Since then, TASS has become a favorite annual pilgrimage for hundreds of Reading, Writing, and Math instructors, academic advisors and coaches, tutors, librarians, instructional designers and technologists, and others seeking to make a positive difference in the lives of some of America\u2019s most disadvantaged and underserved college students.<\/p>\n
NECC has been a proud supporter for more than twenty years now, and this week, I had the opportunity to deliver one of the keynote addresses at the 35th<\/sup>Annual TASS Conference.<\/p>\n My topic, Colleges at a Crossroads: Teaching Academic Survival and Success Matters Now More Than Ever<\/em>, was meant to acknowledge some of the unprecedented challenges facing America\u2019s colleges and universities today, and suggest some ways that the most important educators on our campuses\u2014the faculty and staff who interact directly with our students\u2014can cope with the fears they present and develop strategies for managing them.<\/p>\n And it went something like this:<\/p>\n I\u2019m a futurist, and I\u2019m an optimist.<\/p>\n This means my natural inclination is to spend a fair amount of time and mental energy thinking the best about what lies ahead.<\/p>\n In fact, the last time I spoke here at TASS, the title of my presentation was \u201cAn Optimist\u2019s Guide to the Top 10 Trends in Higher Education.\u201d<\/p>\n Optimist I may be, but even I knew better than to try that one again this year.<\/p>\n American colleges and universities are at a crucial crossroads, and we\u2019re all feeling that.<\/p>\n We are facing a hostile federal government, an increasingly skeptical public, dizzying technological changes, and a long-anticipated \u201cdemographic cliff\u201d that looms closer by the day.<\/p>\n In the midst of all the noise and chaos, there is one thing hasn\u2019t changed since TASS held its first conference thirty-five years ago: you are serving some of higher education\u2019s most vulnerable students, and teaching academic survival and success matters now more than ever.<\/em><\/p>\n Please remember this: Most students do not encounter the federal bureaucracy. <\/p>\n They do not read the Chronicle of Higher Education<\/em>. <\/p>\n Few make visits to Capitol Hill to lobby for bills and funding.<\/p>\n The overwhelming majority don\u2019t even meet their friendly college president until they hopefully shake her or his hand on commencement day.<\/p>\n They take classes. <\/p>\n They sit and plan with advisors and seek help from tutors.<\/p>\n They know you better and you matter more to them than all the rest of us put together.<\/p>\n And for that, you deserve respect and appreciation.<\/p>\n But there is no denying: We are facing some enormous challenges right now, and what happens in Washington, D.C. or Silicon Valley doesn\u2019t always stay in Washington, D.C. and Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n So, I\u2019m not going to put on my futurist hat and my optimist sunglasses today and tell you everything is going to be just fine, because it\u2019s probably not.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re worried, you have good reason to be, and it\u2019s critically important that you identify the source of those worries and figure out strategies for managing them, for your sake, yes, but also for the sake of your students.<\/p>\n Are there any Harry Potter fans here today?<\/p>\n Anyone remember what a boggart is? <\/p>\n A boggart is a mean, shape-shifting spirit that takes the form of your worst nightmare.<\/p>\n And the only way to banish a boggart is by imagining something funny and, using the \u201cRiddikulus\u201d spell, to laugh at it.<\/p>\n For the Harry Potter uninitiated, here is a short clip from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban <\/em>that explains it:<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/dev-necc-news.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/1.png\")
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