@ FXUA

As part of our efforts to recruit students for our Fall 2021 semester (our inaugural class for FXUA), I have been interviewing high school counselors from around the Washington D.C. Metropolitan area. Not having spent a great deal of time with this secondary school population, I have been struck by one surprising and recurring aspect: […]

The COVID pandemic has been a painful reminder that we are not always in control of our own surroundings. During this same period, which forced many of us into quarantined lifestyles, certain “truisms” have been identified – lessons that can be adopted as the entire world begins to re-emerge into this new “next normal”. Of […]

Collectively, we realize that the operating confines of a typical workday are in the past. The pandemic has all but erased the traditional 9 to 5 workday and replaced it with a more flexible, individually oriented approach that seeks to define a true work-life integration. (Not to be confused with a work-life balance!) During the […]

In a recent interview with a member of our Corporate Advisory Council (CAC), we got into a discussion regarding the use of technology in the workspace. Being on the older side of the organizational spectrum, we both marveled at how prevalent technology has become during our respective professional careers. Yet, in the very same breath, […]

Having worked with small business owners for most of my professional career, I am used to owners lamenting that their staff do not share the same passion for the work as they do. But, now, with COVID fully enveloping our traditional work-day efforts, a new cry has come up from nearly all business leaders, from […]

In recent discussions with several business leaders, it has become clear, especially during this period of COVID, that communication skills are paramount. What many organizations are finding out is that individuals listen and communicate based on two primary variables: where in the organizational chain they reside and, their generational communication style.  Accordingly, individuals who are […]

If you are a frequent reader of this blog, you already know that we are in the midst of standing up a new university, Fairfax University of America (FXUA) – readying for our first enrolled class in Fall 2021. As part of that effort, we are working closely with a group of senior business executives […]

I’m prone to talk about universities and recent articles highlighting the problems with the higher education system. But I recently came across an article in the Chief Learning Officer by Paul Heck, M.Ed., a retired DuPont global manager, that I felt was worth commenting on. Heck points out that although many multinational companies had virtual […]

Last week, I highlighted the findings of a survey we did with our Corporate Advisory Council, a group of business leaders who help shape our curriculum and student experience. They helped us discover which power skills – those abilities that are universally applicable no matter the job or industry – are most valued across their […]

If a university is simply adjusting to the COVID-19 pandemic rather than planning long-term changes, it’s already doing something wrong. Just look at the work from home phenomenon in the business world for why this is the case. With work from home becoming the only option for most companies, several like Twitter and Square have […]

In his recent article, “What it Takes to Be a Collaborative Leader”, Edward Marshall discusses the need, especially now during the COVID crisis, for a new form of corporate leadership. The difficulty, as he sees it, is that this new form of leadership is nearly counter to what has become the expected norm in most […]

Fairfax University of America distinguishes itself from the rest of higher education because of its Corporate Advisory Council, a group of dozens of major business and industry leaders who shape our curriculum and student experience. We rely on our CAC, as they’re known around our campus, to help us remain abreast of the needs of […]

Are students and employers changing in a way that has resulted in college graduates feeling underserved by universities, or have they been underserved already for decades due to higher education sticking to an outdated way of thinking? Steven Mintz, professor of history at the University of Texas at Austin, recently wrote in Inside Higher Ed […]

In his recent article, “To overcome business disruption, take a front-line-first approach”, JD Dillon argues that front-line workers, especially during the current COVID pandemic, serve as the most important players for an organization’s success. Yet, for most businesses, these employees are completely under-served with regard to training, compensation and overall respect leading to high levels […]

The whole idea of an executive is going to look and feel different as the college-educated population continues to increase and more businesses with large teams are launched and expanding. What worked in the past just won’t work going forward due to the increasing diversity of gender, race, and even learning and leadership preferences of […]

One of the most difficult issues for universities is creating a relevant and meaningful curriculum in terms of employability of their graduates. Relevant, because the scope of learning objectives in academia exceeds the scope of employers’ requirements. Meaningful, because academic performance assessments are not directly tied to competencies associated with workplace performance. We’re here to […]

In his recent article, “Turning Crisis Into Opportunity: Get perspective and lead together,” George Hallenbeck lays out the five key considerations to not only cope but thrive in these periods of seemingly constant crisis. And, while his focus is on effectively re-framing the problems in the form of new opportunities, his article points to a […]

In their recent article in CLO, “Executive order takes aim at diversity training, starting with new restrictions on federal contractors,” Cassandra Santoro and Sean O’Connor discuss the impact of the recent ruling associated with diversity training in the federal government and contracting space. Of note, there is an interpretation of the ruling that closely restricts […]

It’s no secret that higher education is in peril. Declining admission rates, ballooning student loan debt, and an increasing number of alternative credentials as well as the diminishing value of degrees to employers have universities and prospective students on edge. Institutions are certainly scrambling to figure out what to do, but there’s one issue that’s […]

The recent CLO video, “Who is the Chief Learning Officer,” highlights the historic evolution of this senior level leadership position from a pure learning and development resource to an individual who now helps plan corporate strategy with the other C-suite executives. But has this role peaked with its possible contributions to the corporate world? Arguably, […]