Reconstructing Alma Mater: The Coming Crisis in Higher Education, a Blueprint for Reform

212 Pages·2006·0.96 MB·English

by  Philip H. Francis

RECONSTRUCTING ALMA MATER:
THE COMING CRISIS
IN HIGHER EDUCATION
A BLUEPRINT FOR REFORM

RECONSTRUCTING ALMA MATER:
THE COMING CRISIS
IN HIGHER EDUCATION
A BLUEPRINT FOR REFORM
Philip H. Francis
Algora Publishing
New York
© 2006 by Algora Publishing.
All Rights Reserved
www.algora.com
No portion of this book (beyond what is permitted by
Sections 107 or 108 of the United States Copyright Act of 1976)
may be reproduced by any process, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted in any form, or by any means, without the
express written permission of the publisher.
ISBN: 0-87586-458-9 (trade soft)
ISBN: 0-87586-459-7 (hard cover)
ISBN: 0-87586-460-0 (ebook)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data —
Francis, Philip H.
Reconstructing Alma Mater : the coming crisis in higher education, a blueprint
for reform / Philip H. Francis.
p. cm.
ISBN 0-87586-458-9 (trade paper : alk. paper) — ISBN 0-87586-459-7 (hard
cover : alk. paper) — ISBN 0-87586-460-0 (ebook) 1. Education, Higher—United
States—Forecasting. 2. Education, Higher—Economic aspects—United States. I.
Title.
LA227.4.F89 2006
378.73—dc22
2006005018
Front Cover: Columbia University Commencement Exercises. Columbia
University's Alma Mater statue during Columbia 2005 commencement
ceremony. Columbia will graduate approximately 11,000 students from all
schools marking Columbia University's 251st academic year.
Image: © James Leynse/Corbis
Photographer: James Leynse Date Photographed: May 18, 2005
Printed in the United States
This book is dedicated to all those in the higher academic community:
presidents and chancellors, deans, faculty and administrative staff.
Additionally, we salute each generation of students, for they are our best bet for
a better future.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
PROLOGUE 1
CHAPTER I: THE BEGINNINGS AND THE JOURNEY 3
1. THE AUDIENCE AND THE MESSAGE 3
Finance 6
Demographics 6
Technology 7
Competition 7
Marketplace 7
Politics 7
2. ABOUT THIS BOOK 7
CHAPTER II: LAYING THE FOUNDATION FOR TOMORROW’S HIGHER
EDUCATION SYSTEMS 13
1. A SHORT HISTORY OF THE STRUCTURE OF COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES 13
2. GOVERNMENT’S EARLY ROLE IN PROLIFERATING HIGHER EDUCATION:
A BRIEFING 19
3. THE DISTINCTIVE AND CHANGING CULTURE OF THE MODERN
UNIVERSITY 21
4. CREATING KNOWLEDGE WORKERS 31
CHAPTER III: BEGINNINGS OF THE NEW TRANSFORMATION 35
PROCESS, PROCESS, PROCESS 35
1. THE INPUT SIDE: K-12 EDUCATION 35
2. ACCREDITATION OF COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES 44
3. THE STRUCTURE OF COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES 46
4. ADMISSIONS: GATEKEEPERS, DIVERSITY AND AFFIRMATIVE ACTION 50
5. THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT 59
6. PEDAGOGY: TRENDS AND MEASURING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES 75
ix
Reconstructing Alma Mater
CHAPTER IV: TECHNOLOGY’S TRANSFORMATIONAL ROLE IN
HIGHER EDUCATION
SYSTEMS THAT ARE NEEDED TO TAKE US INTO THE FUTURE 79
1. FORCES OF CHANGE: DEMOGRAPHICS AND ACCELERATING KNOWLEDGE 79
2. TECHNOLOGY: CONVENTIONAL, DISTANCE AND INTERNET-BASED
LEARNING 85
3. BUSINESS INFORMATION & LIBRARY SYSTEMS 97
4. MANAGING AND REINING IN TECHNOLOGY COSTS 104
5. INSTITUTIONAL IT POLICY 108
6. BENCHMARKING 112
7. LIBRARIES 114
CHAPTER V: THE NEW BUSINESS OF HIGHER EDUCATION
THE NEW BUSINESS OF HIGHER EDUCATION 117
1. CORE ACADEMIC VALUES: LEADERSHIP, ACADEMIC POLICY, ETHICS,
BRANDING 117
Leadership 118
Academic Policy 122
Ethics: Cheating and Honor Codes 126
Branding 128
2. UNIVERSITIES EMULATING BUSINESS 131
1. Lack of Urgency 133
2. Limited Staff Engagement 133
3. Imbedded Culture 134
4. Value 134
5. Management Perspective 134
3. THE COST STRUCTURE AND ECONOMICS OF HIGHER EDUCATION 149
Endowments and Business Planning 152
Entrepreneurship 155
Trends to Watch 165
Faculty and Staff 167
4. TENURE AND COLLECTIVE BARGAINING 172
5. THE WORKFORCE OF THE FUTURE: KNOWLEDGE 184
CHAPTER VI: GETTING THE MOST, WHILE MANAGING COSTS 187
1. TEACHING AND LEARNING: ARE STUDENTS GETTING WHAT
THEY NEED? 187
2. COLLEGE ATHLETICS AND RECREATION 190
3. PHONY DEGREES: NEW TWISTS ON EDUCATION AND
MEASURING EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES 196
4. LEARNING BY DEGREES 198
EPILOGUE 201
x