EduMusings

For the better part of a full year now, we have been getting bombarded with diverse stories that chronicle the global financial downturn – Lehman Brothers, Bernie Madoff, the plummeting Dow, Stanford Bank, and so on. While this news stream has been inescapable, the reality of the situation inevitably hits hardest through “smaller” stories much closer to home – foreclosures here, lost jobs there, disappearing budgets for projects that had been on-track just days or weeks before.

And since I spend many of my waking hours working with institutions of higher education, it isn’t surprising that I’ve seen these events through that lens. I distinctly remember first being surprised 16 months ago at the number of white-washed store-windows in a typically thriving college town near Chicago. I was also struck by the repressive sense of gloom and ghost-town emptiness that pervaded a normally bustling education technology conference back in October (2008).

State budget cuts and shrinking endowments have been documented almost daily since then; and more recently there has been a string of student protests against tuition hikes and unavailable student loans. This Chronicle article sums this mess.

It’s with this in mind, that I have been wondering whether some recent observations within the education technology market are modest indicators of the beginnings of economic recovery? Admittedly, my study is completely unscientific, but some signs seem to offer glimmers of hope.

First, the dreaded topic of “the economy” certainly came up frequently at the mid-February University Continuing Education Association (UCEA) Marketing Seminar in Scottsdale. But it wasn’t the all-consuming vacuum that had sucked the life out of recent shows.

Then, at last week’s National Council of Marketing and PR (NCMPR) Conference in Kansas City, a lot of conversations centered not solely on the economy, but rather on perennial issues such as branding, employing strategies for new technologies, or managing through internal challenges and securing institutional buy-in to proposed project. The same was true at the League for Innovations Conference in Reno. Were people euphoric? No. Were the economy and associated budgets a concern? Absolutely.But, for the first time in months, people seemed to be looking ahead to better times.

Perhaps it is the result of the stock market’s recent mini-rally (although I kind of doubt that – the attendees at these shows don’t tend to be avid market watchers)?Maybe it was general optimism about the expected intermediate-term impact of the government stimulus package on education budgets?

Or was it enthusiasm for President Obama’s comments in support of higher education during his recent address to the nation? After all, this quote from President Obama’s speech received spirited applause when cited by Tuesday’s keynote speaker, Chancellor Constance Carroll of the San Diego Community College District, at League for Innovation.

It is our responsibility as lawmakers and educators to make this system work. But it is the responsibility of every citizen to participate in it. And so tonight, I ask every American to commit to at least one year or more of higher education or career training. This can be community college or a four-year school; vocational training or an apprenticeship. But whatever the training may be, every American will need to get more than a high school diploma. And dropping out of high school is no longer an option.

It’s not just quitting on yourself, it’s quitting on your country – and this country needs and values the talents of every American. That is why we will provide the support necessary for you to complete college and meet a new goal: by 2020, America will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world.

Maybe people have moved beyond their emphasis on the economic challenges and are stoically moving ahead with the business of managing their institutions. Or, perhaps, people are simply beginning to allow themselves to hope.

Only time will tell if these observations hold any merit at all. In the meantime, I am adding my “Education Conference Mood-o-Meter” to the ever-evolving list of economic indicators that I’ll be watching to monitor the ever-evolving state of our economy.