Change is a constant both in life and on the typical community college campus. Two-year institutions are constantly adjusting to demographic transitions, workforce needs and the ever-shifting requirements of underserved enrollees. Flexibility around service may also call for internal change. Some community colleges have rebranded their names--a…

The emphasis on increasing diversity within medical schools is not a new trend. At Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, we made a concerted effort to increase the percentage of Hispanic students in each incoming class. In this article, we highlight the experiences, actions, and lessons learned from key stakeholders. We conclude…

Assessment is a cyclical process within which educators construct outcomes, implement programs, assess constructs such as learning, evaluate results, and utilize results to craft stronger programs and services. Within educational and faculty development, assessment measures program impact on faculty, students, and/or institutional culture.…

This article features Oscar F. Smith Middle School, a challenging school in Chesapeake, Virginia. When Principal Linda Scott exclaims, "Oscar F. Smith Middle School is "hot"!" to visitors, she is not referring to the inside temperature of the bustling school of grades 6-8 located in the historic South Norfolk borough of…

Given their value to the student experience, institutional identity, alumni loyalty, and economic welfare, historic preservation efforts must unite with institutional sustainability efforts and other high priorities to develop an approach for mutual success. Further, it is important to recognize the limits in the current milieu of economic…

Increasingly, there is a growing realization in alumni relations that successful alumni programs, benefits, and services are not ends in and of themselves. Rather, alumni engagement is ultimately all about the institution. Success in alumni relations ideally advances an institution's overall forward progress. Twenty years ago, alumni strategic…

This report presents data collected via interviews with institutional personnel and reviews of historical and current institutional and State Council of Higher Education for Virginia documents to gain a better understanding of mission change and its associated factors. Results indicate that Virginia's public colleges and universities have…

Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL) is an informal national alliance working to build strong learning environments for undergraduate students in math, engineering, and fields of science. As director of PKAL, this author was invited by the editors of "Change" to identify resources for academic communities that are seeking to transform campus…

Educators and policymakers are beginning to realize that students aged 10 through 14 are not well served by the "miniature high school" atmosphere of the typical junior high school, where the primary emphasis is placed on academic achievement in departmentalized course offerings. A program that is student-centered and that better…

Community colleges have always been strongly tied to their local communities, and arose out of an egalitarian approach to higher education. The Morrill Act of 1862 created the American land grant universities, with an emphasis on practical education in agriculture and technical fields. In addition, a number of private two-year "junior…

To increase supply of generalist physicians, three state-supported Virginia medical schools formed a partnership with governmental stakeholders in the Generalist Physician Initiative. Lessons learned concerning stakeholder participation in planning, shared philosophical commitment, support for risk-taking, attitudes toward change, and trust are…