A small globe

Matrix: The Magazine for Leaders in Education, June, 2000 by Bonnie L. Riedinger

"Thus have I made as it were a small globe of the intellectual world, as truly and faithfully as I could discover."

--Francis Bacon (1605)

In preparation for this first issue of Matrix, my staff and I have spent several months attending conferences and meeting education, technology, and business leaders.

From the classroom to the boardroom, there is change. Poets are teaching on the Web. Researchers are becoming entrepreneurs. Student discussions that once raged at the tables down at Mory's now sizzle through cyberspace.

Forces from within as well as out are changing higher education. There's virtual gridlock on the information highway as the exponential growth of new ideas, Web sites, and technology swamps our electronic and neural connectors. And technology is but one of the catalysts as the global economy, new student populations, workforce needs and attitudes about education stimulate college and university leaders to rethink their budgets, recruitment, staffing, and ultimately, their institutional vision.

What does it take to be a successful leader in this new environment? We like the definition of a college president offered by Stephen Trachtenberg, president of George Washington University, who says in a Matrix interview that a president must be a "broker, to bring things together, to liberate things, and get them to percolate."

That's also the role we see for Matrix. One of the definitions of "matrix"--the one we find most fitting--is a "network of intersections between input and output leads on a computer, functioning as an encoder or decoder." In this and future issues, we're building a network of resources, opinions, case studies, and analyses that will help meet the challenges of change.

Intersections are a vital part of this network. Though the 20th century saw increasing Balkanization of the disciplines, the gaping of the digital divide, and illiberal excesses from both right and left in politics, success in the 21st century will demand exchange of information and ideas from traditionally opposing camps.

Science and the arts, technology and teaching, and business and education have much to offer a savvy leader. But often, managers fumble through planning like the blindfolded characters in the folktale who were asked to identify an elephant after touching only one section. The first person could feel only the trunk and described the elephant as a snake. The second, who could touch only the tail, envisioned the elephant as a piece of rope, and so forth. Limited perspective produces limited answers.

Matrix will cover the spectrum of higher-education management--from the issues facing mammoth research universities to the concerns of small liberal-arts colleges, from proprietary institutions to community colleges, and from traditional brick and mortar to virtual universities. We'll also cover a range of perspectives, from the views of students and faculty within the campus walls to the political and economic forces pressing against the gates.

In this preview issue, our writers analyze the government's antitrust case against Microsoft and the possible implications for higher education; examine the annual controversy generated by college rankings; test drive new software that can help administrators try out risk-free planning scenarios; and discuss the growing importance of online tours for recruitment.

College presidents share their predictions for the future, Linda Roberts talks up technology, and the president of a small college in Michigan explains how his school revamped the curriculum in record time. Our regular departments feature news about technology, community activism, grants, funding, legislation, business partnerships promotions, awards, new programs, products, and projects, commentary, and Web site and book reviews.

By sharing resources and experience, news and views, we strive to provoke new ways of thinking about the higher-education mission, innovative strategies for change, and an ongoing dialogue about the serious business of leading a college.

As we develop Matrix, we invite you to share your ideas, comments, and critiques, and in so doing, help create a small globe of the higher-education world "as truly and faithfully" as we can.