Declining by Degrees

Declining by Degrees PDF

Author: Richard H. Hersh

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Published: 2015-04-07

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 1466893389

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What is actually happening on college campuses in the years between admission and graduation? Not enough to keep America competitive, and not enough to provide our citizens with fulfilling lives. When A Nation at Risk called attention to the problems of our public schools in 1983, that landmark report provided a convenient "cover" for higher education, inadvertently implying that all was well on America's campuses. Declining by Degrees blows higher education's cover. It asks tough--and long overdue--questions about our colleges and universities. In candid, coherent, and ultimately provocative ways, Declining by Degrees reveals: - how students are being short-changed by lowered academic expectations and standards; -why many universities focus on research instead of teaching and spend more on recruiting and athletics than on salaries for professors; -why students are disillusioned; -how administrations are obsessed with rankings in news magazines rather than the quality of learning; -why the media ignore the often catastrophic results; and -how many professors and students have an unspoken "non-aggression pact" when it comes to academic effort. Declining by Degrees argues persuasively that the multi-billion dollar enterprise of higher education has gone astray. At the same time, these essays offer specific prescriptions for change, warning that our nation is in fact at greater risk if we do nothing.

Declining by Degrees

Declining by Degrees PDF

Author: Richard H. Hersh

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Published: 2006-05-01

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 9781403973160

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Two decades ago A Nation at Risk sounded a national alarm on K-12 education. Now, an equally urgent alarm is being sounded for higher education in America. In Declining by Degrees, leading authors and educators such as Tom Wolfe, Jim Fallows, and Jay Mathews provide us with a valuable understanding of the serious issues facing colleges today, such as budget cuts, grade inflation, questionable recruitment strategies, and a major focus on Big Time Sports. Tied to the PBS documentary of the same name, Declining by Degrees creates a national discussion about the future of higher education and what we can do about it.

The Future of Higher Education

The Future of Higher Education PDF

Author: Frank Newman

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2010-04-30

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 0470730625

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A powerful look at the risks inherent in the trend toward making higher education a market rather than a regulated public sector, The Future of Higher Education reveals the findings of an extensive four-year investigation into the major forces that are transforming our American system of higher education. The book explores the challenges of intensified competition among institutions, globalization of colleges and universities, the expansion of the new for-profit and virtual institutions, and the influence of technology on learning. This important resource offers college and university leaders and policy makers an analysis of the impact of these forces of change and includes suggestions for creating an effective higher education market as well as a call for a renewed focus on the public purposes of higher education.

Degrees of Risk

Degrees of Risk PDF

Author: Blake R. Silver

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2024-08-12

Total Pages: 247

ISBN-13: 0226834751

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An ethnographic analysis of how insecurity is at the heart of contemporary higher education. Institutions of higher education are often described as “ivory towers,” places of privilege where students exist in a “campus bubble,” insulated from the trials of the outside world. These metaphors reveal a widespread belief that college provides young people with stability and keeps insecurity at bay. But for many students, that’s simply not the case. Degrees of Risk reveals how insecurity permeates every facet of college life for students at public universities. Sociologist Blake Silver dissects how these institutions play a direct role in perpetuating uncertainty, instability, individualism, and anxiety about the future. Silver examined interviews with more than one hundred students who described the risks that surrounded every decision: which major to choose, whether to take online classes, and how to find funding. He expertly identified the ways the college experience played out differently for students from different backgrounds. For students from financially secure families with knowledge of how college works, all the choices and flexibility of college felt like an adventure or a wealth of opportunities. But for many others, especially low-income, first-generation students, their personal and family circumstances meant that that flexibility felt like murkiness and precarity. In addition, he discovered that students managed insecurity in very different ways, intensifying inequality at the intersections of socioeconomic status, race, gender, and other sociodemographic dimensions. Drawing from these firsthand accounts, Degrees of Risk presents a model for a better university, one that fosters success and confidence for a diverse range of students.

Mentoring At-risk Students Through the Hidden Curriculum of Higher Education

Mentoring At-risk Students Through the Hidden Curriculum of Higher Education PDF

Author: Buffy Smith

Publisher:

Published: 2015-03-15

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781498515801

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This book is focused on the mentoring process, a popular higher education initiative that is often used to promote retention and academic success. The central purpose is to unveil the hidden curriculum and provide a blueprint for both students and teachers on how to navigate the institutional culture of higher education.

The College Stress Test

The College Stress Test PDF

Author: Robert Zemsky

Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press

Published: 2020-02-25

Total Pages: 167

ISBN-13: 1421437031

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Those interested in and responsible for the fate of these institutions will find in this book a clearly defined set of risk indicators, a methodology for monitoring progress over time, and an evidence-based understanding of where they reside in the landscape of institutional risk.

Equity and Excellence in American Higher Education

Equity and Excellence in American Higher Education PDF

Author: William G. Bowen

Publisher: University of Virginia Press

Published: 200?

Total Pages: 476

ISBN-13: 9780813933399

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Thomas Jefferson once stated that the foremost goal of American education must be to nurture the "natural aristocracy of talent and virtue." Although in many ways American higher education has fulfilled Jefferson's vision by achieving a widespread level of excellence, it has not achieved the objective of equity implicit in Jefferson's statement. In Equity and Excellence in American Higher Education, William G. Bowen, Martin A. Kurzweil, and Eugene M. Tobin explore the cause for this divide. Employing historical research, examination of the most recent social science and public policy scholarship, international comparisons, and detailed empirical analysis of rich new data, the authors study the intersection between "excellence" and "equity" objectives. Beginning with a time line tracing efforts to achieve equity and excellence in higher education from the American Revolution to the early Cold War years, this narrative reveals the halting, episodic progress in broadening access across the dividing lines of gender, race, religion, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. The authors argue that despite our rhetoric of inclusiveness, a significant number of youth from poor families do not share equal access to America's elite colleges and universities. While America has achieved the highest level of educational attainment of any country, it runs the risk of losing this position unless it can markedly improve the precollegiate preparation of students from racial minorities and lower-income families. After identifying the "equity" problem at the national level and studying nineteen selective colleges and universities, the authors propose a set of potential actions to be taken at federal, state, local, and institutional levels. With recommendations ranging from reform of the admissions process, to restructuring of federal financial aid and state support of public universities, to addressing the various precollegiate obstacles that disadvantaged students face at home and in school, the authors urge all selective colleges and universities to continue race-sensitive admissions policies, while urging the most selective (and privileged) institutions to enroll more well-qualified students from families with low socioeconomic status.

Higher Education at Risk

Higher Education at Risk PDF

Author: Sandra Featherman

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2023-07-03

Total Pages: 155

ISBN-13: 1000978818

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Sandra Featherman believes that colleges are in denial about the severity of the threats to the current model of higher education.Based on her own experience as a president, as a trustee, and as a board member who has worked in private and public universities – and on interviews with the presidents of major institutions – she offers both a trenchant analysis of those threats and clear prescriptions about the painful but necessary decisions that colleges need to make to ensure they remain viable, accessible and affordable, and deliver a high-quality education.Sandra Featherman considers higher education to be at a game-changing moment. When markets don’t function well – as is the case with today’s college marketplace with offerings that cost too much and return too little – it opens the door to new types of suppliers, who offer new ways of providing what students are looking for, particularly the increasing cohort of mature, working students. In the face of new competitors – for-profit education companies, technology start-ups, and foreign universities vying for international students – trustees and senior level administrators are generally stuck in a traditional ethos and with decision-making processes unsuited to these times. They know what used to work, and find it easier to follow old ways than to make the difficult transition to new ways of delivering education.She lays out a strategy: that emphasizes the centrality of students and how to provide them with the most effective learning environment; that is clear-eyed about focusing on the core missions, and abandoning practices that constrain or impede them; and that requires constant self-monitoring to learn from and act upon what works. She offers a blueprint for redesigning institutions, for paring away what is unnecessary and cost ineffective, and for adopting the best technologies, all in the service of developing meaningful degree programs at an affordable price, and widening access for under-represented groups. She ranges over the implications of budget decisions, accreditation, and MOOCs; addresses government regulation and tuition costs; presents promising new models; and concludes with 11 key recommendations that should be heeded by all higher education administrators and trustees.

Risky Teaching

Risky Teaching PDF

Author: Jay W. Roberts

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2021-11-22

Total Pages: 161

ISBN-13: 1000459187

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Risky Teaching examines the role of risk and uncertainty in teaching and learning in higher education. Discussing the current landscape of higher education and the challenges and opportunities we face, this book synthesizes a range of evidence-based and high-impact practices both in and out of the classroom, offering practical strategies and thought-provoking ideas on educational innovation for students and faculty. Covering topics such as taking risks inside the classroom, innovative teaching methods outside the classroom, rethinking assessment, and sustaining creativity as we grow in our careers, this practical resource is for faculty and instructors to work within and through uncertainty. The book also explores the inward challenges and opportunities associated with risky teaching and how institutional leaders can encourage productive risk-taking throughout the organization. This important text is for faculty and instructors in higher education who want to help their students thrive in a complex, unscripted, and disruptive world.

Risk Management in Student Affairs

Risk Management in Student Affairs PDF

Author: Thomas E. Miller

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2014-07-14

Total Pages: 260

ISBN-13: 1118791517

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A comprehensive, accessible guide to the policies and practices of risk management in higher education Student affairs staff at all types of colleges and universities need to be equipped to help manage risk and protect their institutions, the people they serve, and their resources from unintended consequences. Risk Management in Student Affairs: Foundations for Safety and Success helps practitioners understand the sources of risk in their work, and the practices and strategies they can employ to help mitigate that risk. Written for those without legal training, the book is accessible to new and mid-level professionals as well as students preparing to enter the profession. It teaches how to limit, control, and respond to risk in order to protect oneself and one's institution. The book covers all aspects of risk management in higher education, including: Tort liability (such as damage due to negligence, accidents on campus, injuries resulting from alcohol use, and incidents during study-abroad trips) Contracts (such as off-campus incidents, contracts for events and activities, and employment and disciplinary issues) State and federal violations (including the freedoms of speech, religion, and the press, search and seizure, due process, OSHA, Title IX, FERPA, and ADA) Resource protection (including information and data security, facilities, financial resources, and physical environments) Managing risk is an integral part of the work of student affairs, and the ability to manage risk well can save time, money, and personnel at a time when resources can be scarce. Whether you work in a public or private institution, and whether you manage personal or institutional risk, no other book addresses risk management within higher education in such a focused, comprehensive manner.