Thought Leaders Series

Thought Leader #4 - Jon McGee: Educationomics

Educationomics describes the interaction and oversight of mission, market and management in the context of economic, demographic and cultural change. Jon McGee refers to it as “navigating in the new marketplace for higher education.” Think of it as a triangle linking the impact of changing economics, changing demographics, and changing cultural values at colleges and universities in America. No college will escape their effects.

Drawing from an extensive assessment of demographic and economic trends, McGee presents a broad and integrative picture of these changes while stressing the importance of decisive campus leadership. He describes the key forces that influence higher education and provides a framework from which trustees, presidents, administrators, faculty, and policy makers can address pressing issues in the aftermath of the Great Recession.

Jon McGee has worked in higher education research and policy since 1988. After earning a Master of Arts degree in Public Affairs from the University of Minnesota, he worked in Minnesota’s Department of Finance as a budget analyst, where he was responsible for planning and development of public sector postsecondary operating and capital budgets. From 1992 to 1999, he was Vice President for Research and Policy Development at the Minnesota Private College Council, where he was responsible for analysis of state and federal higher education policy, particularly as they related to education finance and student financial aid, as well as collection and analysis of institutional enrollment and financial data. Much of his work and writing focused on demographic and economic trends and their impact on higher education and public policy.

In 1999, McGee joined the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University in Minnesota. Currently he is the Vice President for Planning and Public Affairs. He serves on the cabinet of both colleges and is responsible for research and analysis in support of enrollment and budget decision-making, strategic planning, leadership in support of campus visibility and marketing, planning, and state and federal government relations.

Jon recently completed the book, Breakpoint – The Changing Marketplace for Higher Education (published by The John Hopkins University Press), which examines key forces of disruption in higher education and offers a framework to colleges and universities for addressing those issues. He is a regular writer of essays and white papers for Hardwick Day and The Lawlor Group and is a frequently invited speaker nationally on demographic trends, the economics of higher education, and the intersection of mission, market, and institutional values. McGee periodically co-presents with Chris Farrell, economist with American Public Media, Minnesota Public Radio and National Public Radio.

McGee serves on the College Board Midwest Regional Council and as a member of the College Scholarship Service Assembly Council (one of three governance assembly councils) where he is national chair-elect and a future trustee. He is also on the faculty of the Harvard University Summer Institute on College Admissions.

Thought Leader #3 - Dr. Vincent Tinto

Vincent Tinto is a Distinguished University Professor Emeritus at Syracuse University has carried out research and has written extensively on student success in higher education. His book, Leaving College lays out a theory and policy perspective on student success that is considered the benchmark by which work on these issues are judged. His most recent book, Completing College lays out a framework for institutional action for student success, describes the range of programs that have been effective in enhancing student success, and the types of policies institutions should follow to successfully implement programs in ways that endure and scale-up over time.

He has some 50 notable publications, received numerous awards, and has lectured across the United States and a wide range of countries including Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Great Britain, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, South America, and The Netherlands. He has worked with a number of organizations, foundations, and government agencies on issues of student success and sits on a number of advisory boards including Civitas Learning, the Community College Survey of Student Engagement and the Posse Foundation.

Dr. Tinto received his B.S. from Fordham in Physics and Philosophy, his M.S. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Physics and Mathematics, and his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in Education and Sociology.

Thought Leader #2 - Dr. Christine Ortiz

Christine Ortiz is the (tenured and chaired) Morris Cohen Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Ortiz is the founder of a new nonprofit organization, Station1, that is building a new model of higher education based on inclusion and equity, learning through frontier project-based inquiry and research, and the integration of science and technology with societal perspective and impact. 

Ortiz served as the Dean for Graduate Education at MIT between 2010 and 2016, supporting approximately 7,000 graduate students from 100+ countries. With over 25 years of experience in higher education, Ortiz has led cross-institutional initiatives in global education, technology-enabled learning, new methods of learning assessment, fostering diversity and inclusion and postsecondary financial models. Ortiz has served on over 50 MIT departmental and Institute committees and working groups.

As a Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at MIT, Ortiz is a distinguished scientist and engineer with over 175 scholarly publications, has supervised the research projects of more than 80 students from 10 different academic disciplines, and received 30 national and international honors, including the Presidential Early Career Award in Science and Engineering which was awarded to her at the White House by President George W. Bush. Ortiz serves on numerous boards, including as a regional accreditation commissioner for the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education, New England Association of Schools and Colleges.

View Dr. Cowen's presentation.

Thought Leader #1 - Dr. Scott Cowen

Scott S. Cowen is President Emeritus of Tulane University and author, most recently, of Winnebagos on Wednesdays: How Visionary Leadership Can Transform Higher Education. He served as Tulane’s 14th president from July 1998 through June 2014 and has been named one of the top college presidents in the nation by Time. Newsweek twice declared Tulane, under his leadership, one of the “Hottest Schools in America.”

Dr. Cowen is the recipient of several national awards, including the Carnegie Corporation Academic Leadership Award and the TIAA-CREF Theodore M. Hesburgh Award for Leadership Excellence in Higher Education, as well as honorary degrees from the nation’s top institutions including the University of Notre Dame, Brown University, Yeshiva University, the University of Connecticut, and Case Western Reserve University.

He was a leader in New Orleans’ recovery from Hurricane Katrina, which inflicted more than $650 million in damages to Tulane alone, and has been widely praised for helping to transform New Orleans’ K-12 public schools and health care system after the storm. For these and other efforts, Dr. Cowen was awarded the Times-Picayune’s Loving Cup, New Orleans CityBusiness named him one of the 30 “Driving Forces” in New Orleans in the last 30 years and he was named New Orleanian of the Year by Gambit.

He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and was a member of the White House Council for Community Solutions, which advised President Barack Obama on the needs of disconnected youth.

Dr. Cowen received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Connecticut and his master’s and doctorate in business administration from The George Washington University.

Dr. cowen's Publications