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Letters to Students

What It Means to Be a College Graduate

Drew Bogner and Robert Allyn Scott

Through a series of letters to college students, two former university presidents speak to the rich and varied purposes of college and how it prepares one to live a full and successful life.Letters to Students discusses the meaning of higher education for the individual and society, offering advice on navigating the college experience, on life and work, careers, the meaning of success, the role of creativity, leadership, citizenship, compassion, and leaving a legacy.

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 166 • Trim: 6¼ x 9½

978-1-4758-7372-6 • Hardback • July 2024 • $75.00 • (£58.00)

978-1-4758-7373-3 • Paperback • July 2024 • $32.00 • (£25.00)

978-1-4758-7374-0 • eBook • June 2024 • $30.50 • (£25.00)

Subjects: Education / Student Life & Student Affairs, Education / Higher, Education / Counseling / Academic Development

Letters to Students

What It Means to Be a College Graduate

Hardback

Paperback

eBook

Summary

Through a series of letters to college students, two former university presidents speak to the rich and varied purposes of college and how it prepares one to live a full and successful life.Letters to Students discusses the meaning of higher education for the individual and society, offering advice on navigating the college experience, on life and work, careers, the meaning of success, the role of creativity, leadership, citizenship, compassion, and leaving a legacy.

Details

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 166 • Trim: 6¼ x 9½

978-1-4758-7372-6 • Hardback • July 2024 • $75.00 • (£58.00)

978-1-4758-7373-3 • Paperback • July 2024 • $32.00 • (£25.00)

978-1-4758-7374-0 • eBook • June 2024 • $30.50 • (£25.00)

Subjects: Education / Student Life & Student Affairs, Education / Higher, Education / Counseling / Academic Development

Author

Dr. Drew Bogner is President Emeritus and Professor of Education at Molloy University where he served as President for 20 years. He earned a BS from Newman University where he served as Student Government President and later as a Professor, Dean, and Vice-President for Academic Affairs. Drew served in leadership roles with the NCAA and as Interim President of CICU, the advocacy group for New York private higher education. He holds a PhD from Kansas University.
Dr. Robert A. Scott is President Emeritus and Professor Emeritus of Adelphi University, where he served from 2000 to 2015. He is President Emeritus and Professor Emeritus of Ramapo College of New Jersey, where he served from 1985-2000. He earned his BA at Bucknell University, where he was active in student government, and his PhD at Cornell University, where he became a dean responsible for student advising. He is still in touch with former students at both institutions.

Table of Contents

Foreword
Acknowledgements
Preface
Introduction
1. Living a Life of Success
2. Getting the Most Out of College
3. Finding and Using Your Voice
4. Don't Listen!
5. What So Great About the Liberal Arts?
6. Syllabus for Your Life
7. How Do We Know What We Think We Know?
8. Let Your Life Speak.
9. How Should I Serve Others?
10. Who Do You Want to Be?
11. Trust Yourself!
12. Choices and Decisions
13. Why Diversity Matters
14. What You Say Matters
15. Being an Effective Leader
16. Developing Leadership Skills
17. Finding and Feeding your Creativity
18. Finding the Job of the Future
19. Preparing for Work, Not Just a Job
20. What is Your Real Job?
21. Voting is an Act of Choice
22. Thinking Globally, Acting Locally
23. Acting as a Guest on the Planet
24. Being a Pilgrim in Life Not a Tourist
25. Change is the Only Constant
26. Mentors Matter
27. Being a Connoisseur of Knowledge.
28. Being Good Not Great
29. The Gift of a College Degree
30. Navigating the Passage Through College
About the Authors

Reviews

“Bogner and Scott provide a unique perspective on the current debate questioning the value of higher education and affirm the value and positive outcomes of the collegiate experience. Letters to Students: What It Means to Be a College Graduate offers readers a refreshing perspective encouraging them to examine their values and explore how they can create meaningful and impactful lives as they pursue their academic and life goals. Every college student or graduate will be inspired by reading this book.”

— Marylou Yam, president of Notre Dame of Maryland University

“Letters to Students: What It Means to Be a College Graduate takes a fresh approach to advising current undergraduates, recent graduates, and their families about the personal goals that can be achieved through a successfully completed undergraduate experience. Bogner and Scott have almost fifty years of combined experience as successful and accomplished higher education leaders and they are well worth listening to regarding their observation that ‘a college degree is, at the most fundamental level, about becoming your best self, becoming much more than a person who does a particular job.’”

— Edward J. Ray, president emeritus of Oregon Sate University

I’ve recommended Letters to Students: What It Means to Be a College Graduate to a number of people at Cornell and elsewhere. Dr. Scott and Dr. Bogner complement each other nicely, and I admire how their voices remain distinct and distinctive, something essential in a book that celebrates and encourages young people to develop and honor their passions and intellect. From discussions of the practical—how to ask for help—to the ethical, this book is a welcomed primer. Yet most important for me is its high regard for an engaged citizenry: We are not isolates, and when we are we are in crisis. Letters to Students powerfully reminds us that we are interdependent, that our dreams are indissoluble from the dreams of others.

— Kenneth Anderson McClane Jr., W. E.B. DuBois professor of literature, emeritus, Cornell University

Letters to Students

What It Means to Be a College Graduate

Drew Bogner and Robert Allyn Scott

Letters to Students

What It Means to Be a College Graduate

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