SCUP Scan: Friday, 12-18-09

Some quick links from our daily environmental scan of higher education media for information of potential interest to SCUP members:

• Ed Department Calls Into Question a Regional Accrediting Agency's Decision, Inside Higher Ed: A recent DoE 'Alert' criticizing a North Central Agency's Higher Learning Commission decision appears to continue the department's focus on the accreditation process, not "backing off" from the same focus during the Bush administration. Here's Eric Kelderman's take on this in The Chronicle of Higher Education.
• The Nature of Innovation in the Community College, Leadership Abstracts, The League for Innovation in the Community College: Terry O'Banion and Laura Weidner report a Summary of Key Findings from an analysis of winners of this award since 1982. Available resources are important, as is the "culture and climate created by leaders to encourage, support, and celebrate the individuals and teams who design and implement the innovations."
• AACC Report Affirms Major Increase in Community College Enrollments: The PDF can be downloaded here; Scott Jaschik of Inside Higher Ed writes at length about the report here. Of note: Full-time enrollment is up more than part-time, and male enrollment is up more than female enrollment.
• Arne Duncan and the Lumina Foundation Agree: Institutions Need to Get Creative About Funding, Inside Higher Ed: Lumina made $9M in grants to help institutions "bust" inertia in several states. The article briefly mentions circumstances and outcomes in Arizona, Maryland, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Ohio, Texas, Montana, and Indiana.
• Verifying Student Identities, Today's Campus: Two "Executive Briefings" on this topic today. Here is: We think we know who enrolled in the course. Now who's taking the exam?" and here is "Identity checking will be a requirement in higher education. A federal law is on the books. The rules are being reviewed."
• The North Country Japanese Garden at St. Lawrence University, University Business: This open space for "reflection and learning" is part of UB's "Sense of Place" series.
• Survey of College Finances Finds Good Stewardship, but Some Possible Red Flags, The Chronicle of Higher Education: The Association of Governing Boards of Colleges and Universities (AGB) and the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) collected and evaluated data, originally collected by the IRS, from 146 colleges. Their joint report is titled, Statement on the IRS Compliance Questionnaire for Colleges and Universities (PDF).
• Central Texas Technology and Research Park, Buildings & Grounds Blog, The Chronicle of Higher Education: Led by Baylor University in collaboration with many other higher ed institutions and local, regional, and state agencies this project will create the facility by renovating a 300,000 sf General Tire plant closed in 1986.
• Anne Arundel Community College Promotes Future Thinking, Innovation Showcase, The League for Innovation in the Community College: Very interesting. A team of faculty teach two classes, "Exploring the Future" and "Globalization and Its Future" - as well as supporting local agencies and organizations. The program, IF@AACC, also publishes a monthly ezine, Futureportal.
• Changing the Way We Think About Community Colleges, National Crosstalk: Definitely worth a read: "a small but growing number of advocates and analysts inside and outside the community college system have underscored the point that the nation’s challenges of postsecondary access and attainment won’t be solved by focusing on AP courses or elite campus admissions alone."
• Extreme Makeover College Edition, Public Purpose: "UMSL and other AASCU schools have found that fundamentally redesigning certain courses creates a compelling path to better pedagogy, improved learning and—sometimes—lower costs for instruction. For institutions that want to improve quality and trim budgets, that’s a powerful trifecta."
• Risk Management: A Steep Learning Curve for Higher Education, Public Purpose: "Having a qualified administrator with a full-time focus on potential threats is key to one of the AGB’s recommendations: conducting frequent and thorough assessments that analyze risks and the institution’s tolerance for risks."