Academic Alchemy is where higher ed meets the elements of transformation. These are periodic reflections designed to catalyze change, reduce the activation energy needed for progress, and distill complexity and noise into clarity. Rooted in curiosity and sparked by real campus experiences, from advising to pedagogy to student belonging—this space lives at the intersection of curiosity and combustion. No smoke, no mirrors, just honest reactions to the volatile, pressurized ecosystem we call higher education.
(Caught the chemistry references? Don’t worry, no goggles required, you’re already part of the experiment.)
This blog is an independent venture, and the views and opinions expressed here are mine or ones I have shared. It does not in any way reflect the views or opinions of my current or previous employers.
Commencement speeches are difficult to get right. After attending more than 30 commencements over the years, I can say many begin to blend together. Too often, they become predictable and formulaic. Graduates are told to “go change the world,” to
Data, disciplines, and the pressures reshaping four-year competition Community college bachelor’s degrees are often discussed as if they are still emerging or hypothetical. The data suggests otherwise. These programs already exist at meaningful scale, they are concentrated in specific fields,
This post is prompted by a specific article that I recently saw on multiple social media posts…: “AI Is Destroying the University—and Learning Itself,” written by Ronald Purser and published in Current Affairs in December 2025. The piece is part
Walking Toward Peace, One Breath at a Time Last night, I attended the Walk for Peace monks’ visitation in South Carolina. What I expected was a moment of quiet reflection. What I experienced was something more enduring. By the time
Reading the Map Beneath the Surface – Where the Fault Lines Converge Across the previously discussed six fault lines, a pattern emerges. Accreditation shifts are redefining legitimacy. Faculty workload strain is exposing the limits of institutional elasticity. Enrollment strategies are
Author’s Note:This post is part of Fault Lines for 2026, a series examining areas where pressure has been building quietly across higher education and where 2026 is likely to make that pressure increasingly visible. Each post explores one fault line
Author’s Note:This post is part of Fault Lines for 2026, a series examining areas where pressure has been building quietly across higher education and where 2026 is likely to make that pressure increasingly visible. Each post explores one fault line
Author’s Note:This post is part of Fault Lines for 2026, a series examining areas where pressure has been building quietly across higher education and where 2026 is likely to make that pressure increasingly visible. Each post explores one fault line
Author’s Note:This post is part of Fault Lines for 2026, a series examining areas where pressure has been building quietly across higher education and where 2026 is likely to make that pressure increasingly visible. Each post explores one fault line
Author’s Note:This post is part of Fault Lines for 2026, a series examining areas where pressure has been building quietly across higher education and where 2026 is likely to make that pressure increasingly visible. Each post explores one fault line
Author’s Note:This post is part of Fault Lines for 2026, a series examining areas where pressure has been building quietly across higher education and where 2026 is likely to make that pressure increasingly visible. Each post explores one fault line
Author’s Note on 2026 Fault LInes Series Each year brings its share of predictions about higher education. New tools. New threats. New promises. Most of them focus on what is arriving next. The next several blog posts take a different
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