This week it’s chilly in Oklahoma. For this person who has spent most of her life in Texas, it’s just plain cold. I know, I know, it’s not Wisconsin cold, let alone Quebec cold, but lows of 28 and 25 and 23, well, I think they are legitimately cold. And I have central Texas warm…

Several years ago, I wrote an essay for the UTSA Student Affairs Staff Newsletter. I told two stories of amazing customer service. There was a small independent pharmacy near our home. At the time I was taking a medicine I had to refill regularly and I went in on a Friday to find that the…

And suddenly it’s November. The days are definitely shorter and after this weekend, the nights will be darker much earlier. For those who work on campus, it’s a stressful part of the semester as deadlines loom as we count down the days to finals. For all of us the complexities of the holiday season are…

Monday night I attended the opening banquet for TACUSPA (Texas Association for College and University Student Personnel Administrators). As always I saw friends, former students who are now professional colleagues, and a few people I’ve known many, in some cases, many, many years. TACUSPA was my first professional home and therefore the place I have…

Before last week’s technical difficulties, I was writing about some of my experiences with sports. First and foremost, is that my experiences with sports are almost entirely of the spectator variety. As I once put it in response to an interview question about the value of Recreational Sports programs, “I don’t really know why anyone…

The first professional conference I ever attended was held by the Texas Association of College and University Student Personnel Administrators – there’s a reason we shorten it to TACUSPA (ta-coo-spa). It started on a Sunday night in a rustic resort outside of Wimberley, Texas. The location meant I didn’t have any meal options. There was…

As you can imagine I had to look for a while to find a positive quote about meetings. Quote, after snarky quote from, “The longer the meeting, the less accomplished.” to “People who enjoy meetings should not be in charge of anything.” Leadership consultant and educator, Peter Drucker believes “Meetings are a symptom of bad organizations.” And of…

The list of reasons to stop using social media may be nearly endless, but I’m still on Facebook and Twitter and every once in a while I look at Instagram. (And yes, I know I just told you something about my age.) I spend less time and post less than I did when I was a…

A few days ago, I enjoyed the daily post of Matthew Dicks. His title was, “How to transform your child into a writer.” While his example and suggestions were specific to writing, they could apply as easily to any creative endeavor. Actually, they could apply to any attempt to try something new, especially something that…

Or in more formal style, ‘to whom are you listening’? Whichever version you prefer, it seems to me that the question becomes more important each day. Today I was part of Laura DeVeau’s Fireside podcast Think Tank https://firesidechat.com/lauradeveauand I found myself talking about listening. Laura does a weekly hour on topics of higher education and once…