Learning Resources

Abstract: Higher education institutions must be resilient amid vastly increased expectations for sustainable environments, global focus, and technological support. In this article, we challenge all those engaged with planning in higher education to foster shared leadership throughout all levels of the organization as a means to meet these challenges and opportunities. We cite scholarship on shared leadership and provide examples of shared leadership in support of Green, Global, and Google (i.e., above-campus technology) initiatives. We provide a model for shared leadership and conclude with a succinct set of directions for reinventing higher education.

Abstract: The study described in this article examined the development and implementation of a geographic information system (GIS)as a simple sketch-plan tool for analyzing land use, transit routes, student ridership, and bus stop locations in order to improve the effectiveness of transit systems in college towns.The methodology was applied to Auburn University’s Tiger Transit system, which assists students commuting to and from the campus, and the route changes implemented as a result of this analysis significantly improved the system’s effectiveness. Transit ridership increased by 23 percent from 13,000 to 16,000 riders per day. The transit routes were changed to serve almost 90 percent of the student population using fewer buses, compared to 70 percent served before the improvement.In addition, the transit system started to serve commercial locations such as malls, recreational locations, cinemas, and big-box stores.

Abstract: There is a crisis in higher education. With skyrocketing tuition, shrinking budgets, and increasingly complex social problems, it is time to ask: What are public research universities doing—and what should they do—to fulfill their compact with the citizens of their states? Locating some of the major cultural and structural obstacles impeding academic engagement, this article argues that “intellectual entrepreneurship” provides academic institutions with both a philosophy and set of mechanisms to meet the ethical obligation of discovering and putting to work knowledge that makes a difference—to educate “citizen-scholars” who engage in service with rather than to society.

Abstract: This article focuses on the impact of the Southern Association of Colleges and School’s redesign of regional accreditation processes. The authors describe (1) common patterns among regional accreditation associations,(2) a systems modeling framework to illustrate important components in the planning process as it relates to student learning outcomes, and (3) the fundamental role of peer review in the redesign process.

Abstract: In February 2008, the U.S. Army and Fayetteville State University established a partnership that has changed the process of healthcare education for active duty social workers. Before this time, the army relied on public universities to be solely responsible for recruiting, evaluating, and educating active duty social workers to serve the needs of service members and their families. However, to meet an immediate need for more social workers to deal with the wounds caused by the War on Terror and to help it get the best possible return on its educational investment, the army decided to partner with a university to establish a distance education Master of Social Work program at the Army Medical Department Center and School at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Fayetteville State University in Fayetteville, North Carolina was the university partner selected. This article outlines the background of the partnership and the issues other public universities should consider if they want to partner with the military or another federal agency. The article also highlights the benefits of such a partnership.