What Eight Years as a University President Taught Robbyn Wacker about Values
Pantsuit Politics

What Eight Years as a University President Taught Robbyn Wacker about Values

B2Upper-intermediateSeptember 25, 20261 hr 4 min

Beth talks with Dr. Robbyn Wacker, a former university president (most recently at St. Cloud State University) with a background in gerontology, about the book she's writing on leadership and values in higher education. They cover: Robbyn's path from gerontology and legal aid for older adults into higher-ed leadership, and eight years as a university president The current state of higher education: flipped funding models, the enrollment cliff, cuts to research funding and student loans, restrictions on international students, and a growing public skepticism about the value of a degree Why Robbyn's book centers on values rather than...

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We've been talking a lot about AI around here, and today we're going to pivot into the kind

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Dr. Robin Wacker spent eight years as a university president, and that's during a time where higher

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LEMONADO Lindsey Graham, the former South Carolina senator who died recently, I thought that I understood his values for a long time as a leader. Even if he applied them in ways that I would not have said are consistent with those values as I understand them, you know, I thought I understood what his values were.

0:23

And then, you know, a few years ago, he really revealed, I think, his main value as relevance. This is Sarah Stuart Holland. This is Beth Silver's. You're listening to Pantsuit Politics. We've been talking a lot about AI around here, and today we're going to pivot into the kind of leadership required to get us through transformational moments.

0:57

Dr. Robin Wacker spent eight years as a university president, and that's during a time where higher education came under increasing pressure. That time is not over. The funding models, enrollment cliffs, administration working against research grants and international students, and a real crisis of trust about whether anything academic is worth the cost.

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