Effective teaching practice focused on encouraging deep engagement helps all students learn and succeed. Considerable work by researchers and change agents, encouraged by national organizations such as the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Research Council, has promoted greater use of evidence-based educational practices, such as…

The authors explore the disconnect between espoused and enacted values in assurance of learning activities--assessment is said to be encouraged, valued, and rewarded--but is it? The data from an analysis of 200 pages of the contractual rules (bylaws) for reappointment, tenure, and promotion at Central Michigan University demonstrate little…

This report describes a study conducted by the Community College Research Center (CCRC) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Task Force on the Work of the Future to understand how community colleges are adapting their workforce programs to changing skill demands, diversifying pathways to certificates and degrees, and grappling with…

This paper is the first to investigate the costs of institution-wide reforms at community colleges. Drawing on data from 12 community colleges implementing comprehensive guided pathways reforms, I use the ingredients method to analyze the resources required to implement such reforms and examine their feasibility and affordability, as well as their…

Experts and leaders within most fields possess knowledge that is largely tacit and unconscious in nature. The leaders of most organizations do not "know what they know" and cannot share their knowledge with others. The loss of this essential knowledge is of major concern to organizations. This study tested an innovative method of tacit…

In 2007, Michigan undertook a bold mission: to retrain tens of thousands of adults to qualify for jobs in emerging and expanding sectors of the economy. The state's proposal to jobless, dislocated, and low-income residents was simple but appealing: enroll in up to two years of postsecondary education, and Michigan would cover up to $5,000 in…

As the student success movement has come of age at America's community colleges, much effort has gone into state-level reforms coupled with college-level efforts, on the theory that relying on individual institutions alone to bring change at scale across states and the nation will take too long and cost too much. But if centralized authority is…

This case study, part of the State Structures for the Governance of Higher Education study, focuses on governance and related issues in Michigan's higher education system. The study's overall purpose was to examine differences among states in their governance structures, and to determine if differences in performance were related to governing…

In the 1968-69 controversy over the foreign language requirement for the B.A. degree in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts of the University of Michigan, the College faculty chose a compromise solution to the policy in practice since 1954 of a required 4-semester study of a foreign language with placement testing. Policy alternatives…

Twenty-five issues papers of the Governor's Commission on the Future of Higher Education in Michigan are presented. The document is divided into three sections: section one provides base information on the trends and indicators which evolve beyond the control of higher education; section two discusses those public policy issues which must be…

The proceedings of the IMHE Special Topic Workshop in Institutional Performance Assessment, held in Paris, December 10-12, 1980, are summarized. The themes of the workshop (self-evaluation, government role, finance) are discussed and participants comments are outlined. (Author/MLW)

This study addresses several common shortcomings of current university campus sustainability initiatives, including a lack of attention to integrative issues such as land use, housing, and transportation, and a generally reactive rather than proactive approach to sustainability. To engage these concerns, we develop a model for assessing the…

Retrenchment and reallocation processes at five public colleges and universities were studied: the University of Washington; University of Idaho; University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; Michigan State University; and Seattle Community College District. After an overview of institutional approaches to retrenchment and reallocation, the five individual…

In July 1992, the Commission on New Directions for Michigan Community Colleges (CNDMCC) was established to identify key issues most likely to effect the 29 Michigan community colleges and develop recommendations for handling those issues. This report provides background information on the CNDMCC and discusses the commission's recommendations. The…

"Chronicle of Higher Education" presents an abundant source of news and information for college and university faculty members and administrators. This January 14, 2005 issue of "Chronicle for Higher Education" includes the following articles: (1) "Utopia College: A Distinctive Alternative" (Nemko, Marty); (2)…