Learning Resources

Abstract: Colleges and universities need to identify the “core” which defines them as an institution. They need to find and declare their niche within state systems, and then build a budget around that core, that niche. Across the nation, public institutions are wrestling with declining state budget resources and increased demand for services. Traditional budgetary approaches could result in wholesale across-the-board reductions or program eliminations. What is needed is recognition of the situation, acceptance that these down cycles occur and re-occur, and a new approach to funding requests. If funding is not available for all programs, fund and preserve the core.

Abstract: Many institutions have developed learning communities and first year programs in order to facilitate student success, increase engagement and promote connections. Do we know if these outcomes are being accomplished? How should we go about finding out? Using multiple methods, one university carried out a comprehensive study of these efforts. Lessons were learned about both what works among learning communities and first year programs and how to best go about asking the question.

Abstract: This paper describes the status of Latino students in higher education, identifies the barriers to access and persistence, and discusses the challenges this rising population presents. The article also highlights campus programs around the country that are currently addressing the needs of Latino students and provides recommendations for academic and university planners on how to become a catalyst for positive institutional change by creating a campus-wide program that helps all students persist through graduation.

Abstract: This paper contains a management model for pricing and enrollment planning. It is assumed that the institution maximizes its long run quality reputation through the accomplishments of its alumni. The model yields rules for optimal pricing decisions with respect to the “sticker price,” the average scholarship per student, and enrollment. It identifies the optimal mix between the sticker price and the average scholarship, a measure of the institution’s financial ability to support students, and an average cost pricing rule. The model also reveals that pricing rules based on the theory of the firm are inappropriate for higher education and can lead to financial distress.

Abstract: Although some educators think that e-learning is a transient fad, we argue that, far from disappearing, it has gone mainstream, and is quickly becoming part of the everyday fabric of traditional higher education institutions. However, contrary to another widely-held view, e-learning is not just fully online education, but rather encompasses a large set of teaching options that institutions must adopt and adapt. A successful venture into e-learning, therefore, should begin not with technology decisions, but with a strategic planning process that allows an institution to choose the e-learning alternatives that best meet their vision and business goals.

Abstract: Global society has “overshot” the long-term human carrying capacity of Earth. This unsustainable state is an emergent property of the systemic interaction of techno-industrial society as presently configured and the ecosphere. It cannot be corrected without fundamental changes to critical socio-cultural variables that determine the interaction. To the extent that higher education (re)produces the dominant cultural paradigm, it is a source of the problem. Universities must strive to reduce the ecological footprints of both their own operations and, more importantly, of the growth-oriented materialistic worldview they promote. Indeed, the real challenge for higher education is to help articulate an alternative life-sustaining worldview.