George Kuh spent most of his career at Indiana University, where he retired as Chancellor’s Professor 16 years ago. He taught the first course I took in the IU Higher Education and Student Affairs master’s degree program. George remains one of the most productive, cited, accomplished and respected higher education researchers. Thousands of colleges and universities across the US and around the world have benefited from his scholarship—perhaps most notably the National Student Engagement Program.
Seeing what NSSE has become amazes me. It also inspired me to create the National Survey of College Campus Climates, a series of surveys that have been conducted on nearly two million students and staff over the past seven years. This is one of the many ways George’s unusual example has been an incredibly useful blueprint for my work. On this final day of his 70th year, I honor him by reflecting on a few other lessons and gifts he generously gave to higher education and me. I start from a place of shame.
Seeing Intelligence in Sleepy Students
When I came to Indiana, I had no idea that George was one of the biggest rock stars in our area. If I had known, I probably wouldn’t have slept in his class for weeks. My teammates still tease me about this. There is a chance that George saw an amazing talent in me, even when my eyes were closed. Sure, he was a terrible teacher—the problem wasn’t him, it was me.
On reflection, it doesn’t surprise me that a true student engagement expert understood the commonality and common sense of the challenges of a first semester school transition. Some professors see sleepless students as unimportant. Thankfully, George didn’t abandon me like this. When I later talked to him about being my mentor, he graciously agreed and gave me opportunities to express myself in a different way than I had in that first class. I think of him when I have kids who sleep in, come late and miss deadlines in my lessons. I extended to them the same kindness that was shown to me.
Fighting for the Challenge
In that first semester course, I ignored the instructions clearly stated in George’s syllabus. In one assignment, we were instructed to choose from a pre-selected sub-topic covered in the book and write an extended paper on one of them. I wrote about something that wasn’t on the list without asking permission from George or our teaching assistant. The erasure of Black colleges and universities from history really bothered me, so I wrote about that.
The TA brought it to me that this was not one of the options. I told him that this topic is more important to me than others. He informed me that he would have to talk to our professor about it. Both George and the TA read my paper. Despite my rebellion, they awarded me an A. More important than the grade was George’s written response to me. It was broad, powerful and convincing. I realized that wisdom is more important to him than obeying strict rules. Many strict professors give failing grades for ignoring instructions. Today, students in my classes benefit from what I learned from George about the importance of flexibility and a willingness to challenge without retaliation.
AI: Real Intelligence
Professor Kuh was my research chair. According to my experience in his classes and working with him on other projects, he changed the feedback about the draft of the research chapter in 24 hours. There were always many comments and helpful edits; no doubt he had read every word. The speed and quality of his response impressed me.
He’s been like that with email, too. Most of the messages I sent him received replies within minutes. For 23 years now my students have been eagerly waiting for this, but I keep failing miserably. In honor of George, I’ll keep trying. Another admirable thing is that George knows a lot about a wide range of higher education topics. This explains, at least in part, how he is able to respond more quickly to students, academics, journalists and others. I think of him as the predecessor to ChatGPT for our field—except that he’s rarely wrong and needs a few clarifying commands to deliver very useful guidance.
Everything, Everywhere, Everything At Once
George served as the 1996-97 president of the Association for the Study of Higher Education. I met him a year later; there was still noise about his successful presidency. I had no idea what ASHE was, but it was clear that being chosen to lead was a big deal. Little did I think at the time that I would be given the privilege to serve as president of ASHE 20 years after my mentor. I understood that it was not popularity alone that got him elected. George has served on a variety of ASHE volunteer positions and has presented numerous papers at its conferences.
I remember the first time I attended the ASHE annual meeting: My rock star professor’s name was all over the place. It happened again when I went to NASPA, ACPA, AERA and AAC&U conferences. Also when I read the articles he wrote and the articles of the journalists who quoted him Within Higher Ed, History of Higher Education and other media sources. When I read the lists of recipients of our forum’s most important awards and honors, his name is always there. He has consistently published in top peer-reviewed journals in writing About the campus, Change, Freedom Education, Trusteeship and other magazines read by thousands of doctors.
In addition to modeling what informal engagement looks like, George also taught me the importance of staying up to date with what’s happening on campus. Last I checked, he had interviewed with over 250 colleges and universities—certainly, that number is now much larger. He knows a lot about higher education because he has been all over the country for a long time studying and strengthening institutions. As an AI, the more it did this, the smarter it got.
Finally, George taught me the value of being at home. Despite frequent visits to campuses, conferences and important meetings, it was as if he was always there and available. Indiana University has benefited from his service as dean of the faculties, a campus-wide position. He has also served as the center director, department chair and associate dean of academic affairs at the IU School of Education. Senior management throughout the institution often visited him, and he served on several committees.
Most importantly, he always had time to meet with students and supervise dissertations. Because of his excellent example, I have consistently worked for the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Southern California in similar ways. Almost always saying yes to invitations to contribute to the home center is a healthy habit I learned from George.
On the eve of his 80th birthday, I publicly thank my teacher, role model and research chair for everything he has taught me. And on behalf of the entire field, I applaud Professor Kuh for all the ways he has strengthened colleges and universities.
