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Complete the Agenda in Higher Education: Challenge Beliefs about Student Success is a bold call to action to do more than just improve college completion rates. This book is for community college board members, administrators, faculty and staff who also want to: (1) foster beliefs that will enable students to finish what they start; (2) empower students to overcome daily challenges and real adversity; and (3) transform human potential into achievement, for a lifetime.
Courageous educators, foundations, associations and researchers made community colleges better than we were a decade ago. Completion rates have improved somewhat as a result, but too many students still do not finish because the Completion Agenda is incomplete.
This book describes compelling reasons why a shift from a "completion-only-mindset" to the Beliefs Agenda (completion with GRIT) is critical for the future of America. It provides practical implementation methods, offers engaging teaching tactics, and proposes sensible strategies.
List of contents
Foreword
Dr. Paul G. Stoltz
Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction: Change Beliefs to Change Completion
Chapter 1: Grit: It's Sticky
Chapter 2: Culture Shifts: From Access to Completion to Beliefs
Chapter 3: Teaching with GRIT: Practical Strategies
Chapter 4: From Excellent to Extraordinary in Three Steps
Conclusion
Appendix A: GRIT Research
Appendix B: Grit Reflection
About the Authors
About the Contributors
About the author
Dr. Lee Ann Nutt serves as president of Lone Star College-Tomball, and she is an adjunct faculty member in Ferris State University's Doctorate in Community College Leadership program. Dr. Nutt strongly believes in the capacity of the human spirit to overcome adversity, and she is deeply committed to helping others do whatever it takes to achieve their worthy goals.
Latoya Hardman Lewis began teaching in 2004 as a high school English teacher, and in 2011 she transitioned to higher education to teach Development English, First Year Experience, and Education courses. Currently, she serves as the Director of Academic Initiatives and Partnerships at Lone Star College-Tomball and oversees the college's Global Grit Initiative. Latoya is passionate about teaching faulty how to help students develop their 21st century literacy skills and equipping instructors to deliver technology-rich and engaging lessons.
Summary
This book is for community college board members, administrators, faculty and staff who also want to: (1) foster beliefs that will enable students to finish what they start; (2) empower students to overcome daily challenges and real adversity; and (3) transform human potential into achievement, for a lifetime.
Additional text
Complete the Agenda in Higher Education: Challenge Beliefs About Student Success offers an emboldened paradigm for college completion, offering timely guidance for higher education administrators, scholars, and policy makers interested in helping students to achieve their full potential, by completing what they started and getting their degree. It is a treatise that is as much strategic guidance, as it is a heartfelt call to action. President Nutt challenges the community college community to adopt a student success mindset that defines students as important partners that should be empowered to consider their “why” and develop “beliefs that lead to actions that ensure successful results—before, during, and after college.” In a world of much noise, Complete the Agenda in Higher Education offers a beacon, a signal for us to follow as we work to strengthen our economy, prepare a new generation of leaders, and amplify the work of our institutions. It is an important read for anyone interested in leadership, organizational transformation, and empowering students to become more gritty, self-aware, and resilient as they work to achieve their dreams.