The long history of volunteerism in America has its roots in colonial religious and educational enterprises. From the beginning, colleges and universities have been independently governed rather than subject to national or state control. This autonomy is a uniquely American tradition. Over the centuries, the work of academic governing…

Online learning is an increasingly prominent and legitimate presence in higher education--nearly one third of full-time and part time students at nonprofit and for-profit institutions took one or more online courses in 2009, according to the Sloan Consortium. While the value of taking a college or university "online" may be obvious and…

The State University System of Florida has developed three tools that aid in guiding the System's future: (1) The Board of Governors' new "Strategic Plan 2012-2025" is driven by goals and associated metrics that stake out where the System is headed; (2) The Board's "Annual Accountability Report" provides yearly tracking for how…

The State University System of Florida has in recent years faced major budgetary challenges, remarkable for the size of its reductions in state funding, even when compared to the large cuts seen in so many states struck by the recession of 2008. What is more surprising in the world of higher education, however, is the progress that Florida's…

When a recent accreditation review report and an assessment consultant report both identified issues with assessment and shared governance, the three faculty governing bodies of National University met with the Provost and President to brainstorm and discuss a shared governance action plan to address these issues. As a result of this meeting, the…

This article presents an analysis of two major reports discussing the current crisis in STEM education. Both the National Science Board (NSB) and the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) reported alarming facts and figures about the United States' position in the global knowledge economy. The U.S. is no longer…

Closing programs is the most severe of the three strategies campuses typically consider during difficult financial times: generating new revenue, making across-the-board spending cuts, or undertaking targeted cuts. Closures of academic programs can have lasting negative fallout and the savings may not be as great as anticipated, but at certain…

When Commonfund and the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) announced in late 2008 that they would join forces to combine their two endowment studies, which had historically been fielded and reported separately, they had high hopes for the venture, but those hopes were tempered with caution. The financial…

This article discusses the new for-profit venture established by Middlebury College which sparked various reactions from alumni and from people outside the college. Middlebury College has been around since 1800, and it has been long a leader in foreign-language education. In April 2010, it has entered a partnership with K12, the largest provider…

Although the authority for hiring a community college president resides with the board of trustees, few studies have directly explored trustees' perceptions of the desired qualifications for presidents. Using a Delphi process, this study identified the characteristics, competencies, and professional experiences that Illinois community college…

Each year, the apportionment ballot is used to determine how many representatives each division and state, provincial, and territorial association will have on the Council of Representatives. The system is described in Article V, Sections 6 and 7, of the American Psychological Association (APA) "Bylaws". Briefly, all APA fellows, members, and…

Bill Hill received his PhD from the University of Georgia in 1979 and has been on the faculty at Kennesaw State University (KSU) ever since. He is currently director of the KSU Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. His professional activities and research revolve around faculty development. In 1989, he founded, and continues to…

Faculty members typically have few opportunities to understand the full scope of trustees' responsibilities and the work they do for institutions. But the author argues that when faculty can appreciate the work of trustees and trustees appreciate the role of faculty, an important framework for bridging worlds can be established. Furthermore,…

In accordance with Ohio Amended Substitute House Bill 153, the Chancellor submitted to the state Legislature and the Governor a plan, developed in consultation with Central State University, that assures the Central State Supplement will be used to promote the goals of increasing enrollment, improving course completion, and increasing the number…

The survey on hot topics was added in 2007 to the annual survey of state directors of community colleges conducted by the University of Alabama Education Policy Center. The survey data provided an opportunity for examining the personal attitudes toward the hot topics and the associations between these attitudes and state contexts. This study finds…