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“We Don’t Want To Cheat.” Deep and Important Insights Great Students Have for their Profs

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Innovator in Residence, U of the Pacific. Photo Credit: Cathy Davidson

I’m just beginning my second week as “Innovator in Residence” at the truly remarkable and outstanding University of the Pacific in Stockton, CA, in northern California. It’s my second visit here and I’m more impressed every single day. It has the unique distinction of being the oldest university in California–175 years old. It’s a beautiful … “We Don’t Want To Cheat.” Deep and Important Insights Great Students Have for their Profs

Innovator in Residence

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"Innovator in Residence" University of the Pacific Photo by Cathy Davidson

Hey! I’m in the reflecting pond! It’s Day 3 at the University of the Pacific, where I have the delightful title “Innovator in Residence.” I’m inspired by the generosity, ingenuity, creativity, and good will of the marvelous students, faculty, staff, and administrators I’m meeting each day. We’re talking together about how to make change and … Innovator in Residence

Outside Higher Ed: A Podcast with Sara Custer, Editor-in-Chief at “Inside Higher Ed”

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The Sun Also Rises. Photo Credit: Cathy Davidson

This morning, while taking a glorious walk along the beach while the sun was rising above the ocean, I listened to Jody Greene and me talking with Inside Higher Education editor-in-chief Sara Custer about Faculties: A Dialogue on Inciting Constructive Change in Destructive Times. Sara hosts “The Key” podcast series. Our episode is #215: “How … Outside Higher Ed: A Podcast with Sara Custer, Editor-in-Chief at “Inside Higher Ed”

Leading Together: Creating Community Guidelines To Promote Institutional Change

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Runners preparing for a marathon in Brooklyn. Spring 2026. Photo credit: Cathy Davidson

Several years ago, when I was a relatively new Vice Provost for Interdisciplinary Studies at Duke University (our first VPIS there–and maybe anywhere), I helped faculty and administrators at the Fuqua School of Business create Duke Corporate Ed, a leadership and management program that combines research and practical experience. One of the Duke Board members, … Leading Together: Creating Community Guidelines To Promote Institutional Change

The Mamdani Method

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The Mamdani Method: 8 Steps to Constructive Change

People say academe will never change. But if NYC government can, so can we. Here are 8 tactics Mayor Mamdani uses–and that we academics can learn from. *** In Faculties: A Dialogue on Inciting Constructive Change in Destructive Times (forthcoming, Duke UP, Fall 2026), Jody Greene and I discuss the best strategies we’ve used ourselves … The Mamdani Method