Designing for finals: How campus shapes the way students work
Finals week is often treated as a question of whether there is enough study space on campus. Are there enough quiet seats, extended library hours, and places to…
To support the American workforce, prepare students for a future reshaped by climate change
At this moment, the American workforce faces immense challenges: AI, demographic changes, and lagging academic achievement, to name only a few. To tackle these challenges, states need a…
This is the last “old” college admissions cycle
When 5W started working with higher ed clients, the college search playbook ran on a predictable rhythm. Viewbooks, campus tours, search name purchases, Common App funnel management, a…
She passed high school math with A’s and B’s. In college, she had to start over.
Cecilia Lopez Alvarado was scrolling through Reddit one evening in her dorm room when she came across a thread about students at the University of California San Diego…
AI as a scaffold for learning: From access to judgment
Meaningful learning should not be about memorization or developing the ability to solve problems for which solutions are already known. Rather, it should focus on doing, experiencing, questioning…
What higher ed can do about getting research into the K-12 classroom
Educational research has never been more abundant, yet its impact on classroom practice remains uneven at best. While universities continue to produce studies on instructional strategies, student outcomes,…
Building the AI-ready graduate
Artificial intelligence is already part of how students learn, and it is starting to change how work gets done. The question for higher education is how to ensure…
When opportunities knock: How senior leaders navigate multiple offers with integrity
The path to a senior leadership appointment in higher education or the nonprofit sector is rarely linear. It demands months of reflection, rigorous preparation, and a willingness to…
When AI does the work, who does the learning?
AI is rapidly reshaping education, but not always in ways that support learning. A growing number of AI tools promise to “help” students by doing assignments, writing papers,…
How well can your institution recover from a ransomware attack?
Most educational institutions believe they’re prepared for a cyberattack. Perhaps they’re running backups, and an incident response plan exists somewhere on the shared drive. Maybe they have a…