Brooke Bailey
Reporter

Students, faculty and the Waco community are coming together this week to discuss higher education issues as part of the School of Education’s Distinguished Lecture Series.

The series will take place Thursday and Friday, and is free and open to the public.

Dr. Paul Lingenfelter, president of the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association, will lead the discussion both days.

Executive Vice President and Provost Dr. Elizabeth Davis will introduce Lingenfelter’s first lecture, “American Education Second to None: How Must We Change to Meet 21st Century Imperatives?” It will last from 4:30-6 p.m. Thursday in Bennett Auditorium.

The second part of the series, “A Conversation with Paul Lingenfelter About Changing Demands on Educators in the Community,” is scheduled for 8:30-10 a.m. Friday at the Community Auditorium, Education Service Center Region 12, located at 2101 W. Loop 340 in Waco.

The lecture series is designed for anyone interested in education issues affecting their community.

Dr. Jon Engelhardt, dean of the School of Education, expects a broad audience in attendance.

“We hope they will take away an appreciation for the challenges and the changes that education K-16 will be facing and will be needing to make,” Engelhardt said.

The K-16 movement centers on creating aligned policy for kindergarten through undergraduate studies.

Each semester the School of Education opens the Distinguished Lecture Series to the public for the discussion of issues in education.

“We asked him to speak because he has paid attention to the connection between K-12 education and higher education,” Engelhardt said.