Education Commons^™

The Learning Analytics Readiness Instrument, Meghan Oster, Steven Lonn, Matthew D. Pistilli, Michael G. Brown

Matthew Pistilli

Social Media, Higher Education, And Community Colleges: A Research Synthesis And Implications For The Study Of Two-Year Institutions, Charles H.F. Davis Iii, Regina Deil-Amen, Cecilia Rios-Aguilar, Manuel González Canché

Charles H.F. Davis III

The boundaries between on-line and “real-world” communities are rapidly deteriorating, particularly for the generation of young people whose lives are pervaded by social media. For this generation, social media exchanges are a primary means of communication, social engagement, information seek- ing, and possibly, a central component of their identity and community-building. Given these realities, postsecondary educators should begin to seriously explore the potential to intentionally and strategi- cally harness the power of these revolutionary transformations in technology use to better serve the needs of students to enhance their success. Therefore, this review of books, academic journals, higher education news, research …

Developing Compassion Throughtravel, L. Bartolini

LeeAnn Bartolini

No abstract provided.

Preparing Climate Leaders: One Syllabus At A Time, Madeleine K. Charney

Madeleine K. Charney

Poster presentation at the 2014 Presidential Summit on Climate Leadership which highlighted the Sustainability Curriculum Initiative, a library-funded faculty mini-grant program that provides support for teaching sustainability courses across a wide range of disciplines. The poster illustrated the partnership between faculty members and subject specialist librarians. Also available was the Library’s Sustainability Research Guide, curriculum-building material which integrate library resources, photographs, and a White Paper outlining the history of the program. The Summit, held in Boston October 1-2, 2014 and hosted by Second Nature, was designed by Presidents for Presidents and Sustainability Staff in higher education. The focus of the …

Mid-Term Report, July 2014: Shu Internationalization Task Force, Carrie Wojenski

Carrie Wojenski

The Internationalization Task Force is poised to develop the University’s internationalization plan and support global learning opportunities for its faculty and students.

Beyond Bad Behaving Brothers: Productive Performances Of Masculinities Among College Fraternity Men, Frank Harris Iii, Ed.D., Shaun R. Harper, Ph.D.

Shaun R. Harper, Ph.D.

Research on fraternity men focuses almost exclusively on problematic behaviors such as homophobia and sexism, alcohol abuse, violence against women, sexual promiscuity, and the overrepresentation of members among campus judicial offenders. Consequently, little is known about those who perform masculinities in healthy and productive ways. Presented in this article are findings from a qualitative study of productive masculinities and behaviors among 50 undergraduate fraternity men from 44 chapters across the U.S. and Canada. Findings offer insights into participants’ steadfast commitments to the fraternity’s espoused values; their acceptance and appreciation of members from a range of diverse backgrounds; strategies they employed …

Transgender Individuals' Access To College Housing And Bathrooms: Findings From The National Transgender Discrimination Survey, Kristie Seelman

Kristie L Seelman

Within higher education settings, transgender people are at risk for discrimination and harassment within housing and bathrooms. Yet, few have examined this topic using quantitative data or compared the experiences of subgroups of transgender individuals to predict denial of access to these spaces. The current study utilizes the National Transgender Discrimination Survey to research this issue. Findings indicate that being transgender and having another marginalized identity matters for students’ access to housing and bathrooms. Trans women are at greater risk than gender non-conforming people for being denied access to school housing and bathrooms. Implications for practice and research are detailed.

Outreach Practices Of A Small College Counseling Center: A Comprehensivemodel To Serve The College Community, Jessica R. Ferriero

Jessica R Ferriero

Over the past 10 years college counseling centers (CCCs) have been urged to broaden their focus considerably and to serve the entire campus community due to increases in student mental health issues. Engaging in outreach efforts is one way to address campus wide needs. However, few research efforts have been conducted to systematically investigate how outreach is practiced at a small college. The dialogue around outreach has focused on single programs at large institutions rather than the network of interventions that occur on a campus. The purpose of this study is to understand the web of relationships between a counseling …

The Higher Education Trap: Over-Qualified And Under-Employed In China, Caroline Wei Lin Chen

Caroline Wei Lin Chen

The Higher Education Trap: Over-Qualified and Under-Employed in China

An Exercise In Institutional Reflection: The Learning Analytics Readiness Instrument (Lari), Kimberly E. Arnold, Steven Lonn, Matthew Pistilli

Matthew Pistilli

Governance And Change In Higher Education: The Debate Between Classical Political Sociology, New Institutionalism And Critical Theories, Imanol Ordorika

Imanol Ordorika

INTRODUCCIÓN. One of the most intense debates about higher education governance and change took place in the twentieth century between the 1970’s and 90’s. METHOD. A systematic examination of the literature on governance in higher education during this period. The core of the works reviewed in this paper, and the analysis of the development of the field is based essentially on literature from the United States. RESULTS. The review shows the gaps and limi- tations of existing theory. It also provides the necessary foundations for the development of new conceptual frameworks that will enhance our understanding of the subject matter: …

Black Men As College Athletes: The Real Win-Loss Record, Shaun R. Harper, Ph.D.

Shaun R. Harper, Ph.D.

Point of view published on the back cover of The Chronicle of Higher Education, January 24, 2014.

(Re)Setting The Agenda For College Men Of Color: Lessons Learned From A 15-Year Movement To Improve Black Male Student Success, Shaun R. Harper, Ph.D.

Shaun R. Harper, Ph.D.

Between 1997 and 2012, much was done on college campuses and elsewhere to improve Black male student achievement. Notwithstanding, their enrollments, academic performance, and rates of baccalaureate degree attainment remain just as troublesome now as they were 15 years ago. But why? And what can be learned as various stakeholders introduce future initiatives in response to issues affecting Black undergraduate men, as well as Asian American/Pacific Islander (AAPI), Latino, and Native American male collegians? In this chapter, I chronicle the 15-year emphasis on Black male students in U.S. higher education. I first catalogue a range of efforts enacted between 1997 …

In Search Of Progressive Black Masculinities: Critical Self-Reflections On Gender Identity Development Among Black Undergraduate Men, Keon M. Mcguire, Ph.D., Jonathan Berhanu, Charles H.F. Davis Iii, Shaun R. Harper, Ph.D.

Shaun R. Harper, Ph.D.

During the last several decades, research concerning the developmental trajectories, experiences, and behaviors of college men as ‘‘gendered’’ persons has emerged. In this article, we first critically review literature on Black men’s gender development and expressions within college contexts to highlight certain knowledge gaps. We then conceptualize and discuss progressive Black masculinities by relying on Mutua’s germinal work on the subject. Further, we engage Black feminist scholarship, both to firmly situate our more pressing argument for conceptual innovation and to address knowledge gaps in the literature on Black men’s gender experiences. It is our belief that scholars who study gender …

Recommendations Of Transgender Students, Staff, And Faculty In The Usa For Improving College Campuses, Kristie Seelman

Kristie L Seelman

Research indicates that transgender individuals frequently experience marginalization and interpersonal victimization within college and university settings. Missing from the literature is a discussion of what can be done to address such patterns in higher education, based upon empirical data gathered from transgender and gender non-conforming students, staff, and faculty. The present study aims to fill this gap by reporting on solutions offered by a sample of 30 individuals in one U.S. state while integrating a lens of intersectionality. Five resulting themes include: (a) offer education, campus programming, and support for trans individuals; (b) improve university systems and procedures for recording …

Conclusion: Looking To The Future, Ronald G. Ehrenberg

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

[Excerpt] A number of important themes emerge from the chapters in Governing Academia. First, decentralization gives individual units—be they university campuses within a state system, colleges within a university, or departments within a college—an incentive to act in their own best interests, but less of an incentive to work toward the common good. As Heller points out, at the level of a state system, decentralization of control may lead to wasteful overlap between campuses. As Wilson shows, decentralized budgeting in the form of responsibility center management models may cause units not to maximize the quality of the education they are …

Introduction To The Book Governing Academia, Ronald G. Ehrenberg

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

[Excerpt] During recent decades tuition for undergraduate students has risen at rates substantially higher than the rate of inflation at both public and private colleges and universities in the United States. These high rates of tuition increases led Congress to establish the National Commission on the Costs of Higher Education in 1997 to conduct a comprehensive review of college costs and prices and to make recommendations on how to hold tuition increases down. Parents of college students, taxpayers, and government officials all wanted to know why academic institutions can't behave more like businesses—cut their costs, increase their efficiency, and thus …

Do Indirect Cost Rates Matter?, Ronald G. Ehrenberg, Jaroslava K. Mykula

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

This study addresses the relationship between a university's indirect cost rate and its level of federal research funding. Both direct and indirect cost funding are examined. The data used in the analyses include unpublished institutional level data for all doctoral and research universities on funding and indirect cost rates obtained from the National Science Foundation for the fiscal years 1988 to 1997 period. Our major finding is that higher indirect cost rates are associated with higher levels of direct and indirect cost funding for institutions that initially are among the largest recipients of federal funding. In contrast, for universities initially …

Enhancing The Attractiveness Of Research To Female Faculty, Ronald G. Ehrenberg

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

[Excerpt] CSWEP has long been concerned about the underrepresentation of women in faculty positions at major research universities. I have been charged by the committee with enumerating a set of policies that might enhance the attractiveness of research universities to female faculty. After presenting some data that suggest the magnitude of the underrepresentation problem, I do so below. In each case, I sketch the pros and cons of the policy. Although the focus is on increasing the attractiveness of research universities to female faculty, many of the policies would increase the attractiveness of academic careers per se to new female …

On The Need To Balance Endowments And Academic Integrity, Ahmed Souaiaia

Ahmed E SOUAIAIA

As universities face revenues shortfalls due to national and global economic trends, administrators are forced to look for alternative funding streams. Some of the attractive options consist of creating satellite campuses in rich countries and accepting donors from individuals, corporations, and governments. What is the price of such new partnerships and what is the function of endowments for donors and the universities?

An Analysis Of The Relationships Between The Perceived Organizational Climate And Professional Burnout In Libraries And Computing Centers In West Virginia Public Higher Education Institutions, Arnold R. Miller

Arnold R. Miller

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationships between the perceived organizational climate and professional burnout in libraries and computing services units in West Virginia higher education. Research questions were defined to investigate the differences between libraries and computing services units in the perceived organizational climate, professional burnout, organizational climate vs. burnout, demographics vs. organizational climate, demographics vs. burnout, and the combined effects of demographics and organizational climate upon burnout. The Work Environment Scale (WES) Form R, third edition, the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) HSS, third edition, and a demographic questionnaire measured the organizational climate, burnout, and demographics. …

Black Male Student-Athletes And Racial Inequities In Ncaa Division I Revenue-Generating College Sports, Shaun R. Harper, Ph.D., Collin D. Williams Jr., Horatio Blackman

Shaun R. Harper, Ph.D.

The purpose of this report is to make transparent racial inequities in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), Big East Conference, Big Ten Conference, Big 12 Conference, Pac 12 Conference, and the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Data from the NCAA and the U.S. Department of Education are presented for the 76 institutional members of these six athletic conferences. Specifically, we offer a four-year analysis of Black men's representation on football and basketball teams versus their representation in the undergraduate student body on each campus. We also compare Black male student-athletes’ six-year graduation rates (across four cohorts) to student-athletes overall, undergraduate students overall, …

Asian Top Universities In Six World University Rankings, Mahmood Khosrowjerdi

Mahmood Khosrowjerdi

There are a variety of ranking systems for universities throughout the different continents of the world. The majority of the world ranking systems have paid special attention toward evaluation of universities and higher education institutions at the national and international level. This paper tries to study the similarities and status of top Asian universities in the list of top 200 universities by these world ranking systems. Findings show that there are some parallelisms among these international rankings. For example it was found some correlations between QS-Webometrics rankings (R= 0.78); QS-THE rankings (R= 0.53); and Shanghai-HEEACT rankings (R= 0.58). The highest …

The Ranking Of Iranian Universities Based On An Improved Technique, Mohammad Reza Ghane, Zahra Azizkhani, Mahmood Khosrowjerdi

Mahmood Khosrowjerdi

Current competitive environment has forced higher education authorities to rank the scientific performance of their universities. The results of the university rankings have been used in strategic planning of research affairs. Focal point behind the university ranking is the methodological issues. Previous university rankings have relied on the conventional methods that are accompanied by some drawbacks. Therefore, the present study aims to evaluate Iranian universities based on the Crown indicator. The performance of fourteen Iranian universities was evaluated based on the data gathered from Essential Science Indicators (ESI) database. Results of the world university rankings do not indicate the true …

Reaching For The Brass Ring: The U.S. News & World Report Rankings And Competition, Ronald Ehrenberg

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

[Excerpt] The behavior of academic institutions, including the extent to which they collaborate on academic and nonacademic matters, is shaped by many factors. This paper focuses on one of these factors, the U.S. News & World Report (USNWR) annual ranking of the nation’s colleges and universities as undergraduate institutions, exploring how this ranking exacerbates the competitiveness among American higher education institutions. After presenting some evidence on the importance of the USNWR rankings to both public and private institutions at all levels along the selectivity spectrum, I describe how the rankings actually are calculated, then discuss how academic institutions alter their …

Crafting A Class: The Trade-Off Between Merit Scholarships And Enrolling Lower-Income Students, Ronald G. Ehrenberg, Liang Zhang, Jared M. Levin

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

[Excerpt] It is well known that test scores are correlated with students’ socio-economic backgrounds. Hence, to the extent that colleges are successful in “buying” higher test-score students, one should expect that their enrollment of students from families in the lower tails of the family income distribution should decline. However, somewhat surprisingly, there have been no efforts to test if this is occurring. Our paper presents such a test. While institutional-level data on the dollar amounts of merit scholarships offered by colleges and universities are not available, data are available on the number of National Merit Scholarship (NMS) winners attending an …

The 1995 Nrc Ratings Of Doctoral Programs: A Hedonic Model, Ronald Ehrenberg, Peter Hurst

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

We describe how one can use multivariate regression models and data collected by the National Research Council as part of its recent ranking of doctoral programs (Research-Doctorate Programs in the United States: Continuity and Change) to analyze how measures of program size, faculty seniority, faculty research productivity, and faculty productivity in producing doctoral degrees influence subjective ratings of doctoral programs in 35 academic fields. Using data for one of the fields, economics, we illustrate how university administrators can use the models to compute the impact of changing the number of faculty positions they allocate to the field on …

The Impact Of U.S. News & World Report College Rankings On Admissions Outcomes And Pricing Policies At Selective Private Institutions, James Monks, Ronald G. Ehrenberg

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

Despite the widespread popularity of the U.S. News & World Report College rankings there has been no empirical analysis of the impact of these rankings on applications, admissions, and enrollment decisions, as well as on institutions' pricing policies. Our analyses indicate that a less favorable rank leads an institution to accept a greater percentage of its applicants, a smaller percentage of its admitted applicants matriculate, and the resulting entering class is of lower quality, as measured by its average SAT scores. While tuition levels are not responsive to less favorable rankings, institutions offer less visible price discounts in the form …

Faculty Turnover At American Colleges And Universities: Analyses Of Aaup Data, Ronald G. Ehrenberg, Hirschel Kasper, Daniel Rees

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

This paper uses institutional level data collected by the American Association of University Professors as part of their annual survey of faculty members' compensation to analyze faculty turnover. Analyses of aggregate data over almost a twenty-year period highlight how remarkably stable faculty retention rates have been nationwide and how little they vary across broad categories of institutions. Analyses of variations in faculty retention rates across individual institutions stress the role that faculty compensation levels play. Higher levels of compensation appear to increase retention rates for assistant and associate professors (but not for full professors) and the magnitude of this effect …

Governance In Nigerian Universities: The Position Of The University Internal Auditor, Professor Ben C Osisioma

Prof Ben Chuka Osisioma

The University system is committed to the principles of good governance which ensure that the Institution is ‚fit for its purpose‛ as an organization put in place for teaching, research and consultancy and professional services to the community. The principles demand a response to the challenge of operational dexterity, technical ingenuity, strategic relevance, African persona and political deftness as part of the task of modernization of the governance of higher education. The task of the Internal Auditor is five-fold – to provide transparency and act as an advisory body to senior management, to identify underperforming areas and opportunities for improvement …