Mark Putnam | 7 Comments | Posted: June 7, 2012
Societies around the world are facing big choices these days. They involve questions of freedom and determinism, cause and effect, morality and logic. The problem is choice. Yet, no choice we face comes without a cost.
Mark Putnam | 11 Comments | Posted: May 8, 2012
I took this amazing mental photograph of the Lower Falls in Yellowstone National Park during the summer of 1983. Though I didn’t have a camera to record it, the image stays with me. The trouble is my mental imprint is not exactly what most would admire.
Mark Putnam | 5 Comments | Posted: April 19, 2012
College students are devoted to service in great numbers. This is encouraging to educators who understand the power of service in the learning context. The challenge ahead is to encourage and enable students to move beyond the programs and structures of schools and colleges as they graduate, and make service a lifetime commitment.
Mark Putnam | 3 Comments | Posted: March 30, 2012
A mythology has grown up around international standardized test scores for math and reading. It’s an appealing historic narrative for Americans – one laced with nostalgia for the “halcyon days” of education. A time when we were number one in the world in education as measured by student performance on these tests. The problem – it’s not true.
Mark Putnam | 2 Comments | Posted: March 15, 2012
Education in the U.S. is a system of incredible scope and complexity. We have been trying to bake the “one-size-fits-all” education reform solution for nearly 50 years. Sometimes I wonder if there is a standard recipe used by state and federal governments for this purpose.
Mark Putnam | 10 Comments | Posted: February 14, 2012
We have a lot to consider about education in this country as our public policy choices have yielded less than stellar results for nearly 40 years. That’s a long time to be failing. At times like this I go back to a rather basic question: What are we trying to achieve?
Mark Putnam | 15 Comments | Posted: February 1, 2012
The curse of every generation is a loss of memory. The committee reports, task force results and plans of the past are too often overtaken by events and gradually drift from our collective consciousness. We look at the circumstances of today without any appreciation for the origins of what surrounds us.
Mark Putnam | 9 Comments | Posted: November 22, 2011
We are reminded as leaders of community-based organizations, educational institutions, communities of faith, businesses and corporations, and government agencies that our duty of care can never be compromised by self-interest. We pray for a world where the challenges of discrimination, abuse and other horrors do not exist. But when we encounter them, as leaders, we must respond firmly with decisiveness and compassion for victims.
Mark Putnam | 2 Comments | Posted: August 29, 2011
This motivates me to concentrate more on the world our students will encounter in the future and focus less on the world they are coming from today. I may live to see the year 2050, at which time I will be 90 years of age. Our 20-year-old students, however, will be at the peak of their leadership as family members, citizens and professionals. This is a global society I can only imagine, but one they will be responsible to lead at every level.
Mark Putnam | 7 Comments | Posted: May 3, 2011
I recently attended a luncheon with business leaders in Des Moines. The Honorable Thomas J. Vilsack, former Governor of Iowa and current United States Secretary of Agriculture, was our featured speaker. His remarks were particularly interesting to me since I am in the process of learning more about farming. While I think I understand the basics, I have been trying to appreciate the societal patterns and economic dynamics that accompany a region so influenced by agriculture. I have a long way to go, but Secretary Vilsack offered some helpful insights. His remarks focused largely on global economic trends and U.S. policy as it relates to issues of commerce, trade and energy. It was in the question and answer period, however, that I learned the most. One of our colleagues asked what we might anticipate in the development of the next “Farm Bill.”
I'm the lucky individual who carries the title, 21st president of Central College in Pella, Iowa. My wife Tammy and I have two beautiful daughters, Emma and Greta. Passionate about higher education and the issues facing it and the world today, I hope to invoke an engaging conversation with all who are ready to dig in, make a difference and build for the future. Share your thoughts. I'm listening and interested.
