How We Got Here: Contextualizing the Narratives

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Author(s): Janet Acker (The State University of New York at Plattsburgh, USA)and Denise Simard (The State University of New York at Plattsburgh, USA)
Copyright: 2026
Pages: 18
Source title: Narratives of Upheaval in Higher Education
Source Author(s)/Editor(s): Denise Simard (The State University of New York at Plattsburgh, USA)and Janet Acker (The State University of New York at Plattsburgh, USA)
DOI: 10.4018/979-8-3373-2063-2.ch001

Keywords: Educational Leadership & Administration / Higher Education / Information Science Reference / Knowledge Management and Library Science

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Abstract

This chapter examines the evolving crisis in U.S. higher education, tracing its historical, structural, and economic roots. Rising tuition, declining enrollments, DEI challenges, faculty precarity, and student mental health struggles have been magnified by COVID-19, exposing deep vulnerabilities. Institutions face pressures to innovate while navigating political, financial, and demographic headwinds. This chapter argues that while data and policy analyses provide important context, the personal narratives of students, faculty, staff, and leaders living through institutional upheaval offer crucial insights. Their stories, which follow in the book, reveal the human impacts of closures, financial strain, identity loss, reinvention, and resilience. By foregrounding these experiences, the chapter invites readers to engage in reflection and critical conversations about what is at stake, what has been lost, and what possibilities for renewal might emerge in a rapidly shifting educational landscape.

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