{"id":82812,"date":"2025-05-23T10:31:29","date_gmt":"2025-05-23T14:31:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/?post_type=bu-article&#038;p=82812"},"modified":"2025-09-03T16:00:17","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T20:00:17","slug":"creating-a-student-centered-experience","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/news\/articles\/2025\/creating-a-student-centered-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"Creating a Student-Centered Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"\t<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin news-block-editorial-leadin is-style-side-by-side has-media has-flip has-box has-media-focus-center-middle has-dark-theme\">\n\t\t<div class=\"container-lockup\">\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-leadin-media\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<img width=\"5088\" height=\"3392\" src=\"\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/05\/David-Schejbal_banner-image-1.jpg\" class=\"\" alt=\"Shows a man standing at a lectern in academic regalia delivering a speech\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/05\/David-Schejbal_banner-image-1.jpg 5088w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/05\/David-Schejbal_banner-image-1-900x600.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/05\/David-Schejbal_banner-image-1-1500x1000.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/05\/David-Schejbal_banner-image-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/05\/David-Schejbal_banner-image-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/05\/David-Schejbal_banner-image-1-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/05\/David-Schejbal_banner-image-1-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/05\/David-Schejbal_banner-image-1-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/05\/David-Schejbal_banner-image-1-992x661.jpg 992w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/05\/David-Schejbal_banner-image-1-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/05\/David-Schejbal_banner-image-1-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/05\/David-Schejbal_banner-image-1-1984x1323.jpg 1984w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/05\/David-Schejbal_banner-image-1-450x300.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/05\/David-Schejbal_banner-image-1-600x400.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 5088px) 100vw, 5088px\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin-caption wp-prepress-component-caption\">Photo courtesy of David Schejbal<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-outer\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-inner\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"wp-prepress-tag\">Collegial Conversations<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"head\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"http:\/\/Creating%20a%20Student-Centric%20Experience\">Creating a Student-Centered Experience<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"deck\">In a Q&amp;A, David Schejbal discusses how higher education can best serve adult learners <\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar news-prepress-layout-metabar\">\n\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-date\">May 23, 2025<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-comments\">\n\t\t\t<a href=\"#comments\" class=\"wp-prepress-component-comment-counter label has-no-comments\"><span class=\"wp-prepress-component-comment-counter-zero\"><span>0<\/span><\/span><\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-credits\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul data-credit-type=\"By\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/bu-author\/jay-halfond\/\">Jay Halfond<\/a><\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-share js-bu-prepress-share-tools\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-twitter\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-facebook\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-action\"><\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/05\/David-Schejbal_headshot.jpg\" alt=\"Shows a person with short hair wearing a dark jacket and purple tie \" class=\"wp-image-82820\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/05\/David-Schejbal_headshot.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/05\/David-Schejbal_headshot-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/05\/David-Schejbal_headshot-344x344.jpg 344w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/05\/David-Schejbal_headshot-300x300.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><figcaption>David Schejbal<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Over more than a century, traditions emerged in higher education that evolved into constraining, never-questioned practices, such as the notion of \u201cstudent credit hours\u201d as the measure of learning. This worked well for those delivering higher education, but not always for those receiving that education. Currently, there 40 million Americans who began but never finished their degree. They lack the credit hours but perhaps not the knowledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.excelsior.edu\/about\/leadership\/president\/\">David Schejbal<\/a> has been a leading national voice in creative ways of addressing the educational needs of these adult learners. &nbsp;In August 2020, he became the fourth president of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.excelsior.edu\/about\/fast-facts\/\">Excelsior University<\/a> in Albany, New York, where the average age of the students is 35.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>This interview has been edited for length and clarity.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<section class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a news-block-editorial-q-and-a\"><div class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-title\"><h2 class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-title-heading\">Q<span>&amp;<\/span>A<\/h2><h4 class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-title-subheading\"><\/h4><\/div>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-question\"><span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-name\">Jay Halfond:<\/span> <span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-content\">You\u2019ve devoted a lot of your career to thinking about how to best serve adult learners. As a dean in the University of Wisconsin\u2013Extension, you led an important initiative in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.c-ben.org\/\">competency-based learning<\/a>. How did this initiative come about and what were its goals?<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-answer\"><span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-name\">David Schejbal:<\/span> <span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-content\">There had been conversation at the federal level about the challenges of traditional higher education, especially in ensuring learning outcomes. I wondered how we could structure a student\u2019s academic experience to focus on these outcomes and not on the time the student spent in a course. I thought about this through an adult student lens, honoring the knowledge that students bring.<br><br>I wrote a proposal for a competency-based focus, which I passed on to our chancellor at Wisconsin, and the two of us brought this to the system president and then to the governor. We argued that the best way to ensure learning outcomes is by measuring what students know.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-question\"><span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-name\">Jay Halfond:<\/span> <span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-content\">You encountered challenges in this work\u2014tell me about those.<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-answer\"><span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-name\">David Schejbal:<\/span> <span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-content\">The big obstacle was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/crs-product\/R43159\">Title IV<\/a> and its credit-based requirements for federal financial aid. We went ahead and launched the <a href=\"https:\/\/flex.wisconsin.edu\/degrees-programs\/\">UW Flexible Option<\/a> at two Wisconsin campuses. This allowed students to subscribe for a particular amount of time and go as fast or slow as they wished in their assessment. This was an incentive for students to accomplish as much as possible in their lives and ensure their completion.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-question\"><span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-name\">Jay Halfond:<\/span> <span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-content\">How did you motivate your colleagues to adopt this model?<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-answer\"><span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-name\">David Schejbal:<\/span> <span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-content\">We worked with a coalition of the willing. We invited faculty to convert existing curricula into a competency structure. Several departments on several campuses got on board. The hurdles were greater with administrators, who had to change their policies and systems and work with government agencies.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-question\"><span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-name\">Jay Halfond:<\/span> <span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-content\">You now lead Excelsior, which originated as a public, competency-based college and has, in recent years, transformed itself into a fully online institution that is private\/non-profit. How did Excelsior\u2019s transformation unfold?<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-answer\"><span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-name\">David Schejbal:<\/span> <span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-content\">New York State\u2019s Board of Regents was concerned that the SUNY and CUNY colleges were not adequately graduating enough of their students. So, in 1971, the board created a new entity, dedicated to degree completion, particularly for those coming from the Vietnam-era military. Originally called the Regents External Degree Program, this was built on a competency-based model. This fledgling institution soon began to offer its own classes and earned <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msche.org\/accreditation\/\">Middle States accreditation<\/a> as a true academic institution. Its first degree was nursing, starting in 1975, and now we have the largest nursing program in the state of New York.<br><br>Then, as a governing board, the Regents decided it would be best to separate themselves from a program it oversees. And so, in 1998, the school\u2019s name was changed to Excelsior College and its status shifted to a private, not-for-profit institution, with a new charter and its own board of trustees.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-question\"><span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-name\">Jay Halfond:<\/span> <span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-content\">But perhaps the more things change the more they stay the same?<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-answer\"><span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-name\">David Schejbal:<\/span> <span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-content\">Exactly. The goal from Excelsior\u2019s inception has been to recognize students\u2019 academic achievements and expedite their college degree. The major development, though, is that we are now a fully online university. But the original mission is still in our DNA. 40 percent of our students are veterans or active military. Our focus is still on adult learners and on the accumulated academic credit they bring.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-question\"><span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-name\">Jay Halfond:<\/span> <span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-content\">You said Excelsior\u2019s program is fully online. Can you describe how that works?<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-answer\"><span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-name\">David Schejbal:<\/span> <span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-content\">Our courses are typically eight weeks, offered year-round. We confer degrees monthly. Our classes are mainly asynchronous, so students can do the schoolwork independently whenever they are able in their busy, challenging lives. Their faculty reach out to them several times a week.<br><br>We have about 60 full-time faculty and 500 part-time faculty, distributed all over the country. The full-time faculty are the primary subject matter experts, who work with instructional designers and media developers to bring a course to fruition.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-question\"><span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-name\">Jay Halfond:<\/span> <span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-content\">Online learning has expanded student choices regardless of where they live. How will you differentiate your institution?<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-answer\"><span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-name\">David Schejbal:<\/span> <span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-content\">We are now creating hybrid experiences for our students. As most schools look to go online, we\u2019re working with other institutions with campuses where we can use a physical presence in consumable chunks our students can manage. This provides the convenience of online with intensive site-based experiences. For example, we partner with industry experts and corporate partners in Albany, Chicago, and St. Petersburg, Florida to give our executive MBA students an opportunity to spend short, immersive residencies in each of these three cities building professional skills and relationships.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-question\"><span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-name\">Jay Halfond:<\/span> <span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-content\">Excelsior has gone from a credit aggregator to a fully remote online learning experience\u2014and now supplements its online education with experiential opportunities.<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-answer\"><span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-name\">David Schejbal:<\/span> <span class=\"wp-block-editorial-q-and-a-content\">Higher education institutions are generally campus- and faculty-centric; not student-centric. Excelsior\u2019s model is the opposite. We have always focused on students\u2019 learning experiences. Our goal is to create a robust, frictionless learning ecosystem that does not penalize students moving across institutions.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/news\/tag\/collegial-conversations\/\">Collegial Conversations<\/a> is a series of interviews that explore our vast academic landscape, highlighting what to celebrate or lament in America\u2019s unique and often perplexing approach to higher education.<\/em> <em>This interview has been edited for length and clarity.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/profile\/jay-halfond\/\"><em>Jay Halfond<\/em><\/a><em> is professor of the practice emeritus and former dean of Boston University\u2019s Metropolitan College. He is a faculty member in BU Wheelock\u2019s <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/degree-program\/educational-leadership-policy-studies\/executive-edd-in-higher-education-leadership\/\"><em>executive EdD in Higher Education Leadership<\/em><\/a><em> program.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories is-style-card has-three news-block-editorial-relatedstories\">\n\t\t<h3 class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-title\">Related<\/h3>\n\t\t<ul class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-list\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-list-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<article class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-image\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"1320\" height=\"892\" src=\"\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/04\/college-unbound-2.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"a group of students in black graduation robes with green stole smiling at their university commencement\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/04\/college-unbound-2.jpg 1320w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/04\/college-unbound-2-888x600.jpg 888w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/04\/college-unbound-2-768x519.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/04\/college-unbound-2-1200x811.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/04\/college-unbound-2-500x338.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/04\/college-unbound-2-992x670.jpg 992w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/04\/college-unbound-2-1000x676.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1320px) 100vw, 1320px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-category\"><span>Collegial Conversations<\/span><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/news\/articles\/2025\/collegial-conversations-a-student-driven-curriculum-for-adult-learners\/\" class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-title-link\">A Student-Driven Curriculum for Adult Learners<\/a><\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-date\">April 3, 2025<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-list-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<article class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-image\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"2048\" height=\"890\" src=\"\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/03\/IMG_0005.png\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Photo of large stage with big screen that reads &quot;the realities we face today do not have to be the future our children experience&quot;\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/03\/IMG_0005.png 2048w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/03\/IMG_0005-900x391.png 900w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/03\/IMG_0005-1500x652.png 1500w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/03\/IMG_0005-768x334.png 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/03\/IMG_0005-1536x668.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/03\/IMG_0005-1200x521.png 1200w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/03\/IMG_0005-500x217.png 500w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/03\/IMG_0005-992x431.png 992w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/03\/IMG_0005-1920x834.png 1920w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/03\/IMG_0005-1000x435.png 1000w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/03\/IMG_0005-1984x862.png 1984w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/03\/IMG_0005-1628x707.png 1628w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-category\"><span>Collegial Conversations<\/span><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/news\/articles\/2025\/collegial-conversations-how-higher-education-changes-lives\/\" class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-title-link\">How Higher Education Changes Lives<\/a><\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-date\">March 11, 2025<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-list-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<article class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-image\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"4500\" height=\"3409\" src=\"\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/01\/ESCC-1025-1.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Jim Shaeffer shaking the hand of fellow ESCC community member in regalia\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/01\/ESCC-1025-1.jpg 4500w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/01\/ESCC-1025-1-792x600.jpg 792w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/01\/ESCC-1025-1-1500x1136.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/01\/ESCC-1025-1-768x582.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/01\/ESCC-1025-1-1536x1164.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/01\/ESCC-1025-1-2048x1551.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/01\/ESCC-1025-1-1090x826.jpg 1090w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/01\/ESCC-1025-1-454x344.jpg 454w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/01\/ESCC-1025-1-698x529.jpg 698w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/01\/ESCC-1025-1-900x682.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/01\/ESCC-1025-1-1362x1032.jpg 1362w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/01\/ESCC-1025-1-1744x1321.jpg 1744w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/01\/ESCC-1025-1-908x688.jpg 908w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/01\/ESCC-1025-1-1397x1058.jpg 1397w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/01\/ESCC-1025-1-1801x1364.jpg 1801w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2025\/01\/ESCC-1025-1-1320x1000.jpg 1320w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 4500px) 100vw, 4500px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-category\"><span>Collegial Conversations<\/span><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/news\/articles\/2025\/collegial-conversations-leadership-with-a-personal-touch\/\" class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-title-link\">Leadership with a Personal Touch<\/a><\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-date\">January 15, 2025<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Over more than a century, traditions emerged in higher education that evolved into constraining, never-questioned practices, such as the notion of \u201cstudent credit hours\u201d as the measure of learning. This worked well for those delivering higher education, but not always for those receiving that education. Currently, there 40 million Americans who began but never finished [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18489,"featured_media":82822,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"bu_prepress_billboard":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term":"Collegial Conversations","_bu_prepress_primary_term_manual":""},"tags":[7100,7165,7096],"bu-publication":[6614],"magazine-article-category":[],"magazine-topic":[],"news-article-category":[6739,6766],"news-topic":[6725],"bu_edition":[],"media_type":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/82812"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bu-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18489"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82812"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/82812\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":83873,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/82812\/revisions\/83873"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82812"},{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=82812"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/magazine-article-category?post=82812"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/magazine-topic?post=82812"},{"taxonomy":"news-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-article-category?post=82812"},{"taxonomy":"news-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-topic?post=82812"},{"taxonomy":"bu_edition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu_edition?post=82812"},{"taxonomy":"media_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media_type?post=82812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}