In an interim top job for a year, whatâs on the agenda? ADVERTISEMENT [The Edge Logo]( Did someone forward you this newsletter? [Sign up free]( to receive your own copy. Iâm Goldie Blumenstyk, a senior writer at The Chronicle covering innovation in and around higher ed. This week I report on a state-higher-ed policy wonk turned interim president and share two updates on ideas Iâve been following. Oh, and hey: The Edge now [has a logo](. What do you think? [Let me know](mailto:goldie@chronicle.com). ADVERTISEMENT SUBSCRIBE TO THE CHRONICLE Enjoying the newsletter? [Subscribe today]( for unlimited access to essential news, analysis, and advice. A policy wonk in the presidentâs chair. Two months into an interim presidency at his alma mater, Adams State University, in southern Colorado, David Tandberg has already become well versed in the pleasures and pitfalls of leading a small, public regional college at this moment. âFor all of higher ed, itâs been a rough several years,â Tandberg noted. And for the 3,200-student institution, which has been further buffeted by two decades of short-term presidencies and more recently, drops in enrollment, itâs been especially challenging. âBringing a sense of empathy and optimism to campus is really important,â he told me this week. My conversation with Tandberg was the first of several I plan to hold with him over the next year, because Iâm curious to see how a policy wonk fares when facing the hard practicalities of running a college. Tandberg is serving as interim president on a one-year sabbatical from his regular gig as senior vice president for policy research and strategic initiatives at the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association, known as Sheeo. Judging by his Twitter feed â which has featured pictures of him [scootering through a hallway]( to his next meeting, [reconnecting with his former professors]( and thanking the college community for [welcoming him and his family]( â Tandberg is clearly finding the joy in the experience, though he told me if he were anywhere else, âthe trappings of the positionâ wouldnât make up for the difficulties. I wonder if his opinion will change over time, and thatâs one thing Iâll be sure to check in on. One of Tandbergâs first priorities â and apparent successes â is shoring up enrollment. Sheeo, of course, is widely known for its projections of changing student demographics and the related challenges for many colleges, especially in certain regions. âWe put student recruitment into overdrive,â Tandberg told me, hiring more staff members, better deploying social media, following up with students who had expressed casual interest, and beefing up outreach to high schools, including personal visits with principals by the president himself. The upshot: Enrollment still isnât where heâd like it to be, but those efforts helped cut the decline to 6 percent, from a projected 15 percent. âIt tells me that if we keep this up,â Tandberg said, bringing undergraduate enrollment back up to 2,500, from the current 1,700, in five years isnât far-fetched. It helps that Adams State has historically served Hispanic, low-income, and rural students who still populate the surrounding San Luis Valley. The enrollment success, however, also came with a lesson for Tandberg, a former professor at Florida State University and strong believer, he said, in shared governance and âthe centrality of the faculty.â Communication is key, he learned, even when the news is positive. He told me that over the summer, he failed to keep faculty members informed about the universityâs student-recruitment efforts, and many felt out of the loop when they got back to campus, even though the situation was fortunately less dire than they expected it to be. âGood and bad news â both are importantâ to share regularly, Tandberg said. Given his interim status, I wondered how actively he plans to push for changes. He has no intention of being a âplaceholderâ president, he said, but is also mindful of the risks of innovation fatigue. âWeâre trying not to pile on new things for the sake of new things,â he said. The focus will be on proven, bread-and-butter strategies to increase enrollment and retention, such as improving developmental education, forging more transfer and articulation agreements, and creating âsome really cool pathwaysâ to Adams State from local two-year colleges. At Sheeo, Tandberg wrote often about accountability, but heâs never been all that enamored of the calls to measure college value based on what students earn after they graduate, he said. Now that heâs at the helm of what he calls âa valley-serving institutionâ dedicated to producing the teachers, nurses, and public-health officials the region needs, heâs more convinced than ever that discussions over ROI need to be a lot more nuanced. For Adams State, he said, ROI means building connections to the community. Two months in the presidency have also started Tandberg thinking about projects he might work on back at Sheeo. One of them involves developing ways for state higher-education leaders to more intentionally tap into âthe collective wisdom of the presidents.â Updates on regional economies and income-share agreements. - A year ago,[I told you about a proposal]( from two Brookings economists for new federal investments in regional public colleges to stimulate economic development. While still far from reality, that idea may have moved a step closer with [the introduction of new bipartisan legislation](. - A few months ago, I [described some of the controversies surrounding income-share agreements.]( legislation applying consumer-protections laws to ISAs]( doesnât address bigger-picture questions about whoâs using them or why, but some observers say it could bring â[thoughtful, and much-needed regulations]( to govern them. ISA critics arenât sold. Got a tip youâd like to share or a question youâd like me to answer? Let me know, at goldie@chronicle.com. If you have been forwarded this newsletter and would like to see past issues, [find them here](. To receive your own copy, free, register [here](. If you want to follow me on Twitter, [@GoldieStandard]( is my handle. Goldieâs Weekly Picks RESEARCH [âA Historic Momentâ: New Guidance Requires Federally Funded Research to Be Open Access]( By Megan Zahneis [STORY IMAGE]( In a move hailed by open-access advocates, the White House on Thursday released guidance dictating that taxpayer-supported research be made freely and immediately available to the public. SPONSOR CONTENT | London Metropolitan University [The hidden costs of recruiting international students]( SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY [Students Say Room Scans During Online Tests Are Invasive. Now a Judge Agrees.]( By Taylor Swaak [STORY IMAGE]( The ruling, which found a Fourth Amendment violation, should prompt colleges to review their proctoring policies, legal experts said. 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