Learning Resources

Abstract: Consortia tend to be groups of either public or private institutions that have formed an alliance that allows them to achieve more collectively than they could individually, and consortial efforts are gaining moment as significant powerhouses in enhancing academic life on campus and reducing administrative expenses. This article examines some of the current consortial models, which have two primary areas of focus: academic affairs and administrative functions. The potential for building academic breadth/depth on campus and the possibility of cost savings offer a powerful incentive for institutions to explore avenues for substantial consortial efforts. This overview includes a question set that should be addressed before embarking on a collaboration.

Abstract: This grounded theory research investigates climate action plan implementation using Cal Poly Pomona as a case study. It analyzes organizational dynamics in climate planning processes, investigates actions that may have been taken without the plan, and identifies the challenges of taking climate action. The results indicate that while most actions could have been taken without the plan, the planning process yielded social, political, and intellectual capital that would otherwise not have been realized. In areas where progress is slow or stalled, there is a lack of effective collaboration, a mismatch between plan strategies and organizational norms, or a perceived or real lack of efficacy.

Abstract: As with all educational institutions, the visual identity of a Christian college results from both a professional’s design principles and users’ own experiences and associations. While the two may be related, they are by no means the same. A logical symbolic center for many Christian campuses, a chapel facilitates religious activity and carries emotional attachments bound up with the community’s sense of place. However, it is not clear how the community members of a Christian college perceive the importance of their chapel relative to the importance placed on it by an architect’s strong campus design principles.
Calvin College, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, serves as a case study, offering an example of how a college community might regard the importance of a chapel building over and against its architect’s strong design principles. The chapel building was not conceived as a primary expression of the college’s visual identity and thus was only incidentally associated with the architect’s overarching vision for the campus. This case study asks if the community of Calvin College perceives the chapel as a powerful campus placemarker contributing to the current visual identity of the institution. The results of this study illustrate that a chapel building can work as an institutional symbol for a Christian college, representing the institution’s identity even when it stands apart from strong campus design principles.

Abstract: Will online education render the traditional university campus irrelevant? Is there a there there when it comes to online education? What makes the flesh-and-blood, brick-and-mortar material realm still relevant—even essential—to education? While online education has brought with it radical transformation, bringing people together in physical space is and will be essential for student success. The reasons for coming together, however, are changing; institutions must adapt if they are to remain vital. Institutions need to know where they stand. What is their “there”? What can they do “there” that cannot be done online?

Abstract: Change in higher education is ubiquitous. Accountability, assessment, outcomes, competencies, affordability, and quality continue to be of critical importance to stakeholders, policy makers, students, and communities. A three-part strategy for reinventing the paradigm around student success includes analytics, policies, and politics. As stewards of the future, we all need to be aware of the importance of analytics in developing continuous improvement strategies; the role of policies in supporting the framework that allows us to deliver on the promise of education; and the politics that form the complex environment that must sustain and support new approaches to meeting students’ learning needs.