By Kelly Finzer On Wednesday, April 10th, Gina Gallagher, Dr. Burkhardt, and I joined with some outstanding high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors from Baldwin High School for dinner at Ann Arbor favorite, Pizza House.  These students were on a tour of nine colleges in Southeastern Michigan, gathering information and ideas about the different types [...]

By John Burkhardt Last week I was in Fort Worth, Texas visiting with an individual who has directed some of his wealth to support colleges and university students in their efforts to learn about the role of philanthropy in U.S. society.  His foundation has provided $100,000 to allow UM students in our ED 769 class [...]

By Betty Overton-Adkins, Ph.D., Clinical Professor of Higher Education About three months ago I arrived at the National Forum on Higher Education for the Public Good to assume a leadership role in partnership with John Burkhardt and a talented team of student-scholars and leaders.  While I have been connected to the Forum in many ways [...]

We would like to extend our deepest appreciation to our funders, and their continued generosity and support of our work. Below is a list of our previous funders. For more information on specific funded projects, please visit our Funded Projects page. To view our current funders, visit the Current Funding Partners page. Previous Funders American College Personnel Association [...]

By Nabih Haddad Economic globalization has caused a fracturing of regulatory ascendency, furthering the tensions between public and private governance at the local, regional, and international levels. This result of globalization has produced an atmosphere where transnational actors can now operate beyond the scope of any one regulatory environment (Backer, 2010; Ruggie, 2007).  In response, [...]

In August of 2011, the National Forum was approached by the Once Upon a Time Foundation from Fort Worth, Texas about an incredible opportunity.  The organization expressed interest in giving real-world philanthropic experience to the students of Dr. John Burkhardt’s, Philanthropy and Higher Education graduate course.  The Once Upon a Time Foundation believes offering courses [...]

My name is Alexandra Goltz and I am currently a senior at the University of Michigan.  I am a dual-major in Communications and Sociology, and until almost a year ago, I was uncertain about how I could connect my two areas of study.  Here at the National Forum, I have had the great opportunity to [...]

We are a people of the story.  As long as humans have been being, we have used stories to communicate our history, our experiences, and our hopes and dreams.  From cave drawings to the Jewish oral tradition to 140-character tweets — homo sapiens has always been fascinated by the power of story. It is not [...]

For the last year, Raquel Welch-Johnson has been the National Forum’s Americorps member working in the Brightmoor neighborhood of Detroit.  Raquel has been working on numerous projects to build a college-going culture.  As Raquel completes her Americorps service, she says that leaving is bitter-sweet.  “It’s hard to believe that the year is already over.” At Youthquake, a neighborhood block-party [...]

It is with great honor and enthusiasm that the National Forum welcomes its new Associate Director, Betty Overton-Adkins, Ph.D.  Dr. Overton-Adkins comes to us from Spring Arbor University, where she served as Provost of all academic affairs for a decade.  According to the National Forum Director, Dr. John Burkhardt, “Over two years ago I asked [...]