Learning Resources

Abstract: In the continuing environment of accountability, we have created false distinctions between reducing costs and improving productivity as opposed to examining the quality of the product produced and the work completed. The policy discussion has focused on completion and graduation, with little emphasis on the quality of learning. New assessments move quality to the center of the conversation. Accreditation is making evidence of student learning quality a priority.

Abstract: Accreditation, the primary means of assuring and improving quality in U.S. higher education, is the oldest and most diverse quality review system in the world. During the 1950s, accreditation entered into a public-private partnership with the federal government, serving as the nation’s reliable authority on academic quality. While this partnership has been effective in many ways, it is now undergoing major change as the expanding governmental regulatory authority to judge quality eclipses accreditation’s collegial model of quality review. This shift challenges the core values of both accreditation and higher education and threatens heretofore successful practices such as the judging of quality by academics and institutional self-determination. While fully countering an expansion of governmental authority is unlikely, action from the academic community is essential to contain this expansion and preserve core academic values.

Abstract: Regional accreditation in the United States is nearly 100 years old and has continued to focus on its founding principles, including academic quality and institutional improvement. Significant federal financial commitments to higher education date back to the mid-1950s, and the provision of these ballooning expenditures has been linked to accreditation. Tensions have developed between the original purposes of accreditation and the growing need for regulatory compliance to ensure that federal funds are well spent. This article describes those tensions, identifies current efforts to address them, and offers some practical suggestions for the future.

Abstract: Traditional college and university space planning methods largely ignore issues of quality, money, and mission, focusing instead on the application of formulae to strictly categorized space types. Today’s complex challenges, including a significantly reduced resource base, motivate an evolution in methodology. Opportunities exist to strengthen technical underpinnings and to question key assumptions, particularly the value of benchmarking. This book sketches this evolved comprehensive space planning practice, with its emphases on utilization, economic value, quality, and accountability both to the institutional mission and to stakeholders.

Abstract: University campuses offer rich opportunities to model and test sustainable design practices. Through examination of four campus initiatives, this article explores the integration of sustainable goals into the design process. The universities studied sought to enhance campus sustainability through the use of strategic goals, flexible designs, and green infrastructure approaches in their respective campus plans. The projects offer an opportunity for universities to be leaders both educationally and environmentally and provide a framework for approaching the sustainable campus landscape, revealing the potential to strengthen landscape architecture as a practice and pedagogy within the academic community. As many campuses struggle to address sustainability practices, there is a clear call to share stories and challenges. This article documents a range of examples and offers reflections that expand foundations for further exploration and learning.

Abstract: When undertaking a new strategic planning process, many institutions get bogged down in issues of flexibility versus consistency, as well as in concerns about participation and transparency. The co-chairs of Widener University’s strategic planning process and implementation developed evolutionary phases to coincide with the multi-year implementation of the 10-year plan, resulting in greater participation and buy-in, as well as stamina for the long-term changes needed to strengthen, and ultimately transform, the institution. As a result, the institution is well on its way to meeting its 13 goals and making the transition to the next strategic planning process. Faculty and staff began to see accreditation (and accountability) as something truly meaningful.