Julia Schmalz

Julia Schmalz was a senior multimedia producer at The Chronicle of Higher Education. She started her career as a photojournalist for print journalism. Her storytelling evolved along with the news industry, embracing audio, photography, and video. Previously, she worked at USA Today, Bloomberg, and several community newspapers.

A native of western Massachusetts she received a bachelor’s degree in geography from Macalester College and a master’s in photography from the School of Visual Communication at Ohio University.

Stories by This Author

News

Pandemic Presents Special Challenge to 2-Year College Built on a Cohort Model

By Julia Schmalz April 14, 2020

Dougherty Family College, a new two-year division of Minnesota’s University of St. Thomas, was beginning to see positive outcomes among its enrollment of disadvantaged students. But social distancing may imperil that progress.

News

‘Do No Harm’: The Coronavirus Crisis Calls for Compassion, Say Faculty Members Sharing Advice

By Julia Schmalz March 27, 2020

Professors and administrators share the best pieces of advice they’ve received on dealing with change during the Covid-19 crisis.

News

As the Coronavirus Forces Faculty Online, It’s ‘Like Drinking Out of a Firehose’

By Julia Schmalz March 20, 2020

Four faculty members talk about the challenges and rewards following campus closures, saying goodbye to their students and finding them again online.

News

Students Often Glorify Stress. Here’s How One College Is Helping Them Ease It.

By Julia Schmalz March 3, 2020

Rather than talking about who is more overwhelmed, students are trying new resources to figure out — and share — what wellness means to them.

News

A Computer-Science Program Takes a Dramatic Approach to Getting Students to Open Up

By Julia Schmalz January 7, 2020

Traditional classes on giving presentations weren’t cutting it at Northeastern, so the dean of computer science turned to the theater department.

Admissions

‘Each Year Is a Full New Crop’: An Iowa College Prepares for Enrollment Change

By Julia Schmalz November 11, 2019

With a major tuition reset and a bold plan to visit every high school in the state, Central College believes it’s positioned well for predicted demographic challenges.

Town-Gown

A College Gives Back to the Town That Once Saved It

By Julia Schmalz September 11, 2019

Like many small American towns, Waterville, Me., has lost its biggest factories. Colby College, led by President David A. Greene, is trying to turn things around, investing big bucks and leading an initiative to save the milltown.

Student Research

A Race to Propel STEM Careers

By Julia Schmalz July 1, 2019

In an international competition like no other, students glide through the water in compact human-powered submarines that they’ve designed and built themselves.

News

How One State’s Colleges Are Helping African Asylum Seekers

By Julia Schmalz June 23, 2019

Institutions in Portland, Me., a city known for welcoming refugees, are on the front lines of an effort to help hundreds of them navigate the education system.

News

Foster Youth Face Extreme Barriers to College. Here’s One Program That’s Helping.

By Julia Schmalz April 26, 2019

About 20,000 young people age out of foster care every year. Great Expectations, a project at 21 Virginia community colleges, offers the support they desperately need.