Copyright (c) 2012 University of Massachusetts Boston All rights reserved. http://scholarworks.umb.edu Recent documents in ScholarWorks at UMass Boston en-us Wed, 16 May 2012 07:08:24 PDT 3600 http://scholarworks.umb.edu/nerche_pubs/44 http://scholarworks.umb.edu/nerche_pubs/44 Wed, 16 May 2012 06:47:39 PDT Across the country, new attention is being paid to graduate education and civic engagement (Applegate, 2002; Bloomfield, 2006). For decades college campuses have worked diligently to connect undergraduate academic study with public service in order to enhance learning and meet community needs, a connection often referred to as service-learning or civic engagement. Given that over 1,000 institutions have joined Campus Compact, a national organization of college presidents and institutions committed to this work (www.campuscompact.org), the widespread success of the service-learning movement is undeniable. As a further testament, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching now has a classification focused solely on community engagement (www.carnegiefoundation.org/classifications/index). While graduate schools that prepare students for service-oriented professions such as law, medicine, and social work have long traditions of engaging students in clinics and other forms of experiential learning, graduate education overall has not been a major focus of the civic engagement movement (Stanton & Wagner, 2006).

]]> KerryAnn O’Meara http://scholarworks.umb.edu/nerche_pubs/43 http://scholarworks.umb.edu/nerche_pubs/43 Wed, 16 May 2012 06:47:38 PDT Faculty work continues to change in response to the increased emphases on diversity requirements in undergraduate education, partnerships between academic and student affairs, and computer technology (O’Meara, et al, 2003). As even more is learned about strategies for the educational success of their students, faculty will be counted on to tailor their skills and pedagogies to new populations of students. At the same time, colleges and universities must keep pace with these changes by ensuring that expectations about faculty work are clearly defined and are reflected in evaluation and reward structures—and that faculty are supported in their efforts. The quality of the experience of teaching and learning is one important measure of institutional success; without faculty who are invigorated by their work and able to be successful, the teaching and learning experience for students may be compromised.

]]> New England Resource Center for Higher Education, University of Massachusetts Boston http://scholarworks.umb.edu/nerche_pubs/42 http://scholarworks.umb.edu/nerche_pubs/42 Wed, 16 May 2012 06:47:38 PDT The Community College Student Success Think Tank, part of the Community College Student Success Project, funded by Lumina Foundation for Education, brings student and academic affairs officers together with institutional researchers to reflect on trends and issues surrounding data-driven decision making in community colleges. Participants consider various forms of accountability data, processes and analyses to bring about institutional transformation. At a recent meeting, Think Tank members discussed ways to create a culture of inquiry at community colleges.

]]> New England Resource Center for Higher Education, University of Massachusetts Boston http://scholarworks.umb.edu/nerche_pubs/41 http://scholarworks.umb.edu/nerche_pubs/41 Wed, 16 May 2012 06:47:37 PDT The message of new faculty is not new, but their power may be. As the demand for new faculty increases due to retirements and increased enrollments in systems and institutions around the country, large cohorts of tenure-track faculty are being hired. Early-career faculty want what they’ve wanted for many years now: clarity surrounding the tenure process, a workload that is meaningful and manageable, professional development for research and teaching, a hospitable campus climate, a collegial workplace, work-family balance, equity, transparency, and fairness. Many young teacher scholars are interested in collaboration over competition, research that is organized around problems rather than disciplines, and a multidisciplinary work environment shaped by interaction between researchers and users. At the same time, colleges and universities are facing pressures from outside to change what they do, how they do it, and how they measure it—much of this in line with the values and concerns of new faculty cohorts.

]]> New England Resource Center for Higher Education, University of Massachusetts Boston http://scholarworks.umb.edu/nerche_pubs/40 http://scholarworks.umb.edu/nerche_pubs/40 Wed, 16 May 2012 06:47:36 PDT The United States Supreme Judicial Court is currently deliberating the University of Michigan Affirmative Action lawsuits involving three white students who claim they were discriminated against because of race-conscious admissions policies. Organizations, such as the Center for Individual Rights, which sponsored the Michigan plaintiffs, and the Center for Equal Opportunity, have spearheaded drives to evaluate affirmative action programs in light of equal protection under the law. Viewed in this light, these policies appear to be unfair to white candidates. Examined more closely, concerns about equitability are missing from arguments about fairness. NERCHE’s Multicultural Affairs Think Tank members discussed the changed environment brought about by these lawsuits and its implications for colleges and universities.

]]> New England Resource Center for Higher Education, University of Massachusetts Boston http://scholarworks.umb.edu/nerche_pubs/39 http://scholarworks.umb.edu/nerche_pubs/39 Wed, 16 May 2012 06:47:35 PDT Perhaps more than most academic issues, remedial education evokes fervent emotions and unyielding opinions. Consensus is hard to reach even about the nomenclature, with remedial conveying a sense of deficiency in need of correction pitted against the developmental approach that focuses on change and growth. On campus, the many aspects of the controversy often get voiced in questions rather than answers: What can we do to help these students? Why were these students accepted? Who should and who will teach in these remedial programs? Should we in higher education, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, still be talking about this issue?

]]> New England Resource Center for Higher Education, University of Massachusetts Boston http://scholarworks.umb.edu/nerche_pubs/38 http://scholarworks.umb.edu/nerche_pubs/38 Wed, 16 May 2012 06:47:35 PDT The development office accepts a gift of a house from a prestigious donor. The faculty has developed and approved a new core curriculum. The institution recently constructed a new campus center. While these circumstances sound no alarms, all involve elements of risk. The welcome gift of the house, later discovered to be contaminated with mold, will involve a costly clean up. A revised curriculum cannot guarantee that the changes will yield the expected results. The construction of a new building has significant implications for maintenance of the physical plant. In a recent meeting NERCHE’s Chief Financial Officers Think Tank discussed the changed landscape of risk management in higher education.

]]> New England Resource Center for Higher Education, University of Massachusetts Boston http://scholarworks.umb.edu/nerche_pubs/37 http://scholarworks.umb.edu/nerche_pubs/37 Wed, 16 May 2012 06:47:34 PDT Assessment, with a capital “A”, has become in the academy a politically loaded buzzword that closes many more doors than it opens. Assessment, with a small “a”, however, is a necessary part of any attempt to find the best path forward in environments that change. At meetings this spring, Members of NERCHE’s Departments Chairs Think Tank and Associate Academic Deans Think Tank discussed this controversial issue, focusing on ways to foster climates in which faculty and administrators are collaborative partners in assessment with the intention of strengthening teaching and learning.

]]> New England Resource Center for Higher Education, University of Massachusetts Boston http://scholarworks.umb.edu/nerche_pubs/36 http://scholarworks.umb.edu/nerche_pubs/36 Wed, 16 May 2012 06:47:33 PDT Immediately after the events of September 11, the US was stunned by horror and disbelief, angry at the perpetrators of such awful violence, puzzled by the country’s inability to recognize itself in the eyes of the world, and eager to learn more about other cultures from which it felt so alien. Our college campuses reflected this range of responses. At their first meetings of the academic year, members of NERCHE’s Think Tanks, who represent faculty and administrators in New England, and SAGES (Senior Academics Guiding Educational Strategies), retired presidents and provosts, described their reactions and the range of responses campus.

]]> New England Resource Center for Higher Education, University of Massachusetts Boston http://scholarworks.umb.edu/nerche_pubs/35 http://scholarworks.umb.edu/nerche_pubs/35 Wed, 16 May 2012 06:47:32 PDT There is rarely a perception in colleges and universities that everyone owns the financial plan. Deans, department chairs, and division heads are most concerned with their own budgets, rather than the aggregate. Mythologies about how the academic and financial sides of the house operate create artificial divisions and compromise the development of shared responsibility. Driven by myth, each side tends to view the other as a threat to its values and priorities. These views often stereotype the other in ways that become self-fulfilling prophesies. For example, Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) believe that academics are inefficient and that CFOs, with their particularly keen grasp of reality, are better suited to set institutional priorities. They believe that, as in the for-profit world, finance is the language and measurement of success, and everyone should be fluent. And from the academic side of the house comes the conviction that those who work in finance are unable to comprehend the essence of higher education and that CFOs will arbitrarily take away needed resources. In a recent discussion NERCHE’s Chief Financial Officers Think Tank approached the task of finding ways for the CFO to help dismantle these myths and build partnerships with academic administrators.

]]> New England Resource Center for Higher Education, University of Massachusetts Boston http://scholarworks.umb.edu/nerche_pubs/34 http://scholarworks.umb.edu/nerche_pubs/34 Wed, 16 May 2012 06:47:31 PDT The New England Resource Center for Higher Education’s (NERCHE) Civic Engagement Cluster1 is a multi-institutional model for strengthening civic engagement in higher education across ten institutions simultaneously. Reflecting NERCHE’s mission to promote community, collaboration, and change in higher education, the Cluster is based on the premise that significant change can be accomplished most effectively through collaboration and communication across institutions. The purpose of this Brief is to pass on some key lessons learned in the pilot year of this project about laying the groundwork for collaboration and improving institutional practice.

]]> New England Resource Center for Higher Education, University of Massachusetts Boston http://scholarworks.umb.edu/nerche_pubs/33 http://scholarworks.umb.edu/nerche_pubs/33 Wed, 16 May 2012 06:47:31 PDT One of higher education’s crowning achievements is that colleges and universities are currently educating many groups of people who have been denied access to this resource in the past. A growing percentage of the new population of students arrives on campus with unique mental health needs, which until now campuses have been largely unprepared to accommodate. This new student profile may be more familiar to Student Affairs’ offices, but the educational implications extend to the whole campus. Members of NERCHE’s Student Affairs Think Tank discussed this topic at one of their meetings and offer the following insights.

]]> New England Resource Center for Higher Education, University of Massachusetts Boston http://scholarworks.umb.edu/nerche_pubs/32 http://scholarworks.umb.edu/nerche_pubs/32 Wed, 16 May 2012 06:47:30 PDT The Student Affairs profession has changed significantly. Is graduate training keeping up? Do young Student Affairs professionals know what to expect once they get to campus? Members of NERCHE’s Student Affairs Think Tank met to discuss the relationship between graduate training and the workplace.

]]> New England Resource Center for Higher Education, University of Massachusetts Boston http://scholarworks.umb.edu/nerche_pubs/31 http://scholarworks.umb.edu/nerche_pubs/31 Tue, 15 May 2012 11:51:47 PDT Ten years ago higher education scholars predicted a major faculty turnover in the late 1990s and into the twenty-first centurya prediction based on demographic data on an aging faculty. The turnover is under way, accelerated by early retirement policies. Currently blocks of faculty positions are opening up at regional colleges and universities, and new faculty are being hired in groups, rather than a few at a time. In larger universities, the impact of this kind of hiring is felt most acutely at the department level. At small institutions, the effects can be institution wide. Throughout this academic year, NERCHE’s Department Chairs, Chief Academic Officers, and Associate Deans Think Tanks have examined changes in faculty demographics and discussed the structures and policies that campuses need to orient and retain new faculty.

]]> New England Resource Center for Higher Education, University of Massachusetts Boston http://scholarworks.umb.edu/nerche_pubs/30 http://scholarworks.umb.edu/nerche_pubs/30 Tue, 15 May 2012 11:51:44 PDT NERCHE’s think tank members recently participated in a discussion of the competitive forces driving change in higher education. The discussion, facilitated by The Futures Project: Policy for Higher Education in a Changing World (www.futuresproject.org), revealed tremendous concern among faculty and administrators in New England about safeguarding the principles of equal access and equal educational opportunity during a time of accelerating competition for students. This is a crucial time for a reevaluation of barriers to full educational opportunity in this country. We need policies both at the institutional level and the state and federal levels to reverse the widening educational and economic divide.

]]> New England Resource Center for Higher Education, University of Massachusetts Boston http://scholarworks.umb.edu/nerche_pubs/29 http://scholarworks.umb.edu/nerche_pubs/29 Tue, 15 May 2012 11:51:42 PDT This brief was derived from the discussions of NERCHE’s think tank for coordinators of GEAR UP school-college partnerships. The insights of these coordinators point to the principle that it is the quality of the relationships among the partners that determines the effectiveness of multi-institutional collaborations. This means then that those who support and invest in multi-institutional collaborations should also focus on supporting the process of partnership building. But what does this mean in practical terms? It means being strategic right from the beginning in the design of grant structures, and throughout the relationship with the grantees. This brief provides examples of the kinds of structures and purposeful actions that build effective partnerships. The examples and the recommendations that follow are intended primarily for project funders but are relevant for all those involved in higher education collaborations. Both the funders and the grantees need to advocate for partnership building as a sound investment strategy.

]]> New England Resource Center for Higher Education, University of Massachusetts Boston http://scholarworks.umb.edu/nerche_pubs/28 http://scholarworks.umb.edu/nerche_pubs/28 Tue, 15 May 2012 11:51:39 PDT Within any college and university, it is in the academic department where most of the work is accomplished in educating students and carrying out the institution's academic mission. Department chairs are at the front lines of policy implementation. At a recent meeting members of NERCHE’s Department Chairs Think Tank weighed in on what they have learned from their experiences with post-tenure review (PTR) policies.

]]> New England Resource Center for Higher Education, University of Massachusetts Boston http://scholarworks.umb.edu/nerche_pubs/27 http://scholarworks.umb.edu/nerche_pubs/27 Tue, 15 May 2012 11:51:36 PDT Assessment and accountability are embedded in the context in which most colleges and universities operate. In the current climate, one is deeply entwined with the other. Originally, assessment in higher education meant assessing students. The broader appeal of the concept quickly claimed the attention of a multitude of constituents within the academy, each with a different goal in mind – from program review to public relations. Those whose relationship to the academy was once or twice removed, such as trustees, accreditors, and legislators, saw assessment as a simple and cost effective means to report information about the effectiveness of complex organizational processes as a way to hold institutions accountable. Especially in times of economic upheaval, “accountability” held much promise for those watching the bottom line.

]]> New England Resource Center for Higher Education, University of Massachusetts Boston http://scholarworks.umb.edu/nerche_pubs/26 http://scholarworks.umb.edu/nerche_pubs/26 Thu, 10 May 2012 12:46:44 PDT Benchmarking is a widespread practice in all industries today. Higher education is no exception. One need only look at annual rankings in U.S. News and World Report to appreciate power of benchmarking in a market-driven society that is seeking the best value in education. To the public, and even to leaders in higher education, measures such as these amount to an externally imposed evaluation. The impact of benchmarking on an institution can be significant. But is it worth it? Chief Financial Officers from the New England area offer their views.

]]> New England Resource Center for Higher Education, University of Massachusetts Boston http://scholarworks.umb.edu/nerche_pubs/25 http://scholarworks.umb.edu/nerche_pubs/25 Wed, 09 May 2012 13:43:14 PDT The wonders of the information technology (IT) revolution have landed hard and fast on college campuses bringing with them a myriad of challenges for academic leaders. A group of Chief Academic Officers met to discuss the challenges of technology on their campuses. They identified three categories that have implications for organization and planning: 1) Finances and Economic Capacity, 2) Priority Setting and Assessment of Value and 3) The Role of the Faculty.

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