Touching on several subjects, mostly personal:
A few days ago I passed 20,000 views on this blog. Given how long I’ve been posting, 20,000 is
anything but “viral,” but it pleases me that some people either
subscribe/follow or simply stumble on the blog, and from the feedback I receive
find it to be helpful. Nice.
Originally I started this blog to provide a service to the
National Association of Branch Campus Administrators (NABCA), as well as to
help me organize my thoughts for a book I wanted to write. That book, Out on a Limb: A Branch Campus
Life was published almost two years ago, and I’m pleased to see that it
continues to sell, in both print and electronic versions on Amazon.
Speaking of NABCA, if you haven’t attended the conference,
you should consider doing so (www.nabca.net). Unfortunately, it often isn’t until a person
attends that he or she realizes how valuable it can be to meet other people
working in the branch world. If you can
make it, you won’t be disappointed. I
can almost guarantee that you’ll come away with some new friends and good
ideas.
Aside from pitching my book, I’d also like to remind readers
that I work as a consultant and coach. I
enjoy visiting campuses, because I meet interesting people and nearly always
discover something that I haven’t encountered before. Branches certainly share a number of
qualities, but they also have their unique stories, bringing a variety of challenges
and opportunities.
Branch work can be isolating or even lonely, especially for
new branch administrators. I hope this
blog and my book might help, and I’m sure that attending the NABCA conference
is therapeutic. Working with a coach
provides a helpful and safe sounding board outside the organization, which also
contributes to professional growth. To
be sure, I’d like to have a few more consulting or coaching clients, but more
importantly, branch administrators need a source of support from someone who
understands the unique challenges that branch campuses face.
Finally, from time to time I pass along resources that I
think may be of value to people leading branch campuses. I suggest you check out WCET Frontiers (https://wcetblog.wordpress.com/), a
blog dedicated to e-learning topics. It
behooves advocates for branch campuses to stay on top of e-learning
developments, but I also find information of general value on this blog. Check out this post: https://wcetblog.wordpress.com/2015/12/21/ipeds-fall-2014-de-highlights/,
which reports on enrollment trends, online as well as across other sectors.
