Transfer, Articulation, and the Faculty

Ensuring the value of community college credits is transferrable is a core issue that is managed (or not) differently in various parts of the US. The SUNY system is engaged in a planning process that engages the faculty in solving the problems. The preceding link is to an Inside Higher Ed article by David Moltz. You can see the committee's recommendations here (PDF).Community colleges have complained for years that their graduates get the run-around when they try to transfer credits to four-year institutions. The State University of New York, a 64-campus system with two-year and four-year campuses, thinks it has a way to solve the problem: putting the faculty in charge.Two weeks ago, the Special Joint Committee on Transfer and Articulation – whose members include representatives from the system’s administration, Faculty Senate and Faculty Council of Community Colleges –delivered a set of policy recommendations to Nancy Zimpher, new SUNY chancellor. The stated goal of the committee’s work “is to enable students to transfer seamlessly among SUNY campuses without replicating courses taken at other SUNY institutions.”

Spinning Straw Into Gold (at Community Colleges)

Nice - definitely worth a read before it goes behind password protection(!) - Business Officer article by Reagan Romall about how community colleges are innovating, changing, and leveraging existing products and services into better ones, that make more money, too.“

We need to diversify our revenue base. Any business that doesn't do this won't survive,” says Larry Eisenberg, executive director, facilities planning and development, for the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD). “Fortunately, there are lots of opportunities out there that make sense, have low impact on existing resources, and are relatively lucrative.”

AND

As in the rest of Florida, budget cuts keep Polk State College, Winter Haven, seeking solutions to counter the crunch. Peter Elliott, vice president, administration and chief financial officer, says the college has experienced a 10 percent cut in state funding since 2006. That has not discouraged the college's leaders, says Elliott. He sees “hope on a daily basis” when he walks the campus and visits with students and staff. “You have to focus on what's important and talk with people. They have good ideas,” he says.

In fact, seeking ideas from the community has helped Polk State generate substantial funds. Conversations with a local corporate training advisory board, the board of trustees, and local community groups have all yielded revenue-generating ideas. “Being engaged in the community around us has been quite productive,” says Elliott.

Further, he says, “Crisis makes you focus on the central thing your college does; it makes you focus on teaching and learning.” By doing that, Polk State College has come up with some effective ideas to expand the reach of its learning programs to its financial advantage.

Issues Related to Law School Cost and Access

So, law school tuition just goes up and up. Why? View a Chronicle report by Eric Kelderman (the quote below is from the Chronicle) and the full GAO report here (PDF).

Critics have sometimes blamed the accreditation standards of the American Bar Association for driving up the cost of law school and making it more difficult for students of color to be admitted to those programs.

But a report released on Monday by the Government Accountability Office says that most law schools surveyed instead blamed competition for better rankings and a more hands-on approach to educating students for the increased price of a law degree. In addition, the federal watchdog agency reported that, over all, minorities are making up a larger share of law-school enrollments than in the past, although the percentage of African-American students in those programs is shrinking. The GAO attributed that decrease to lower undergraduate grade-point averages and scores on law-school admissions tests.

Recent Posts on the Buildings & Grounds Blog

Keeping up with Lawrence Biemiller and Scott Carlson (and guest bloggers who are frequently also SCUPers) can be tough. SCUPer Rives Taylor of Genzler is currently guest blogging. His posts include:

• You Can’t Sustain if You Don’t Maintain
• The Campus as Teaching Tool, and Lever
• A 3-Step Approach to Programming Your New Building

Here's a partial listing of some other fairly recent posts there:

• Yale's 'Best Doomed Building' Awaits Its Fate
• Shop Talk: Oklahoma City Community College Replaces Signature Red Roof (left; Oklahoma City Community College image); American U. in Cairo Opens New Campus in the Desert; New Texas A&M Building Dedicated to Arts And Humanities Is Announced Street Crossing Ball State U. Campus Will Get (Needed) Make-Over
• Shop Talk: SUNY Institute of Technology Begins Work on $20-Million Field House (left; SUNYIT image); Universities Look to Keep Event Rooms Full as Meeting Business Declines; Indiana U. School of Medicine at Fort Wayne Will Dedicate New Building Friday; Opponents Protest Destruction of 16 Trees at Northern New Mexico College
• Princeton Renovates Whig Hall, a Modernist Landmark That Dates to the 1890s
• Shop Talk: Developer Seeks to Add Condos in Old Marymount College Building (Left: Marymount College in an undated postcard view; the college closed in 1989); Williston State College Breaks Ground for Career and Technical Education Building; Bradley U. Plans $22-Million Expansion of Its 2nd-Oldest Building; In Campus Apartments, U. of Richmond Students Complain of Leaks and Mildew
• U. of Delaware Makes Deal to Purchase Chrysler Plant on 272 Acres

Going Green With Campus IT

EDUCAUSE is on board with "green," and the latest issue of EDUCAUSE Quarterly is chock full of useful information about how IT can both support and be "greener" than it has been. The following is this issue's Table of Contents and you can access all of the articles here:

• Greening Technology in UK Education
• Green Desktop Computing at the University of Oxford
• Powering Down From the Bottom Up: Greener Client Computing
• Bottom Up and Top Down: Making IT a Key Part of the Campus Sustainability Effort
• Green IT Best Practices at the University of Michigan
• Sustainable Technology at WPI
• Renewed Innovation: It's Role in the Sustainability Efforts of Lourdes College
• Three Approaches to Green Computing on Campus
• Asset Management and Sustainability at the University of Richmond
• Video Tutorials: A Sustainable Method for Campus Technology Training

A “Greener” Student Move-Out

If you start planning now, you can organize a "green" move-out on your campus this spring - and your students will depart (forever, or just for the summer) with strong memories of being green. Writing in University Business magazine, Daniel H. Weiss, president of Lafayette College (PA) offers some practical advice on how to move your move-outs toward being more green:

Six local charities benefited, including a homeless shelter, a food pantry, and an animal shelter. This “green move-out” helped our neighbors and promoted positive town-gown relations—as well as saved us the costs of hauling these good items away as trash.

Lafayette junior Andrew Carlins says he “was inspired because the project seems like such a simple way to have a large positive impact. There just aren’t many greater opportunities for collecting donations than when students are moving out of college.” Senior Max Bass notes that the majority of donated items “were in extremely good condition.”

Q&A With Bill Flores, President of the University of Houston, Downtown

Bill Flores is president of the University of Houston, Downtown, and formerly president of the Federal Reserve Bank as well as provost and executive vice president of New Mexico State University. He was recently named one of the 100 most influential Hispanic leaders in the US. Jefff Wendt of Today's Campus (formerly The Greentree Gazette) provides this brief interview with Flores:

We are preparing tomorrow’s leaders, so we must continue to plan convenient schedules and online delivery methods that fit into modern lives. We will expand our offerings to serve a broader spectrum of the population. We expect to add more dual-credit offerings for high school juniors and seniors. We will serve more adults entering second and third careers. And we will continue to add degree programs that meet workforce demands in Houston.

AASHE Sustainability Discussion Forums Launched

AASHE has launched a suite of campus sustainability discussion forums covering topics in education and research; campus operations; and campus planning, engagement, and administration. Anyone with an interest in learning about or contributing to the growing body of knowledge on campus sustainability may participate in the forums. The aim is to provide a central place for sharing ideas and best practices and asking and answering questions. Contributors are expected to be largely North American, but the forums are open to all. The forum topics parallel the 17 sub-categories in AASHE's Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (STARS), released in September (STARS v.1.0 Early Release). The 17 topics are: co-curricular education, curriculum, research, buildings, climate, dining services, energy, grounds, purchasing, transportation, water, waste, coordination and planning, diversity and affordability, human resources, investment, and public engagement.

To LEED or Not to LEED?

Peter Bardaglio, one of three SCUP/HEASC Sustainability Fellows, writes in Today's Campus about "To LEED or Not to LEED:

A growing body of research suggests that the occupants of LEED certified buildings experience a higher satisfaction level, better health, and improved personal productivity. A 2003 study by the Federal Energy Management Program, for example, found that such buildings resulted in productivity increases of 6 percent to 16 percent.

What about the impact of green buildings on student learning? Few studies have as yet been reported in higher education. K–12 findings suggest substantial positive benefits. Turner Construction released a 2005 survey of 665 school construction executives. Of those involved with green schools, more than 70 percent reported that these new facilities reduced student absenteeism and improved student performance.

This is Clearly a Time of Uncertainty

From Goldie Blumenstyck writing in The Chronicle of Higher Education (requires subscription or other paid access):

"In [a] survey sent to chief finance officers at four-year colleges in September, 62 percent of the respondents said they did not think the worst of the financial pressures on their institutions had passed. Nearly two-thirds of them worry that 2010, 2011, or 2012 or later, will be even tougher."

Is it good or is it bad that Moody's thinks higher education is solid? "It's important to remember that this is an industry that has been in a golden era for a decade or more," says John C. Nelson, managing director for the Moody's group that evaluates colleges' creditworthiness. "It shows how just fundamentally stable the business model of the university is. They can absorb a lot."

Some say that "[t]ere is not really a crisis for public universities." And the number of private institutions which rely heavily on hard hit endowments is only about 100. However, Moody's expected the decline in net-tuition revenue for the 09-10 academic year to be the biggest for private colleges since the late 1980s.

Measure, Measure, Measure . . . Then What?

Scott Jaschick of Inside Higher Ed recently spent some time listening to folks heavily engaged in various assessment activities. He writes here about NSSE, National Survey of Student Engagement, and here about a report from the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA).

• NSSE
• NILOA

The latter study found that the top use of assessment data is, no surprise, for another form of assessment: accreditation. The NSSE folks and the NILOA folks, according to Jaschik, each would like to see more use of assessment data in order to effect change. The Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education finds success can be had by using NSSE assessment data to effect change. The NILOA report, which can be found in its entirety here, breaks down assessment data in a number of use type categories and in a number of institutional categories.

NSSE

NILOA

MANAGING ONLINE EDUCATION: The 2009 WCET-Campus Computing Project Survey of Online Education (22 Oct 2009)

This survey contains more than can be summarized here, but you should go download the executive summary and possibly watch the archived webcast. The bottom line is that online education programs are marked by:

• Rising Enrollments,
• Unsure Profits,
• Organizational Transitions, and
• Higher Fees, and Tech Training for Faculty

The full abstract for the survey report is:

Enrollments are up and rising, profits are often uncertain, and organizational arrangements are in transition according to a new national survey of senior campus officials responsible for managing online and distance education programs conducted by WCET and The Campus Computing Project. Additionally, the new survey data suggest that students enrolled in online programs may pay higher fees than their on-campus counterparts, that many campuses have mandatory training on their faculty before sending them “into the web” to teach online courses, and that quality still looms as a large question for online education programs.

Three questions about enrollments indicate that campuses participating in the survey have experienced healthy gains in good economic times and bad – and that campus officials expect enrollments in their online programs to continue to rise in the coming years. Fully 94 percent of the survey respondents – typically the senior campus officer responsible for online or distance education programs – report enrollment gains in their online programs between 2006 and 2009; almost half (48 percent) report online enrollments rose by 15 percent or more during this period. Similarly, asked about past year numbers (fall 2008 vs. fall 2009), 95 percent report rising enrollment in their online programs; almost two-fifths (38 percent) report a one-year gain in online enrollments of 15 percent or better. Finally, when asked to project enrollments in their online programs over the next three years (2009-2011), 98 percent of the institutions participating in the survey affirm enrollment gains: almost half (47 percent) expect online enrollments grow by 15 percent or more over the next three years.

For more information, please download the accompanying PDF copy of the executive summary and the handout from the WCET Conference presentation on October 22nd. Also available below is the video webcast of the WCET conference presentation.

Is a Virtual Revolution Brewing for Colleges?

This author posits a drastically changed higher education future, by analogizing to the recent history of newspapers.

When this happens -- be it in 10 years or 20 -- we will see a structural disintegration in the academy akin to that in newspapers now. The typical 2030 faculty will likely be a collection of adjuncts alone in their apartments, using recycled syllabuses and administering multiple-choice tests from afar.

Not all colleges will be similarly affected. Like the New York Times, the elite schools play a unique role in our society, and so they can probably persist with elements of their old revenue model longer than their lesser-known competitors. Schools with state funding will be as immune as their budgets. But within the next 40 years, the majority of brick-and-mortar universities will probably find partnerships with other kinds of services, or close their doors.

Another New Building by a Dead Architect?

Lawrence Biemiller of The Chronicle of Higher Education is a graduate of Franklin & Marshall College and he's not happy that there's another new building on that campus designed by an architect who's ben dead since 1938. (Sort of.) His post has stimulated a nice discussion on the Chronicle's Buildings & Grounds Blog:

There's no question that Franklin & Marshall has an attractive campus. Many of the buildings are appealing, and the ones that aren't—mostly on the residential quadrangle—are at least well landscaped. Klauder and his imitators get a fair portion of the credit for everything I like about the place. What nags at me, though, is the sense that the college is entrenching itself in the architectural past. The only truly modern building on the campus—the College Center, by Minoru Yamasaki—was completed just before my freshman year, and that was 1976. No academic department at a college of Franklin & Marshall's calibre would think of cutting itself off from advances in its field the way the college has cut itself off from advances in architecture.

Classroom and Technology Design and Construction Minimum Requirements

We found this 48-page PDF resource at the National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities (NCEF): "Presents minimal considerations for design and construction of all Pennsylvania State University classrooms/seminar/lecture halls, conference and meeting spaces being designed or planned for new or remodeled work. The guidelines are organized by Masterformat sections and cover quality requirements, openings, finishes, specialties, equipment, furnishings, systems, lighting, communication, safety and security, and commissioning."

Trends in Global Higher Education: Tracking an Academic Revolution

This report (PDF) was prepared by Phillip G. Altbach, Liz Reisberg, and Laura Rumbley for the UNESCO 2009 World Conference on Higher Education, July 2009. It's a 250-page monster of a PDF, downloadable for free. We urge you to consider the Executive Summary a must-read document for a great analytical background on global higher education trends.

Much of this report is concerned with the ways in which higher education has responded to the challenge of massification. The "logic" of massification is inevitable and includes greater social mobility for a growing segment of the population, new patterns of funding higher education, increasingly diversified higher education systems in most countries, generally an overall lowering of academic standards, and other tendencies. Like many of the trends addressed in this report, while massification is not a new phase, at this "deeper stage" of ongoing revolution in higher education it must be considered in different ways. At the first stage, higher education systems struggled just to cope with demand, the need for expanded infrastructure and a larger teaching corps. During the past decade systems have begun to wrestle with the implications of diversity and to consider which subgroups are still not being included and appropriately served.

Building a Learning University: Creating a Community of Purpose With Educators and Stakeholder Groups

This is an unexpectedly deep Learning Abstract that we found on the website of the League for Innovation in the Community College. Written by Tony Gurr, it begins:

The type of university needed for the new age of higher education will have to engage in a continuous process of self-review and refocusing over its lifetime. This will require systematic and purposeful processes of strategic planning that draw on the active participation of a broad range of stakeholders who, in their work together, align the institution’s policies, processes, and practices to make them more responsive to the changing needs of students.

Before this, however, the university needs to commit to a core purpose centred on student learning and what this means to how it does business. How do we get to this purpose? Surely, developing an innovative mission statement, hiring the best practitioners money can buy, and mimicking best practices should do the job for us.

Sadly, it does not.

The ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2009—Key Findings

ECAR studies are proprietary, but the executive summaries are often (as is this one) useful on their own. If you are at a subscribing institution (Check, you might be surprised.) then you may be able to download this entire report.

Like the clothes in their suitcases, the technologies students bring to campus change every year. Occasionally, the change can be dramatic. It’s hard to believe, but when the college seniors we surveyed for this year’s study began their education four years ago, netbooks, iPhones, and the Nintendo Wii had yet to hit the market. When they went home for the holidays during their freshman year, some returned with a brand new game called Guitar Hero for the PlayStation 2, and some may have been lucky enough to score a $250 4-GB iPod nano or an ultrathin digital camera. Today’s freshmen have mobile phones that hold more songs than that 4-GB nano, and they can use them to take digital photos and videos of the same quality as the $400 camera today’s seniors got for their high school graduation.

The same forces of change apply to what college students are doing with their technology. Their written language has adapted to the technology of text messages and 140-character “tweets,” and Andy Warhol’s famous prediction about everyone eventually having 15 minutes of fame is being proved by the proliferation of social networking and YouTube. In fact, the pervasive uploading of content to blogs, video sites, wikis, and personal Facebook and MySpace pages suggests that “15 megabytes of fame” may be a more appropriate prophecy.

Universities for Cities and Regions: Lessons From the OECD Reviews

The OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) does a lot of interesting research, often focused narrowly on Europe. For example, with regard to higher education and local and regional development, it has found that:

Regions can, with the help of their colleges and universities, play a key role not only in the development of national but also local and regional innovation systems. But much more needs to be done to take full advantage of higher education in regional and city development. It is becoming clear, for instance, that imitation and adaptation are no longer sufficient strategies in this kind of work. Unique advantages have to be constructed, and they have to be built on innovation. Universities and colleges can and should play a proactive role in providing the ideas and strategies to fuel that innovation.

According to this report from Barbara Ischinger and Jaana Puukka, in Change magazine, the OECD Reviews that led to that understanding are being repeated in many more countries, including two parts of the United States. This is probably something to be watching for more information about.

The New Guys in Assessment Town: Companies

Pat Hutchings, writing in Change magazine, broadly explores the new world of for-profit consultants and technology teams.

[T]here’s a new kind of help on the way, from outside the institution. Of course many campuses have engaged external consultants to jumpstart the assessment process; that’s not new. And neither is the use of tests and instruments designed by others. What’s new is an influx of for-profit assessment providers offering tools and services that promise, variously, to make assessment easier, faster, less intrusive, more useful, and/or more cost effective.

Some of these firms were founded in the last two or three years and are just getting started. Others have a longer, already prosperous history of work in other aspects of education (like course management) and are now moving into the assessment niche. A few have their roots in other industries—like quality assurance in health care—and have recently added student assessment to the mix. Some are run by academics or former academics and some by people with a corporate background.

College Cutbacks Make it Harder to Earn Degrees

It's not just that students are having trouble getting loans or finding money to live off of while matriculating, it's that campus cut-backs have eliminated their access to the courses they need to take in order to complete their degrees:

"They will not graduate on time. I hope they will graduate at all," said David Baggins, who as chairman of political science at Cal State University-East Bay has been bombarded with requests for spots in already packed classes.

"Before," Baggins said, "there was always a way to help the student who really needed help." This year, "all I can do is say no."

Some students struggle for places in the core entry-level classes such as composition and math because the part-time instructors who typically teach those courses are the first to be laid off in tough times. Other students are shut out of crowded core courses in their majors by upperclassmen. Some upperclassmen face an even tougher road: The upper-level classes they need have been cut entirely because they aren't popular enough.

Iraqi Campus Is Under Gang’s Sway

Imagine working at an institution with the kinds of problems the staff at Mustansiriya University (Iraq) are coping with. A violent gang of students, with support from faculty and campus security:

Although Baghdad and most other areas of the country are now generally free of the armed militias that caused much of the violence during Iraq’s sectarian warfare, Mustansiriya seems a remnant of that chaos. It is under the sway of an armed group of violent Shiite students in engineering, literature, law and other disciplines; faculty members; and campus security guards.

[P]rofessors and administrators at the school solemnly give the names of colleagues and students who were threatened by the group before being found dead: Jasim al-Fahaidawi, a professor of Arabic literature, shot dead at the university’s entrance in 2005; Najeb al-Salihi, a psychology professor, kidnapped in 2006 near the campus and found in the morgue three weeks later, shot to death; and Jasim Fiadh al-Shammari, a psychology professor fatally shot near the university, also in 2006.

Academics Under Siege

Stanley Fish thinks that a corner has been turned and there is no going back on public anmus for academia. Interesting how this plays out, in light of this being the first time in history when both the American president and vice-president and both their spouses are academics. (Which he does not mention.)

But I fear that no defense of academic practices, however nuanced and moderate, will be successful because, on the evidence of the comments, the anti-academic animus that depresses Thomas Zaslavsky is deep and pervasive. There is a general sense that academics have cushy jobs they don’t even perform, that they inhabit a wonderland of “privileged sleaze” and display an “overweening sense of entitlement” (Victor Edwards). dan1138 speaks for many when he proclaims, “We simply don’t need a cosseted privileged class able to demand lifetime job security in exchange for some hypothetical intellectual function.” They just don’t believe that the yield of maintaining us in a protected enclave is worth the enormous cost.

What Do They (the Public) Want From Us?

Kevin P. Reilly, president of the University of Wisconsin System since 2004, suggests that we all need to take the question "What do they (public) want from us," more seriously:

Taken together, the four pillars of better preparation, more graduates,more research, and better dissemination and commercialization constitute my “More Better” prescription for American higher education to address our society’s most pressing challenges.

The two pillars in the middle are at the traditional core of higher education’s mission. Educating and credentialing our students, and carrying out cutting-edge research, define who we are. On either side of these central functions stand two others that we have not embraced as fully as we now must. What we do to shore up the two “bookend” pillars – preparing youth for postsecondary achievement and leveraging the results of our research – will increasingly define our success as 21st century institutions of higher learning.

Intellectual Transformation and Budgetary Savings Through Academic Reorganization

Using Arizona State University as an exemplar, these authors examine what can be done to impact the entire institution through academic reorganization:

When times are good, there is little urgency to evaluate fundamental assumptions, as investments can be made in new projects and structures while the old continue. Constrained resources do not allow this luxury. The current economic crisis and associated budget woes in universities requires us to be open to more radical and rapid change than we are used to. What follows is a description of a method to transform the academic organization of the university to fit the current mode of intellectual inquiry—which is broader, more individualistic, and more interdisciplinary than previous modes—and at the same time to conserve university resources.

A Prescription for the Emerging World: The Global Potential of the Community College Model

Maybe what the world news now is more community-college like institutions in developing countries. These authors make an argument:

For a developing country, a community college system could offer a model of higher education that provides flexibility in terms of curriculum and training and is at the same time deeply tied to the specific character and needs of the local economy. The development of multiple sites within a country rather than the promotion of a single “great university” provides a nodal structure that is inherently more capable of innovation and rapid response to community need . . . [I]f countries are willing to adopt and adapt a community college-like system, there is the potential for greater positive outcomes than just a larger proportion of a country’s citizens educated to higher levels. One is the opportunity to reform existing power structures in such a way as to encourage a greater democratic impulse throughout the world.

Liberal Education and Undergraduate Public Health Majors: Surveying the Landscape

Who knew there was a growing interest in undergraduate education in public health?

There is a high level of interest, commitment, and activity among nearly all surveyed institutions in defining learning outcomes either in majors, in general education, or in both. However, when we put those outcomes into the context of public health, senior academic administrators have not identified the specific health outcomes as important to their overall efforts. Well-designed undergraduate public health programs are ideally suited to align with essential learning outcomes of liberal education, but the connections are not yet clear to many of those who are driving the movement for curricular reform. This alignment, especially at institutions where the public health elements are not gathered in a program, requires intentional efforts to match outcomes and designs.

The Religious Studies Major and Liberal Education

We recently ran across this excellent article by the American Academy of Religion, published recently in the Association of American Colleges & Universities' Liberal Education magazine:

"Clearly, the field of religious studies now finds itself at a pivotal moment. An unprecedented confluence of world events, public perceptions, and educational insights has created exciting possibilities for the growth and re-imagining of the field - possibilities that were unthinkable even a decade ago. The current moment presents important opportunities for the academic study of religion—and poses a series of challenges. How we, as scholars of religion, respond to these challenges may well have much to say about the future of the discipline—not to mention the future of American public literacy about a broad range of religious phenomena.

Establishing a Veteran-Friendly Campus

This brief article from Business Officer+ is a mini-case study about Youngstown State University, which established a formal Office of Veterans' Affairs aimed at recruitment of veterans who have the new GI Bill:

The challenge in recruiting veterans is that they are not gathered in great numbers in one place as are high school students, office professionals, or displaced workers seeking to retrain. What veterans do have, however, is a strong word-of-mouth network and family connections looking out for them. These realities are the basis for YSU's recruiting strategies.

Frank Lloyd Wright School Is Going Back to Nature, by Design

An interesting side story bringing together architectural design and sustainability in an unexpected way:

Farming is a little-known part of Wright's life . . . 'Organic architecture and its context in the environment and Wright's personal roots in Wisconsin is a story that's not been documented yet,' said Daniel Marquardt, chairman of the board of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation . . . Wright founded the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture 20 years after he built Taliesin to teach his theories and organic practices.

***

Wright believed his sustainably designed buildings should be in harmony with their surroundings. His practical ideas about self-sufficiency, rooted in lean times on the farm, are gaining more attention now that sustainable agriculture is in vogue, said Victor Sidy, dean of the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture on the Taliesin estate.

Today, architecture students volunteer to tend the original apple orchard and grapevines placed there by Wright. Students also continue Wright's traditions by growing vegetables in a garden near the school for use in their daily meals. The 33 students are required to help in the school kitchen as part of a collegial tradition.

It's the Learning, Stupid: Learning Matters Most!

This is the Howard R. Bowen Lecture given by Lumina Foundation president Jamie P. Merisotis at Claremont Graduate University on October 14:

Learning doesn't just matter. It matters most . . . All of these efforts, and others that I lack time to mention today, are rooted in and serve to amplify two basic truths: The first is that learning - all types of learning - can be objectively measured. And the second is that these measurements are absolutely vital in ensuring the relevance and value of a college credential.

The New Jersey Coastal Communiversity: Access through Partnerships

SCUP leader Arnie Gelfman, of Brookdale Community College, has been telling us about the New Jersey Coastal Communiversity for some time. Now we can learn more by reading this article:

The New Jersey Coastal Communiversity, led by Brookdale Community College, is a partnership of colleges and universities that provides local access to postassociate degree education. In operation for six years, the partnership exemplifies the strength of a collaborative model of higher education institutions to address statewide needs. Alan Deutschman's research on organizational change (Deutschman, 2007) posits that the three factors of a successful change process are Relationships, Repeating, and Reframing, from which a threatening Change or Die challenge can be transformed into a Change and Thrive scenario. The Communiversity received the 2008 Bellwether Award in the area of Planning, Governance, and Finance. This article presents the development of the Communiversity through the Change or Die framework with a focus on planning, governance, finance, outcomes and lessons learned.

Missions, Values, and 'Flying Monkeys': Critical Issues for Community Colleges Today and in 2019

This very interesting article is from The Community College Journal of Research and Practice. The abstract is sufficient description:

A focus group (N=36) consisting of board of trustee members, community college presidents, senior administrators, administrators, and faculty members from community colleges around the United States developed the top six critical issues faced with respect to instructional planning and services; planning, governance, and finance; and workforce development. Thereafter, the delegation of more than 100 voted on various aspects of these issues. The findings detail a shift away from pragmatic problems or opportunities of today, such as K–20 alignment, retention, and sustainability, to more life-long learning, globalization, and focus upon innovation and partnerships.

Colleges Map Hazy Routes to Limiting Emissions

Scott Carlson, who is the main writer covering sustainability for the Chronicle, reported recently on the first deadline for submitting climate action plans, by signatories to the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC). His reporting includes brief vignettes of some of the campus plans.

For many colleges, reaching the lofty goal of climate neutrality is less important than other benefits the process yields. Ms. Nelson, of Second Nature, says that colleges in the climate commitment are prepared for mandatory restrictions in greenhouse-gas emissions, a possibility that has generated buzz recently in Washington. "You're changing the culture around energy consumption," she says, "so when legislation comes down, you're ahead of the curve."

Mr. Henry, of Richland College, says signing the commitment and now preparing a plan has helped change attitudes at his campus—and helped push projects that save money: "You don't know what kind of creativity and resources and colleagues are there until you need them."

The Greening of Catholic Colleges and Universities: Saving Today’s Congregation and Tomorrow’s Planet

We knew, even before a year ago, when the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) joined HEASC, that the faith community had an important role to play in sustainability. This recent article in University Business magazine by James Martin and James E. Samels, provides a brief tour of several Catholic campuses deeply engaged with campus sustainability:

From Maine to California and Indiana to Wisconsin, Catholic colleges and universities are going green in campus dorms, classrooms, and labs. Beyond campus boundaries they are protecting the habitat, managing natural resources and improving the quality of life for those in the congregation and the community. Remarkably, there is a wonderful irony among this new breed of green Catholic colleges and universities – regenerating themselves by conserving nature, sharing, and protecting the delicate balance of campus and global ecosystems.

Book - Wannabe U: Inside the Corporate University

After six years of research, a socialogist publishes a book (keeping the name of the campus confidential, but it's probably the University of Connecticut) about campus culture and faculty-administrator rifts. Scott Jaschik, in Inside Higher Ed, writes a lengthy discussion of the book

:Most administrators haven't seen it yet.

But one who has -- James C. Garland, the retired president of Miami University, in Ohio -- gave it a mixed review in two posts on his blog. He praises the perspective Tuchman provides as one who is not a decision maker on campus. "Wannabe U made me squirm at times, because many of the examples paralleled my own experiences. And therein lies the book’s value. I hope my administrative colleagues will read this book, not because they will agree with it, or even because it is, as the dust cover asserts, 'an eye-opening expose of the modern university.' They should read it because people in power seldom understand how their actions are viewed by others, and why their good deeds and intentions often provoke suspicion and mistrust," he writes in his first post.

Sandwiched Generations in the Campus Workplace

In this Business Officer article Margo Vanover Porter interviews author Lynne C. Lancaseter about how the recession is impacting the different generations - Boomers, Millennials, Xers, etc. - in their workplaces and careers. There are also interviews with four different campus business officers, discussing how the recession is effecting their staff, careers, and institutions:

Traditionalists are fantastic role models because they've seen it all before. They tend to say, “Be calm. This, too, shall pass.” We can learn useful coping strategies from Traditionalists.

Baby Boomers are very shaken by the recession, because they typically have not saved well for the future. At the same time, Boomers know how to survive and to work their way through challenging times. They still want to come out on top when the economy recovers.

Xers, who are our best innovators, grew up with change so early in their careers that they are good at dealing with it. They experienced the dot-com boom and bust, and they've seen the economy's spikes and lows. They know how to go right on making change and trying new things and exploding old myths and getting rid of the status quo.

For Millennials, this economy is all new. They have seen a robust job market throughout their entire coming of age. They have gone to the mall all their lives and seen “Help wanted. Help wanted. Help wanted.” A Millennial could quit a job at Abercrombie and Fitch on Thursday to take time off to go on a family vacation and go back to the same mall a week later and get a new job at the Gap.

Dining Halls of Distinction: 'Don't Call it a Cafeteria!'

Melissa Ezarik, of University Business, writes about campuses with distinctive and leading edge dining programs and facilities.

Dining facilities and programs are an integral part of campus life. Long gone are cafeteria-style dining areas with cafeteria-quality food. Today’s students can savor a dining experience that rivals the best home cooking and their favorite restaurants—and college and university dining services departments are delivering just that. Program administrators realize that customer service and diner input are key. And they know that both environmental sustainability and financial stability are expected. Our Dining Halls of Distinction represent stellar programs that have features worth emulating elsewhere.

Finding the Right Learning Space for Students Who Are Lost in Space

A good, refreshing read about planning learning spaces:

Conceiving and creating a new learning space could be viewed as an opportunity, or a challenge, or perhaps both. This could be your chance to develop an innovative space to help students learn and to help faculty teach. On the other hand, this “opportunity” could become a mixture of competing interests and ineffective committees complemented by a seemingly endless sea of architects, consultants, contractors, and administrators, all with divergent points of view and visions. . . In the middle of this universe of constituents, you have the task of bringing a team together to create a learning space that is effective, sustainable, and scalable.

International 'Leapfrogging': The Global Expansion of Higher Education

A new study is out with some enlightening data on matriculation and graduation rates for higher education around the world. You can find the original study here.

A study for the National Bureau of Economic Research explores the impact of what the author -- Richard B. Freeman, an economist at Harvard University -- calls the "human capital leapfrogging in the huge populous developing countries." The shift generally (and in particular for science and technology degrees) has important implications for higher education in the United States. . . . "In the face of global competition it is difficult to imagine the U.S. maintaining the dominance it has had in the latter part of the 20th century (just as it is difficult to imagine the U.S. maintaining its dominance of the global economy). But barring some horrific policies or events I would expect U.S. universities to continue to among the world’s leader in higher education into the foreseeable future and thus to keep attracting high skill immigrants to the country."

How Bad Can It Get For a Community College?

Scott Jaschik summarizes the choices campus leaders at Valencia Community College are having to make, with insights as to the varying constituencies and stakeholders:

How did it come to this? Last year, the college had to cut $8 million out of its $100 million budget due to state cuts, all while enrollment has been increasing steadily (total is now about 22,000). Those cuts were across the board, but Rodriguez said the new approach will be used for another $3.6 million that must be cut in the next few months. Rumors from Sacramento suggest that additional cuts are in the offing, and Rodriguez said he sees no sign of the kinds of political or economic changes in the state that might encourage him to wait for a recovery.

"I think it's going to get worse," he said.

Don't Call it a 'Dorm'!

This vignette of three freshman living in Queens College's first "residence hall" is a rewarding read for those of us who usually think mostly about the planning, design, and construction of dormitories. Oops.

Expanding the Canon: Original Research and Content Creation

If your job doesn't take you directly into the classroom, then even though you may work on campus, you may not realize how in some parts of the academic arena, the use of technology has drastically changed what the classroom experience is like. This article could be an eye-opener.

What Are College Admission Counselors' Perspectives in 2009?

Today's Campus (formerly Greentree Gazette) shares a collection of very brief quotes from conversations it overheard at the National Association for College Admission Counseling annual meeting recently, in Baltimore. Some examples: "Using sophisticated econometric models, we predicted enrollment to be down 10 percent this year.  That didn’t happen." - Kevin Crockett, CEO, Noel-Levitz; and "This is not the bad year.  By the time everyone realized (in Spring 2009) that this economic situation was not a blip, they had already committed (for Fall 2009).  Next year will be the test."  -Brian Niles, CEO, Target X.

Using the Stimulus for Lasting Value in Higher Education

Paul E. Lingenfelter calls the federal state stablization fund a "tourniquet not a transfusion" and cautions that institutions need to think strategically about how best to invest in their futures. "The stimulus money is not a cure for fundamental problems. It is money to buy time, manage a short-term crisis, and build a foundation for dealing with the fundamental problems. Part of the stimulus is designed to prevent lasting damage; we should use all of it to create lasting value."

AGB-CHEA Joint Advisory Statement on Accreditation & Governing Boards

You may not have previously read this four-page advisory statement (PDF). It's succinct and useful checklist of issues and considerations around boards of trustees and their relationship to (and awareness of) the accreditation cycle of an institution. 

Governing boards, working in collaboration with institutional leadership, are obligated to ensure mission achievement and institutional fiscal integrity as part of their fundamental fiduciary responsibility. Accordingly, understanding accreditation and its relevance to educational quality is extremely important. Governing boards need to be appropriately engaged in the accreditation process, respecting the leadership of the chief executive officer, the chief academic officer, and the faculty; acknowledging the importance of accreditation to serving students; and understanding that board engagement, awareness, and follow-up are fundamental to their fiduciary responsibilities.

A Sense of Purpose: Interview with Michael Wesch

Michael Wesch's closing plenary address at SCUP-44 was very well received. Coincidentally, this interview with Wesch is available in EDUCAUSE Review, thus making some of his perspectives more widely available to those who could not come to Portland. Actually, these are a different set of perspectives. Asked about the effect of the budget crunch at the teaching and learning level, Wesch replies:

People I've talked to around campus, in just about every department, are worried about cuts and what might happen. This creates an immediate desire to make your program look better than the others, so that you're not the one who gets cut. If we're talking at the faculty level, what are faculty doing to address the budget crunch? I would say the first thing they're doing is trying to make themselves and their department look good. That is playing out, in some ways, in a race for majors, because the more majors your department has, the safer you are if you're concerned about your department being cut.

Emerging Technologies in Higher Education: Big School Solutions to Small School Problems

Are you working with a small school, trying to plan for its implementation of near-future technologies? This free EDUCAUSE Live event is designed to provide you with an overview of some of the pertinent technology choices available that you may not already know about. (You've already missed the live broadcast on October 2, but it is available as an archive.)

With so many new technologies being developed to address needs at R1 schools, it can be difficult for smaller schools to keep up. In some cases, the solutions implemented at these larger institutions may not even seem applicable. But more often than not, these solutions can have a profound effect on how small schools can improve the services they offer on a regular basis. From Shibboleth to Internet2 to MPLS to iTunes U, this session will review some major developments over the past five years that can help smaller schools both address and transform their technology needs.

The Dollars and Sense of Closing Schools for H1N1

This Scientific American article, subtitled "As the H1N1 virus picks up speed this fall, economists have outlined just how much it would cost to close schools--hotbeds of flu contagion," covers a recent report by The Brookings Institution about the economic impact of mass school closings. It focuses on K-12, but the breadth and scope of the dollar impacts considered are of interest to anyone weighing options for campus crisis management and planning.

Book: Out In Front: The College President as the Face of the Institution

Active SCUP member Laurence V. Weill, president of Gordon College (GA), has recently edited a book of chapters written by himself and others about the many somewhat personal issues that arise for a college president involving the wider campus-area community. What does it mean to be the face that most of the community associates with the college or university? It's a must-read for checklists and advice on the pitfalls and promises of being such a public face - whether president or not.