Learning Resources

Abstract: This article uses the results of a national study to propose several multidimensional planning models for institutional planners and researchers. It focuses on developing, supporting, and using a number of dimensions within six domains that the research study identified as important factors for inclusion in planning models. The domains are external influences on student assessment, institutional context (type, control, and size), institutional approach to student assessment, institution-wide support for student assessment, assessment management policies and practices, and uses and impacts of student assessment.

Abstract: The purpose of this article is to emphasize the concept of utopia, which universities have used throughout history in developing their “spaces of knowledge.” This concept should continue to be an objective in the 21st century as universities look for paradigms in the architectural layout of their institutions. The implicit principle of this article is that good architecture is a necessary component in achieving educational excellence.

Abstract: The quality of campus life in large universities has declined over the years as faculty have given up responsibility for student life outside the classroom and institutions have become ever more bureaucratized. To solve this problem, universities should establish systems of small, decentralized academic communities modeled ultimately on the residential colleges of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. In the United States, Harvard and Yale Universities first adopted this residential college model in the 1930s, and it is now spreading to many institutions, public and private, large and small.

Abstract: Urban schools segment students into direct from high school (DHS) or "traditional" and adult or "nontraditional," based on presumed scheduling and program preferences and media access. Grouping enrollment and survey data from one institution by permanent residence, class schedules, and campus participation produced a modified picture: local DHS students are more like adults than out-of-town DHS students. "Campus-centered" and "community-centered" are proposed to replace traditional and nontraditional concepts. Implications of this reconceptualization are developed.

Abstract: A study identified operational computer lab models being used at higher education institutions to accommodate the computer needs of students with disabilities and to develop an instrument to assist administrators as they evaluate their programs to implement such models. Study findings presented the case that institutions have to address the issue of access to computer technology by all students. These findings are supported by studies that showed legislative initiatives that mandate disability accommodations, increasing numbers of students with disabilities enrolling in U.S. colleges and universities, increasing numbers of computers on campuses, and the requirement for use of computers by college students.

Abstract: This essay discusses a process for taking an institutional vision and translating and transforming it into quantifiable performance indicators that provide a framework for the institution to implement, manage and measure change. The method consists of the construction of a system-wide metric, or comprehensive “scorecard,” containing institutional strategic themes and indicators of progress. Scorecards provide institutions with clear guidelines for planning and decision making and communicate strategic priorities that are easily viewed and understood by the university community. They allow for the identification of high priority programs leading to congruence between goals and objectives and provide the framework to address productivity issues within academic and support units and throughout the university. Scorecards facilitate institutional synergy by ensuring that the sum total of unit progress will lead to the achievement of university goals.