Stockton Provost Selected to National Committee to Discuss the Future of Higher Education

will be among the schools represented when the American Council of Education (ACE) convenes next week to discuss the future of Higher Education.

Stockton Provost and Executive Vice President Dr. Harvey Kesselman has been selected to a national panel of about 25 education professionals who will meet at the University of Pennsylvania on Friday, Dec. 16 discuss “critical issues” concerning higher education, including:

• The future and shape of higher education enterprise;
• Evolving role of government in higher education;
• The changing state of college and university fiscal issues;
• A changing workforce’s needs regarding curriculum development and educational delivery; and
• Technology’s evolving role in education, student success and business productivity.

“We’ll discuss key issues the American Council of Education can use in its professional development programs,” Kesselman said.

According to Kesselman, the ACE allows individuals who aspire to be college presidents and vice presidents to shadow current college presidents and vice presidents. The issues discussed at this forum will help determine how those individuals will be guided.

A range of colleges will be represented, Kesselman said, including four-year schools, community colleges, Ivy League schools, private universities, public universities, for-profit schools and not-for-profit schools.

While the schools are all different and each one naturally has something different that concerns them, there are issues all colleges face regardless of what kind of school they are. These are the issues that will be the focus of the discussion.

“We’ll discuss the issues that face us all, and come up with the issues that are significant to all of us,” Kesselman said. “We’ll discuss those issues so that we can say, ‘This is the kind of training you’ll need.’”

It is the first time he’ll be serving on this particular panel, but Kesselman has served on national panels in the past, including one that dealt with violence against women on college campuses. He’s been appointed to statewide panels too numerous to name.

He said understands the effect of government involvement in higher education on Financial Aid, and has a strong background in technology. He also is a nationally recognized expert on campus judicial process and governance, according to the school.

Kesselman, who was a member of Stockton’s first graduating class, said he believes his background on a wide range of issues is why he was chosen to sit on this panel.

“I don’t know what the questions will be ahead of time, but I’m current on most of these things,” Kesselman said. “I don’t have to do research on most of these things. I think it will be a lot of fun.”

Kesselman, who has been provost for two years and has served at Stockton in a number of vice presidential capacities—including interim vice president of administration and finance, and vice president for student affairs for 15 years—sees this appointment as a boon for the college.

“When someone is appointed to a committee, it’s a recognition of the institution and the positive things that institution is doing,” Kesselman said. “When I am there, I’ll represent Stockton. … I’m not surprised someone from Stockton was chosen for this.”