President Mooney offers perspective at 2019 Higher Education Summit
Mar 15, 2019
President Kim Mooney joined a panel of New Hampshire college and university presidents and chancellors at a statewide summit on higher education in Concord, presented by the New Hampshire College & University Council (NHCUC). The goal of the summit was to bring college educators, policymakers and business leaders together to discuss ways to strengthen the connections among high school students, colleges/universities and businesses in the granite state.
Jeff Selingo, best-selling author of There is Life After College, offered a keynote address, “The Changing Landscape of Higher Education,” in which he talked about the impact of technology on the jobs of the future, and what that means for learning and learners. Special guest U.S. Senator from New Hampshire Maggie Hassan spoke about her work on reauthorization of the federal Higher Education Act, with priorities of affordability, accountability, access and student safety.
The roundtable discussion among college and university presidents and chancellors focused on the state of campuses in New Hampshire. Moderated by Scott Spradling, a respected message strategist and former reporter, anchor and political director for WMUR-TV, the panel included top administrators from Southern New Hampshire University, New England College, Rivier University, Community College System of NH, Mass College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, and Franklin Pierce University. These leaders of NH higher education institutions reported on a variety of strategies and initiatives to align academic instruction and degrees with community needs and workforce opportunities.
President Mooney described how Franklin Pierce University has used community-wide long-range and strategic planning to promote student engagement, streamline career pathways, and serve as a champion for local economies where our campus and centers are located. “We have recently launched our College of Business, providing a seamless pathway from undergraduate to graduate business degrees. We will be using this model to reorganize and rename other programs to provide similar benefits.”
The summit also highlighted the issue of mental health on college campuses. A panel discussion was moderated by Debby Scire, Executive Director of Campus Compact for NH, and included directors of mental health services at UNH, Colby Sawyer, NAMI NH, and Riverbend Community Mental Health.
Pierce Media Group representatives Alisha Saint-Ciel ’19 and Fitzwater Center Graduate Assistant Hadja Bah covered the event for Granite State News Collaborative, which is developing a collaborative in-depth news project on the topic of mental health and the opioid crisis in NH. They produced video segments which will be available to be viewed.
