“Whatever It Is, I’m Against It”: Resistance to Change in Higher Education

Summary

In "Whatever It Is, I'm Against It," president emeritus of Macalester College Brian Rosenberg draws on decades of higher education experience to expose the entrenched structures, practices, and cultures that inhibit meaningful postsecondary reform, even as institutions face serious challenges to their financial and educational models. The book pinpoints factors that hinder the ability of United States colleges and universities to be creative and entrepreneurial amid calls to improve affordability, access, and equity for students.

Rosenberg illustrates internal and external dynamics that impede institutional evolution. Pressures such as declining enrollment, escalating costs, and an oversupply of PhDs in academia have long signaled a grave need for reform within a profession that lacks organizational flexibility, depends greatly on reputation and ranking, and retains traditions, from the academic calendar to grading systems, that have remained essentially the same for decades.

Rosenberg looks outside the United States system to find possible antidotes in innovative higher education models such as student-centered and experiential learning approaches. This thought-provoking work offers ample evidence for presidents, chancellors, deans, provosts, and faculty to consider as they plan to achieve institutional transformation.