1961) extended the right to vote for president to the residents of the District of Columbia
• Twenty-fourth Amendment (1964) prohibited poll taxes
• Twenty-sixth Amendment (1971) expanded the voting to those  18 years of age and older

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is one of the most important pieces of civil rights legislation in our history. Fifty-seven years later, we see tensions building about voting access, and many states are adopting legislation that some see as protections against voter fraud and others see as an erosion of the progress of the past. Justifications proffered by those who support each side of the debate include that the 2020 election was arguably the most secure in history and that record numbers of voters participated.

One contributor to that last fact is an increase in voting among America’s college students. The National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement (NSLVE) reported the 66% of college students nationwide voted in the 2020 election, up from 50% in 2016. The turnout of the voting-age population in 2016 was 54.8%, and in 2020 it was 62%. So, in four years, college students went from trailing the population in voter participation by nearly 5% to leading it by 4%.

Some of that increase may reflect an increase in social and political engagement in this generation of students, but many colleges and universities have embraced the Founders’ commitment to fostering an enlightened and engaged electorate through efforts like the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, a non-partisan program led by Civic Nation.

Susquehanna University was the ALL IN most improved campus in Pennsylvania. 75% of our students voted in the 2020 election, qualifying us for ALL IN’s Gold Seal.

I am grateful to the many colleagues on campus who inspired and encouraged our students to exercise this important privilege through our “Achieve, Lead, Vote” campaign. We didn’t tell them for whom they should vote. We stressed the importance of being informed and participating, and I am so proud of our students for being such engaged citizens.

Democracy is at its best when the populace is engaged, well-informed, and fully represented.

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^[1] From John Adams: A Dissertation on Canon and Feudal Law, 1765.

At the Intercollegiate Athletics Forum in early December, Mark Emmert, president of the NCAA, said “Being a university president is the hardest job in America.”

Ross Dellenger of Sports Illustrated tweeted the quote and followed up with “One of my grandpas was a shrimp boat captain for 40 years. The other was a roofer. I’ll just leave it there.”

Thus began a bad week for Mr. Emmert as the quote made the rounds of most news media and became fodder for dozens of opinion pieces.

Millions of people do harder work every day, and most them are sadly under-rewarded for it. Being a university president isn’t the hardest job I have had. Serving as a custodian in a hospital (including drain-cleaning and biohazard collection) and clearing brush come to mind as being harder work. Both were important, and I had the rare luxury of knowing that neither was a lifetime assignment.

Being a university president isn’t even the mostly intellectually taxing job I have had. Conducting an opera or an oratorio (hearing the mental sound of all the components of the written page just before they happen, signaling what the players and singers need to see to make it happen while concurrently listening in the present and making adjustments) is the highest mental peak I have climbed, and I am sure there are many even more intellectually arduous jobs, but few as satisfying and frustrating at the same time.

What I think Dr. Emmert (who was president of the University of Washington and chancellor of LSU) meant, and probably wished he had said, is that the role of university president is one of the most complex jobs. This is one of the features that makes it so interesting and rewarding.

No two days are alike. Each day is dominated by breaking stories much like the editorial desk of a metropolitan newspaper, except most of these stories are serial novels taking turns in the spotlight.

The focus of our work is and always should be the development of our students in and out of the classroom and laboratory, which we do in part by supporting what Thomas Jefferson called an “academical village.”

Mr. Jefferson was referring to the Rotunda and Pavilions that form the architectural core of UVA, but the campuses of residential universities like Susquehanna are communities in every sense. Presidents become the keepers of campus sagas. We are charged with the amorphous duty of curating, cultivating, and sustaining our campus stories to shape culture and affinity, but we also have defined logistical responsibilities.

In addition to offering over 100 majors and minors from over 25 academic departments. Susquehanna sponsors a wide range of research and creative work by faculty and students. We maintain labs, studios, field stations, and we have a great bespoke academic library to support all of these programs. We have a career development office and an academic support operation.

We run a small city. Our campus has just over 90 buildings. We house over 2,000 students each semester. Dining Services prepares a little more than one million meals each year (really). We run a theatre and a regionally significant art gallery. We produce scores of concerts and theatrical productions. We offer 23 intercollegiate athletic teams that compete publicly, as do a number of our nationally ranked club teams. We have the most powerful campus radio station in Pennsylvania. We develop and maintain all of that programming and infrastructure.

The largest component of our budget is financial aid. After scholarships and grants are applied, on average, our students pay a fraction of our tuition. Therefore, we also offer engagement opportunities and communication with about 20,000 alumni, and we run a grants office and a highly professionalized fundraising operation to make it financially possible for our students to benefit from an SU education. We also run a philanthropic foundation in the form of our endowment.

No president has expertise across this range of endeavors, but we are responsible for them. Being literate enough and balancing the many incumbent priorities in such a multifaceted organization is where the complexity lies. This is why teamwork is so important. It is a hallmark skill developed as part of a liberal arts education, and it is in full display on our campuses. Expertise matters, and we are fortunate to have many talented colleagues with diverse gifts and experiences to collectively guide our institutions.

Being a university president isn’t the hardest job, but it may be the most interesting, and it is definitely the most rewarding.

Our oldest niece is college shopping. Being a smart consumer, she asked her uncle (me) what questions she should be asking each school she visits as she determines where her best fit will be.

Here are a few of those question and some additional considerations for soon-to-be college students and their families.

How many of my classes will be taught by faculty (vs. graduate assistants)?

Many graduate assistants are good instructors, but full-time faculty (especially at teaching, vs. research institutions) are subject to rigorous ongoing review of their teaching. They are almost always more experienced in the classroom, and at institutions like Susquehanna, they have access to a wide range of professional-development resources to continuously improve their teaching.

What percentage of classes are taught by full-time vs. adjunct faculty?

Adjuncts are a valuable resource for colleges and universities. They can provide very specialized expertise (tuba teacher) and the insights of active practitioners (family court judge). Most institutions have a cadre of excellent adjunct instructors who cover some courses across the curriculum. Unfortunately, there are also numerous institutions where a minority of classes is taught by full-time faculty members. This presents students with less continuity and limited accessibility to their faculty outside of class. Ideally, at teaching institutions, about 80% of classes should be taught by full-time faculty.

What is the student-faculty ratio and the average class size?

Lower student-faculty ratios increase individualized learning opportunities. Tutorials (office hours included), guided independent work, and out-of-class interactions with faculty are hallmarks of deep learning experiences.

Because teaching loads vary by institution, average class size is not always parallel with student-faculty ratio. Both matter. A recent marketing study showed that many prospective students associated small class size with remediation. Small class sizes allow students to be more actively engaged in their classes and for the classes to be more individualized to the students.

For some activities, a large class can be preferable, like symphonic band. In laboratories and most traditional subjects, smaller is almost always better.

What is the 4-year and 6-year graduation rate?

Investing in a college education is equated with investing in the advantages associated with completing a degree: career opportunities and often significantly enhanced earnings.

Nationally, only 1 in 4 students that enroll in college will earn a degree (associate’s or bachelor’s) in 4 years. The average graduation rate for four-year institutions is 60.4%, but that is based on completing in six years.

In many regions of the U.S, students may be delayed in graduating because of limited access to some requirements. In Pennsylvania, the private sector has higher graduation rates than the state-affiliated institutions, and those privates have a much higher rate of completion in four years.

What percentage of graduates have completed an internship, job, or research project that demonstrated that they could apply what they learned in class to real-world tasks?

Some degree programs include internships as a graduation requirement. Student teaching for education students was one of the first, but experiential application of what one learns in the classroom has become acknowledged as a best practice. It allows students to use and internalize what they have learned with an opportunity to reflect and consult on the experience with a faculty advisor. These are the graduates who not only have good transcripts, but also compelling resumes.

Ideally, students should be able to have some of these experiential opportunities early on in their studies as a way of discerning their true affinity for career paths they are considering.

What percentage of graduates complete a study-away experience, and how is it supported?

Study away in which students meaningfully engage with a culture different from their own provides a truly profound learning experience. It is one of the principal high-impact practices in higher education, especially for diversity and global learning. Even so, pre-pandemic, only about 11% of college graduates had studied abroad. Institutions with high study-away rates have infrastructures and academic support to help students get the most out of their cultural immersion.

Susquehanna is one of a handful of institutions where every student has a study-away experience, which means it is integrated into the life of the university. Rather than being “academic tourism,” it is tied to the university’s learning goals with classes to prepare students for the experience and to interpret what they learned afterward.

How is writing taught during the first year?

Clear effective writing is one of the most valuable skills in the workplace. Students arrive at college less and less well prepared as writers. Ideally, writing will be taught across the curriculum. First-year writing programs are especially helpful in setting students up for success throughout their matriculation.

Be sure to ask about out-of-class support, like a writing center or peer tutoring. In my experience, the students who most frequent writing centers are those who need some extra help and the best students at the university. The latter know that an extra set of eyes and peer review make their work even better.

What are their job and graduate-school placement rates?

These data are meaningful in revealing how well students are prepared for post-graduate success. They also are a good indicator of how well the career center supports and guides students as they transition into careers and post-baccalaureate education.

Don’t assume a school (especially private institutions) is unaffordable until you have gone through the financial-aid process.

Private and public institutions have significant financial aid to recognize merit and need. In many cases, private institutions with high price tags may provide the most affordable options to students once financial aid has been awarded. These same institutions are likely to have answered the previous questions more favorably than their seemingly more affordable public neighbors.

Don’t assume that a school that is higher ranked provides a better educational experience.

I once had a conversation with a friend who had attended a very prestigious institution. I mentioned that I sometimes wondered if I should have applied there. He asked why, and I replied because of three very famous members of their faculty in my discipline. He replied that in his four years there he had only met two of them and one of those taught no undergraduate courses. Be sure to pursue the experiences that will be best for you, not the “designer label.”

Be sure to choose a college that will challenge you.

I often refer to what we do as transformative education. We provide opportunities for students to discover capacities they didn’t know they possessed. Often talented students who have had limited educational opportunities before college will settle for an institution that won’t stretch them. Ethical institutions only admit students who can succeed on our campuses. Be sure to pick one that will help you develop the most fully before and after graduation.