2. Carnegie Classification [WLO: 1] [CLO: 1]. 1st Post Due by Day 3. Prior to beginning work on this discussion, read the article Understanding Postsecondary Options: Guiding the Decision-Making Process and explore the website Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.
The Carnegie Classification provides a way to group comparable institutions into meaningful and analytically manageable categories, which enable researchers to make comparisons among ostensibly similar institutions and to contrast them with groups of ostensibly different ones. Because the classifications are used by foundations and businesses as eligibility criteria for grant programs, —and some states use the classification in their funding formulas—universities have tangible interests in maintaining or changing their classifications and often seek to do so.
In light of the diversity among universities and the politics that invariably surround the ranking of universities, address the following items in your initial prompt:
Assess the degree to which the ranking of universities can be objective and neutral.
Explain how rankings of institutions of higher learning can be of use to individuals, businesses,
foundations, and the institutions themselves.
Assess some limitations of rankings, supporting your thinking with examples.
Guided Response: Respond to at least two peers by Day 5. In your responses, engage your classmates’ positions on the topics provided, point out where you concur and maybe differ, and make efforts to understand or resolve differences and refine your thinking.
Though two replies are the basic expectation, for deeper engagement and application of the material, you are encouraged to provide responses to any comments or questions others have given to you (including your instructor) before Day 7. This ongoing engagement in the discussion will deepen the conversation while providing opportunities to demonstrate your content expertise, critical thinking, and real-world experiences with this topic. In addition to offering comments, encourage further conversation by questioning your peers about their responses.
16EDU589: ISSUES AND INNOVATIONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION COURSE GUIDE
Journal
1. Mission Statements [WLO: 2] [CLO: 1]. Due by Day 7. Before starting on this week’s journal assignment, read the articles Purpose, Mission, and Context: The Call for Educating Future Leaders and Sameness and Difference: Analyzing Institutional and Organizational Specificities of Universities Through Mission Statements.
Mission statements are said to be the cornerstones of universities. They ostensibly solidify an institution’s identity, help faculty members share a common set of beliefs, and help students understand the fundamental values of a university. For some, an institution’s formally adopted mission statement represents its fundamental reasons for existence, its shared values, and the students that it aims to serve. On the other hand, critics claim that mission statements are fundamentally marketing and public relations, filled with jargon and bromides that are viewed by the institution’s personnel and faculty as mere window dressing, without meaning or substantive implications.
For this journal, locate mission statements for three institutions of higher education with which you have some familiarity and knowledge. Then address the following items in your journal entry:
Identify the three universities, providing the URLs of their websites, and provide the mission statement for each.
Reflect on the ways the publication of mission statements may have substantive impacts on the institution’s character and on the actions of its employees and community; how may such a collection of words inspire, guide, and limit how the institution does what it does?
Assess the limits to the power of mission statements; how may they be circumvented, misused, and maybe transgressed by an organization and its personnel?
Describe examples of institutional activity that illustrate the power and limitations of mission statements.
Identify what an institution’s leaders can and must do to assure that an organization’s mission is taken
seriously and achieved.
Discussion
Participate in the following discussion:
1. Who Pays? [WLOs: 1, 2] [CLO: 2]. 1st Post Due by Day 3. Prior to beginning work on this discussion, read each of the following articles:
Starting from Scratch: A New Federal and State Partnership in Higher Education
Partisans, Professionals, and Power: The Role of Political Factors in State Higher Education Funding
Settling a U.S. Senatorial Debate: Understanding Declines in State Higher Education Funding
Role Clarity: The Interplay of Entities Funding Higher Education. State-Federal Partnerships in
Postsecondary Education
State Funding of Higher Education and the Underfunding of Public Pensions
For this discussion, you will conduct an article review of one of the five articles listed above, with a focus on assessing an argument or position discussed or put forth in the article on how to use state, federal, and private funds to fund institutions of higher education.
20EDU589: ISSUES AND INNOVATIONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION COURSE GUIDE
In your initial post, address the following items:
Provide a full APA reference entry for the article you are reviewing. If you need additional help creating
your reference entry, please go to the Formatting Your Reference List web page in the Ashford Writing
Center.
Briefly summarize the author’s major argument or point.
Critically assess the author’s or authors’ position, explaining why the argument is correct and can usefully
inform decisions about higher education funding, and maybe identifying where the argument falls short.
Guided Response: Respond to at least two peers by Day 5. Select at least one classmate who selected the same article to assess as you did and at least one who wrote about a different article. In your responses, engage in critical discussion, and when applicable, debate your classmates’ positions on the article.
Though two replies are the basic expectation, for deeper engagement and application of the material, you are encouraged to provide responses to any comments or questions others have given to you (including your instructor) before Day 7. This ongoing engagement in the discussion will deepen the conversation while providing opportunities to demonstrate your content expertise, critical thinking, and real-world experiences with this topic. In addition to offering comments, encourage further conversation by questioning your peers about their responses.
Assignment
1.
State Funding Memorandum [WLO: 2] [CLO: 2]. Due by Day 7. Prior to beginning work on this assignment, read the article Federal and State Funding of Higher Education: A Changing Landscape and review the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems website.
For this assignment, you will create a memorandum on state financing of higher education to be presented at a fictional local community college forum, which is being held to support increased funding for higher education at the state level. Your memorandum is intended to inform participants regarding the state and national environments within which decisions regarding the funding of higher education are made.
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EDU589: ISSUES AND INNOVATIONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION COURSE GUIDE
A memorandum is a written report that is prepared for a person or committee in order to provide them with information about a particular matter. Note that the requirement (stated below) to cite credible sources reflects the research and information-gathering process that is part of constructing a memorandum.
Your memorandum should address the following:
Summarize the main issues facing institutions of higher education with respect to the financing of higher
education at the federal and state levels.
Assess how the funding of higher education is structured and governed in a state of your choosing (which
for the purposes of this assignment is the state in which the forum is being held). This section of the memorandum should examine how the funding of higher education has changed over the past 5 to 10 years in the state and nationally.
Discussion
Participate in the following discussion:
1. Accreditation Agencies [WLO: 2] [CLO: 2]. 1st Post Due by Day 3. Prior to beginning work on this discussion read the articles Federal Panel Votes to Shut Down an Accreditor Blamed for Failures of For-Profit Higher Ed and No Love, but No Alternative.
As you have read this week, the federal government relies on a system of private accreditation agencies to determine which postsecondary institutions are eligible to participate in federal student aid programs. These accreditation agencies have become the gatekeepers over institutional access to federal student aid funds.
Using support from scholarly and credible sources, critically analyze one of the topics below. The Scholarly, Peer-Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources table offers guidance on appropriate source types.
Federal eligibility consequences and the decisions of accrediting agencies.
Accountability of accrediting agencies in relationship to federal interest.
Competition among accrediting agencies.
In your initial post,
26EDU589: ISSUES AND INNOVATIONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION COURSE GUIDE
Paste the topic you selected in the first line, so when your peers reply, they will know what topic is under discussion.
Identify the most critical issue or issues associated with the topic you selected.
Assess possible solutions or actions in response to the issues you identified.
Guided Response: Respond to at least two peers by Day 5. Include at least one classmate who selected the same topic as you did and one who selected a different topic. In your responses, critically engage your classmates’ identification of a critical issue and the possible solutions they put forth, critiquing and maybe extending the points and argument they made and offering new ideas to extend the scope of the discussion.
Though two replies are the basic expectation, for deeper engagement and application of the material, you are encouraged to provide responses to any comments or questions others have given to you (including your instructor) before Day 7. This ongoing engagement in the discussion will deepen the conversation while providing opportunities to demonstrate your content expertise, critical thinking, and real-world experiences with this topic. In addition to offering comments, encourage further conversation by questioning your peers about their responses.
Assignment
1. Presentation on Choosing Accreditation [WLO: 1] [CLO: 2]. Due by Day 7. Prior to beginning on this assignment read the articles An Overview of Accreditation of Higher Education in the United States and Accreditation in the USA: Origins, Developments and Future Prospects and review the website Accreditation in the United States.
Consider the following scenario: you have just started working for a start-up for-profit university. A goal of this new university is to obtain accreditation. The leadership of the university would like to understand the different accreditation agencies. Your task is to create a professional presentation that highlights and compares and contrasts at least three different types of accreditation agencies to which the university could apply.
For this assignment, develop and submit a professional presentation meeting the content expectations below:
Describe each of the three accreditation agencies chosen, including the names of the agencies and their
missions.
Weigh the pros and cons regarding why each agency might be chosen or rejected as the accreditation
agency for the university.
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EDU589: ISSUES AND INNOVATIONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION COURSE GUIDE
Describe the accreditation process for each of the accreditation agencies chosen, including how eligibility is determined, how long the accreditation process, and what expenses are related to the accreditation process.
Defend your choice of one of the accreditation agencies that you feel is the strongest fit for the university.
Discussion
Participate in the following discussion:
1. Shared Governance [WLO: 1] [CLO: 2]. 1st Post Due by Day 3. Prior to beginning work on this discussion, read the following resources.
Arresting Decline in Shared Governance: Towards a Flexible Model for Academic Participation 32
EDU589: ISSUES AND INNOVATIONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION COURSE GUIDE
Understanding Faculty Senates: Moving from Mystery to Models
Shared or Divided Governance
The External Pressures on the Internal Governance of Universities
Shared Governance: Changing with the Times
For this discussion, you will describe and critically analyze shared governance or leadership at the university level. In your initial post,
Describe the structures and functions of shared governance and leadership at the university level, with focus on how governance affects and is affected by, one of the following groups: students, faculty, staff, or community at large.
Assess more broadly how the group you selected is represented in the higher education governance process—that is, how does the group make its needs, interests, and preferences known by governance and participate in governance, and how effectively are their needs, interests, and preferences addressed?
Guided Response: Respond to at least two peers by Day 5. In your responses, actively engage your classmates’ analyses, pointing out similarities and differences between theirs and your own, and when applicable, debating points of difference.
Though two replies are the basic expectation, for deeper engagement and application of the material, you are encouraged to provide responses to any comments or questions others have given to you (including your instructor) before Day 7. This ongoing engagement in the discussion will deepen the conversation while providing opportunities to demonstrate your content expertise, critical thinking, and real-world experiences with this topic. In addition to offering comments, encourage further conversation by questioning your peers about their responses.
Journal
1. State and Federal Governance [WLO: 2] [CLO: 2]. Due by Day 7. Prior to starting on this week’s journal, review the website Postsecondary Governance Structures: State Profiles.
For this journal, you will review the governance structures in place for your state or a state of your choice. Provide a brief overview of the general governance structures of higher education.
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EDU589: ISSUES AND INNOVATIONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION COURSE GUIDE
Provide the name of the state and the website or websites from which you obtained state financing information.
Describe the governance structure of the state you selected.
Reflect on how governance in the state is unique, or in some ways different from, other states in the
national environment and why.
Finally, discuss why having a governance structure and process at both the state and federal level is
important to a university (in terms of accountability, transparency, responsiveness, rule of law, stability, equity and inclusiveness, empowerment, and broad-based participation).
1. Address a Community Relations Need [WLO: 1] [CLOs: 2, 3]. 1st Post Due by Day 3. Prior to beginning work on this discussion, read the articles Into the Storm and Crops for Cash, and the webpages Overview: University & Community Partnerships and Connecting Communities with Colleges & Universities.
For this discussion, you will select one of the following functions of community relations for institutions of higher education to apply what you have learned, and engage the responses of your peers.
Bridging racial, class and cultural differences within a community
Facilitating political engagement as a vehicle for community and social change
Youth development, leadership and mentoring
Forming fellowships to strengthen professional skills.
Before you write your initial post, recall, research, or fabricate a scenario wherein a college or university faces circumstances in which it requires, or can benefit from, community relations practices of the sort specified by the community relations function you selected.
In your initial post,
Describe the scenario you recall, researched, or fabricated.
Explain why the community relations function you selected would be needed by, or beneficial to, the
institution and the community.
Identify what the institution seeks to achieve by applying community relations practice(s).
Apply what you have learned to propose how community relations practice(s) could be developed or
deployed to bring about the desired outcome or outcomes.
Guided Response: Respond to at least two peers by Day 5. In your responses critically assess your classmates’ assessment of the scenarios they reported and their application of a community relations practice or practices. At the same time, propose additional practices or actions that would extend their solutions.
Though two replies are the basic expectation, for deeper engagement and application of the material, you are encouraged to provide responses to any comments or questions others have given to you (including your instructor) before Day 7. This ongoing engagement in the discussion will deepen the conversation while providing opportunities to demonstrate your content expertise, critical thinking, and real-world experiences with this topic. In addition to offering comments, encourage further conversation by questioning your peers about their responses.
38EDU589: ISSUES AND INNOVATIONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION COURSE GUIDE
2. Critically Assess an Innovative Development [WLO: 2] [CLOs: 2, 3]. 1st Post Due by Day 3. Prior to beginning work on this discussion, review the webpages Disruptive Innovations in Higher Education and 2018 Most Innovative Schools.
As you read the article on “2018 Most Innovative Schools,” you may have noticed that each of the universities listed demonstrated formidable achievements, but that few were related to student learning, effective operations, or improvements in approaches to higher education. The achievements were mainly research related.
Some have argued (as noted in the article “Disruptive Innovations in Higher Education”) that universities’ innovations should be in the form of adapting to business models; creating new lines of business such as continuing education, facilitating business training, and professional development; and/or focusing on outcomes.
For this discussion choose one of the articles listed on the web page “Disruptive Innovations in Higher Education” to critically assess and discuss.
In your initial post,
Provide a citation and web link for the article you critically analyzed.
Provide a brief overview of the article.
Critically assess the innovation described with respect to its viability, usefulness, and overall value.
In your critical assessment, address questions such as the following. (Note that you don’t have to answer these precise question, which are provided only as possible avenues for inquiry.)
Is the innovation something that would appeal to you as a learner or to others in your social group?
What characteristics and/or qualities make it viable and potentially useful?
What are the flaws in the innovation?
What are some of the concepts that you find appealing?
1. Most Important Takeaway [WLO: 1] [CLOs: 1, 2, 3]. 1st Post Due by Day 3. Prior to beginning work on this
discussion, review the website The Chronicle of Higher Education.
This student-led and moderated discussion format provides the chance to interact with your classmates at a scholarly level regarding any of the Week 1-5 topics. The format is designed to allow for autonomy and deep exploration of the content that is meaningful to you and your peers. Your instructor will participate in the discussions to clarify details or to provide guidance, support, and/or resources.
Your discussion may be generated from any topic, instructional material, resource, or assignment through all five weeks of course content. The topics must be aligned with the three course-level learning outcomes (CLOs), which are listed below.
Describe the types of institutions by scope and control.
Analyze the operation of institutions including finance, community relations, and accreditation.
Appraise innovative developments in higher education.
42EDU589: ISSUES AND INNOVATIONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION COURSE GUIDE
The subject matter and approach of your initial post is open ended and should draw on the interests and experience of the students in course. Your post should,
Identify a higher education topic and at least one learning outcome that is aligned with that topic.
Provide a brief summary to the topic.
Identify one or two important issues associated with the chosen topic.
Reflect on the meaning and importance of the topic and outcome.
Assess how well one or more issues associated with the topic are addressed by institutions of higher education.
Reflect on how they could be better addressed.
Provide one or more open ended questions to promote continued dialogue.
Guided Response: Respond to at least two peers by Day 5. Address the open-ended questions they proposed in their initial response and add any related thoughts or reflections you may have. Compare and contrast what you and your peers found interesting, valuable, and perhaps not-so-valuable about topics presented in the course and the way in which institutions of higher education respond to associated issues and problems. Support your responses with citations to the course materials and/or outside scholarly sources.
Though two replies are the basic expectation, for deeper engagement and application of the material, you are encouraged to provide responses to any comments or questions others have given to you (including your instructor) before Day 7. This ongoing engagement in the discussion will deepen the conversation while providing opportunities to demonstrate your content expertise, critical thinking, and real-world experiences with this topic. In addition to offering comments, encourage further conversation by questioning your peers about their responses.
Final Paper
1. University Comparison [WLO: 2] [CLOs: 1, 2, 3]. Due by Day 7. Competitive intelligence is the act of collecting and analyzing information about competitors and the marketplace in a business sector. Often, competitive intelligence is utilized to see what new market trends are emerging and anticipate, or respond to, challenges and problems before they arise. While we often associate competitive intelligence with startup companies, universities also conduct a competitive intelligence to determine areas of growth and inform strategic planning. Competitive intelligence, as part of a broader strategic planning process, can assist a university with improving oversight by implementing competitive assessment techniques across university departments.
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EDU589: ISSUES AND INNOVATIONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION COURSE GUIDE
Prior to beginning work on this assignment, review the article Competitive Intelligence: Significance in Higher Education.
To begin this assignment, assume the following scenario: you have been selected to complete and present a competitive analysis of two different universities for your university’s yearly strategic planning meeting. You have been asked to complete a presentation that provides a side by side comparison of two different universities. Your presentation and paper should demonstrate your knowledge of all aspects of this course with a comprehensive analysis and discussion.
2. Carnegie Classification [WLO: 1] [CLO: 1]. 1st Post Due by Day 3. Prior to beginning work on this discussion, read the article Understanding Postsecondary Options: Guiding the Decision-Making Process and explore the website Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.
The Carnegie Classification provides a way to group comparable institutions into meaningful and analytically manageable categories, which enable researchers to make comparisons among ostensibly similar institutions and to contrast them with groups of ostensibly different ones. Because the classifications are used by foundations and businesses as eligibility criteria for grant programs, —and some states use the classification in their funding formulas—universities have tangible interests in maintaining or changing their classifications and often seek to do so.
In light of the diversity among universities and the politics that invariably surround the ranking of universities, address the following items in your initial prompt:
Assess the degree to which the ranking of universities can be objective and neutral.
Explain how rankings of institutions of higher learning can be of use to individuals, businesses,
foundations, and the institutions themselves.
Assess some limitations of rankings, supporting your thinking with examples.
Guided Response: Respond to at least two peers by Day 5. In your responses, engage your classmates’ positions on the topics provided, point out where you concur and maybe differ, and make efforts to understand or resolve differences and refine your thinking.
Though two replies are the basic expectation, for deeper engagement and application of the material, you are encouraged to provide responses to any comments or questions others have given to you (including your instructor) before Day 7. This ongoing engagement in the discussion will deepen the conversation while providing opportunities to demonstrate your content expertise, critical thinking, and real-world experiences with this topic. In addition to offering comments, encourage further conversation by questioning your peers about their responses.
16EDU589: ISSUES AND INNOVATIONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION COURSE GUIDE
Journal
1. Mission Statements [WLO: 2] [CLO: 1]. Due by Day 7. Before starting on this week’s journal assignment, read the articles Purpose, Mission, and Context: The Call for Educating Future Leaders and Sameness and Difference: Analyzing Institutional and Organizational Specificities of Universities Through Mission Statements.
Mission statements are said to be the cornerstones of universities. They ostensibly solidify an institution’s identity, help faculty members share a common set of beliefs, and help students understand the fundamental values of a university. For some, an institution’s formally adopted mission statement represents its fundamental reasons for existence, its shared values, and the students that it aims to serve. On the other hand, critics claim that mission statements are fundamentally marketing and public relations, filled with jargon and bromides that are viewed by the institution’s personnel and faculty as mere window dressing, without meaning or substantive implications.
For this journal, locate mission statements for three institutions of higher education with which you have some familiarity and knowledge. Then address the following items in your journal entry:
Identify the three universities, providing the URLs of their websites, and provide the mission statement for each.
Reflect on the ways the publication of mission statements may have substantive impacts on the institution’s character and on the actions of its employees and community; how may such a collection of words inspire, guide, and limit how the institution does what it does?
Assess the limits to the power of mission statements; how may they be circumvented, misused, and maybe transgressed by an organization and its personnel?
Describe examples of institutional activity that illustrate the power and limitations of mission statements.
Identify what an institution’s leaders can and must do to assure that an organization’s mission is taken
seriously and achieved.
Discussion
Participate in the following discussion:
1. Who Pays? [WLOs: 1, 2] [CLO: 2]. 1st Post Due by Day 3. Prior to beginning work on this discussion, read each of the following articles:
Starting from Scratch: A New Federal and State Partnership in Higher Education
Partisans, Professionals, and Power: The Role of Political Factors in State Higher Education Funding
Settling a U.S. Senatorial Debate: Understanding Declines in State Higher Education Funding
Role Clarity: The Interplay of Entities Funding Higher Education. State-Federal Partnerships in
Postsecondary Education
State Funding of Higher Education and the Underfunding of Public Pensions
For this discussion, you will conduct an article review of one of the five articles listed above, with a focus on assessing an argument or position discussed or put forth in the article on how to use state, federal, and private funds to fund institutions of higher education.
20EDU589: ISSUES AND INNOVATIONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION COURSE GUIDE
In your initial post, address the following items:
Provide a full APA reference entry for the article you are reviewing. If you need additional help creating
your reference entry, please go to the Formatting Your Reference List web page in the Ashford Writing
Center.
Briefly summarize the author’s major argument or point.
Critically assess the author’s or authors’ position, explaining why the argument is correct and can usefully
inform decisions about higher education funding, and maybe identifying where the argument falls short.
Guided Response: Respond to at least two peers by Day 5. Select at least one classmate who selected the same article to assess as you did and at least one who wrote about a different article. In your responses, engage in critical discussion, and when applicable, debate your classmates’ positions on the article.
Though two replies are the basic expectation, for deeper engagement and application of the material, you are encouraged to provide responses to any comments or questions others have given to you (including your instructor) before Day 7. This ongoing engagement in the discussion will deepen the conversation while providing opportunities to demonstrate your content expertise, critical thinking, and real-world experiences with this topic. In addition to offering comments, encourage further conversation by questioning your peers about their responses.
Assignment
1.
State Funding Memorandum [WLO: 2] [CLO: 2]. Due by Day 7. Prior to beginning work on this assignment, read the article Federal and State Funding of Higher Education: A Changing Landscape and review the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems website.
For this assignment, you will create a memorandum on state financing of higher education to be presented at a fictional local community college forum, which is being held to support increased funding for higher education at the state level. Your memorandum is intended to inform participants regarding the state and national environments within which decisions regarding the funding of higher education are made.
21
EDU589: ISSUES AND INNOVATIONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION COURSE GUIDE
A memorandum is a written report that is prepared for a person or committee in order to provide them with information about a particular matter. Note that the requirement (stated below) to cite credible sources reflects the research and information-gathering process that is part of constructing a memorandum.
Your memorandum should address the following:
Summarize the main issues facing institutions of higher education with respect to the financing of higher
education at the federal and state levels.
Assess how the funding of higher education is structured and governed in a state of your choosing (which
for the purposes of this assignment is the state in which the forum is being held). This section of the memorandum should examine how the funding of higher education has changed over the past 5 to 10 years in the state and nationally.
Discussion
Participate in the following discussion:
1. Accreditation Agencies [WLO: 2] [CLO: 2]. 1st Post Due by Day 3. Prior to beginning work on this discussion read the articles Federal Panel Votes to Shut Down an Accreditor Blamed for Failures of For-Profit Higher Ed and No Love, but No Alternative.
As you have read this week, the federal government relies on a system of private accreditation agencies to determine which postsecondary institutions are eligible to participate in federal student aid programs. These accreditation agencies have become the gatekeepers over institutional access to federal student aid funds.
Using support from scholarly and credible sources, critically analyze one of the topics below. The Scholarly, Peer-Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources table offers guidance on appropriate source types.
Federal eligibility consequences and the decisions of accrediting agencies.
Accountability of accrediting agencies in relationship to federal interest.
Competition among accrediting agencies.
In your initial post,
26EDU589: ISSUES AND INNOVATIONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION COURSE GUIDE
Paste the topic you selected in the first line, so when your peers reply, they will know what topic is under discussion.
Identify the most critical issue or issues associated with the topic you selected.
Assess possible solutions or actions in response to the issues you identified.
Guided Response: Respond to at least two peers by Day 5. Include at least one classmate who selected the same topic as you did and one who selected a different topic. In your responses, critically engage your classmates’ identification of a critical issue and the possible solutions they put forth, critiquing and maybe extending the points and argument they made and offering new ideas to extend the scope of the discussion.
Though two replies are the basic expectation, for deeper engagement and application of the material, you are encouraged to provide responses to any comments or questions others have given to you (including your instructor) before Day 7. This ongoing engagement in the discussion will deepen the conversation while providing opportunities to demonstrate your content expertise, critical thinking, and real-world experiences with this topic. In addition to offering comments, encourage further conversation by questioning your peers about their responses.
Assignment
1. Presentation on Choosing Accreditation [WLO: 1] [CLO: 2]. Due by Day 7. Prior to beginning on this assignment read the articles An Overview of Accreditation of Higher Education in the United States and Accreditation in the USA: Origins, Developments and Future Prospects and review the website Accreditation in the United States.
Consider the following scenario: you have just started working for a start-up for-profit university. A goal of this new university is to obtain accreditation. The leadership of the university would like to understand the different accreditation agencies. Your task is to create a professional presentation that highlights and compares and contrasts at least three different types of accreditation agencies to which the university could apply.
For this assignment, develop and submit a professional presentation meeting the content expectations below:
Describe each of the three accreditation agencies chosen, including the names of the agencies and their
missions.
Weigh the pros and cons regarding why each agency might be chosen or rejected as the accreditation
agency for the university.
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EDU589: ISSUES AND INNOVATIONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION COURSE GUIDE
Describe the accreditation process for each of the accreditation agencies chosen, including how eligibility is determined, how long the accreditation process, and what expenses are related to the accreditation process.
Defend your choice of one of the accreditation agencies that you feel is the strongest fit for the university.
Discussion
Participate in the following discussion:
1. Shared Governance [WLO: 1] [CLO: 2]. 1st Post Due by Day 3. Prior to beginning work on this discussion, read the following resources.
Arresting Decline in Shared Governance: Towards a Flexible Model for Academic Participation 32
EDU589: ISSUES AND INNOVATIONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION COURSE GUIDE
Understanding Faculty Senates: Moving from Mystery to Models
Shared or Divided Governance
The External Pressures on the Internal Governance of Universities
Shared Governance: Changing with the Times
For this discussion, you will describe and critically analyze shared governance or leadership at the university level. In your initial post,
Describe the structures and functions of shared governance and leadership at the university level, with focus on how governance affects and is affected by, one of the following groups: students, faculty, staff, or community at large.
Assess more broadly how the group you selected is represented in the higher education governance process—that is, how does the group make its needs, interests, and preferences known by governance and participate in governance, and how effectively are their needs, interests, and preferences addressed?
Guided Response: Respond to at least two peers by Day 5. In your responses, actively engage your classmates’ analyses, pointing out similarities and differences between theirs and your own, and when applicable, debating points of difference.
Though two replies are the basic expectation, for deeper engagement and application of the material, you are encouraged to provide responses to any comments or questions others have given to you (including your instructor) before Day 7. This ongoing engagement in the discussion will deepen the conversation while providing opportunities to demonstrate your content expertise, critical thinking, and real-world experiences with this topic. In addition to offering comments, encourage further conversation by questioning your peers about their responses.
Journal
1. State and Federal Governance [WLO: 2] [CLO: 2]. Due by Day 7. Prior to starting on this week’s journal, review the website Postsecondary Governance Structures: State Profiles.
For this journal, you will review the governance structures in place for your state or a state of your choice. Provide a brief overview of the general governance structures of higher education.
33
EDU589: ISSUES AND INNOVATIONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION COURSE GUIDE
Provide the name of the state and the website or websites from which you obtained state financing information.
Describe the governance structure of the state you selected.
Reflect on how governance in the state is unique, or in some ways different from, other states in the
national environment and why.
Finally, discuss why having a governance structure and process at both the state and federal level is
important to a university (in terms of accountability, transparency, responsiveness, rule of law, stability, equity and inclusiveness, empowerment, and broad-based participation).
1. Address a Community Relations Need [WLO: 1] [CLOs: 2, 3]. 1st Post Due by Day 3. Prior to beginning work on this discussion, read the articles Into the Storm and Crops for Cash, and the webpages Overview: University & Community Partnerships and Connecting Communities with Colleges & Universities.
For this discussion, you will select one of the following functions of community relations for institutions of higher education to apply what you have learned, and engage the responses of your peers.
Bridging racial, class and cultural differences within a community
Facilitating political engagement as a vehicle for community and social change
Youth development, leadership and mentoring
Forming fellowships to strengthen professional skills.
Before you write your initial post, recall, research, or fabricate a scenario wherein a college or university faces circumstances in which it requires, or can benefit from, community relations practices of the sort specified by the community relations function you selected.
In your initial post,
Describe the scenario you recall, researched, or fabricated.
Explain why the community relations function you selected would be needed by, or beneficial to, the
institution and the community.
Identify what the institution seeks to achieve by applying community relations practice(s).
Apply what you have learned to propose how community relations practice(s) could be developed or
deployed to bring about the desired outcome or outcomes.
Guided Response: Respond to at least two peers by Day 5. In your responses critically assess your classmates’ assessment of the scenarios they reported and their application of a community relations practice or practices. At the same time, propose additional practices or actions that would extend their solutions.
Though two replies are the basic expectation, for deeper engagement and application of the material, you are encouraged to provide responses to any comments or questions others have given to you (including your instructor) before Day 7. This ongoing engagement in the discussion will deepen the conversation while providing opportunities to demonstrate your content expertise, critical thinking, and real-world experiences with this topic. In addition to offering comments, encourage further conversation by questioning your peers about their responses.
38EDU589: ISSUES AND INNOVATIONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION COURSE GUIDE
2. Critically Assess an Innovative Development [WLO: 2] [CLOs: 2, 3]. 1st Post Due by Day 3. Prior to beginning work on this discussion, review the webpages Disruptive Innovations in Higher Education and 2018 Most Innovative Schools.
As you read the article on “2018 Most Innovative Schools,” you may have noticed that each of the universities listed demonstrated formidable achievements, but that few were related to student learning, effective operations, or improvements in approaches to higher education. The achievements were mainly research related.
Some have argued (as noted in the article “Disruptive Innovations in Higher Education”) that universities’ innovations should be in the form of adapting to business models; creating new lines of business such as continuing education, facilitating business training, and professional development; and/or focusing on outcomes.
For this discussion choose one of the articles listed on the web page “Disruptive Innovations in Higher Education” to critically assess and discuss.
In your initial post,
Provide a citation and web link for the article you critically analyzed.
Provide a brief overview of the article.
Critically assess the innovation described with respect to its viability, usefulness, and overall value.
In your critical assessment, address questions such as the following. (Note that you don’t have to answer these precise question, which are provided only as possible avenues for inquiry.)
Is the innovation something that would appeal to you as a learner or to others in your social group?
What characteristics and/or qualities make it viable and potentially useful?
What are the flaws in the innovation?
What are some of the concepts that you find appealing?
1. Most Important Takeaway [WLO: 1] [CLOs: 1, 2, 3]. 1st Post Due by Day 3. Prior to beginning work on this
discussion, review the website The Chronicle of Higher Education.
This student-led and moderated discussion format provides the chance to interact with your classmates at a scholarly level regarding any of the Week 1-5 topics. The format is designed to allow for autonomy and deep exploration of the content that is meaningful to you and your peers. Your instructor will participate in the discussions to clarify details or to provide guidance, support, and/or resources.
Your discussion may be generated from any topic, instructional material, resource, or assignment through all five weeks of course content. The topics must be aligned with the three course-level learning outcomes (CLOs), which are listed below.
Describe the types of institutions by scope and control.
Analyze the operation of institutions including finance, community relations, and accreditation.
Appraise innovative developments in higher education.
42EDU589: ISSUES AND INNOVATIONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION COURSE GUIDE
The subject matter and approach of your initial post is open ended and should draw on the interests and experience of the students in course. Your post should,
Identify a higher education topic and at least one learning outcome that is aligned with that topic.
Provide a brief summary to the topic.
Identify one or two important issues associated with the chosen topic.
Reflect on the meaning and importance of the topic and outcome.
Assess how well one or more issues associated with the topic are addressed by institutions of higher education.
Reflect on how they could be better addressed.
Provide one or more open ended questions to promote continued dialogue.
Guided Response: Respond to at least two peers by Day 5. Address the open-ended questions they proposed in their initial response and add any related thoughts or reflections you may have. Compare and contrast what you and your peers found interesting, valuable, and perhaps not-so-valuable about topics presented in the course and the way in which institutions of higher education respond to associated issues and problems. Support your responses with citations to the course materials and/or outside scholarly sources.
Though two replies are the basic expectation, for deeper engagement and application of the material, you are encouraged to provide responses to any comments or questions others have given to you (including your instructor) before Day 7. This ongoing engagement in the discussion will deepen the conversation while providing opportunities to demonstrate your content expertise, critical thinking, and real-world experiences with this topic. In addition to offering comments, encourage further conversation by questioning your peers about their responses.
Final Paper
1. University Comparison [WLO: 2] [CLOs: 1, 2, 3]. Due by Day 7. Competitive intelligence is the act of collecting and analyzing information about competitors and the marketplace in a business sector. Often, competitive intelligence is utilized to see what new market trends are emerging and anticipate, or respond to, challenges and problems before they arise. While we often associate competitive intelligence with startup companies, universities also conduct a competitive intelligence to determine areas of growth and inform strategic planning. Competitive intelligence, as part of a broader strategic planning process, can assist a university with improving oversight by implementing competitive assessment techniques across university departments.
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EDU589: ISSUES AND INNOVATIONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION COURSE GUIDE
Prior to beginning work on this assignment, review the article Competitive Intelligence: Significance in Higher Education.
To begin this assignment, assume the following scenario: you have been selected to complete and present a competitive analysis of two different universities for your university’s yearly strategic planning meeting. You have been asked to complete a presentation that provides a side by side comparison of two different universities. Your presentation and paper should demonstrate your knowledge of all aspects of this course with a comprehensive analysis and discussion.
2. Carnegie Classification [WLO: 1] [CLO: 1]. 1st Post Due by Day 3. Prior to beginning work on this discussion, read the article Understanding Postsecondary Options: Guiding the Decision-Making Process and explore the website Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.
The Carnegie Classification provides a way to group comparable institutions into meaningful and analytically manageable categories, which enable researchers to make comparisons among ostensibly similar institutions and to contrast them with groups of ostensibly different ones. Because the classifications are used by foundations and businesses as eligibility criteria for grant programs, —and some states use the classification in their funding formulas—universities have tangible interests in maintaining or changing their classifications and often seek to do so.
In light of the diversity among universities and the politics that invariably surround the ranking of universities, address the following items in your initial prompt:
Assess the degree to which the ranking of universities can be objective and neutral.
Explain how rankings of institutions of higher learning can be of use to individuals, businesses,
foundations, and the institutions themselves.
Assess some limitations of rankings, supporting your thinking with examples.
Guided Response: Respond to at least two peers by Day 5. In your responses, engage your classmates’ positions on the topics provided, point out where you concur and maybe differ, and make efforts to understand or resolve differences and refine your thinking.
Though two replies are the basic expectation, for deeper engagement and application of the material, you are encouraged to provide responses to any comments or questions others have given to you (including your instructor) before Day 7. This ongoing engagement in the discussion will deepen the conversation while providing opportunities to demonstrate your content expertise, critical thinking, and real-world experiences with this topic. In addition to offering comments, encourage further conversation by questioning your peers about their responses.
16EDU589: ISSUES AND INNOVATIONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION COURSE GUIDE
Journal
1. Mission Statements [WLO: 2] [CLO: 1]. Due by Day 7. Before starting on this week’s journal assignment, read the articles Purpose, Mission, and Context: The Call for Educating Future Leaders and Sameness and Difference: Analyzing Institutional and Organizational Specificities of Universities Through Mission Statements.
Mission statements are said to be the cornerstones of universities. They ostensibly solidify an institution’s identity, help faculty members share a common set of beliefs, and help students understand the fundamental values of a university. For some, an institution’s formally adopted mission statement represents its fundamental reasons for existence, its shared values, and the students that it aims to serve. On the other hand, critics claim that mission statements are fundamentally marketing and public relations, filled with jargon and bromides that are viewed by the institution’s personnel and faculty as mere window dressing, without meaning or substantive implications.
For this journal, locate mission statements for three institutions of higher education with which you have some familiarity and knowledge. Then address the following items in your journal entry:
Identify the three universities, providing the URLs of their websites, and provide the mission statement for each.
Reflect on the ways the publication of mission statements may have substantive impacts on the institution’s character and on the actions of its employees and community; how may such a collection of words inspire, guide, and limit how the institution does what it does?
Assess the limits to the power of mission statements; how may they be circumvented, misused, and maybe transgressed by an organization and its personnel?
Describe examples of institutional activity that illustrate the power and limitations of mission statements.
Identify what an institution’s leaders can and must do to assure that an organization’s mission is taken
seriously and achieved.
Discussion
Participate in the following discussion:
1. Who Pays? [WLOs: 1, 2] [CLO: 2]. 1st Post Due by Day 3. Prior to beginning work on this discussion, read each of the following articles:
Starting from Scratch: A New Federal and State Partnership in Higher Education
Partisans, Professionals, and Power: The Role of Political Factors in State Higher Education Funding
Settling a U.S. Senatorial Debate: Understanding Declines in State Higher Education Funding
Role Clarity: The Interplay of Entities Funding Higher Education. State-Federal Partnerships in
Postsecondary Education
State Funding of Higher Education and the Underfunding of Public Pensions
For this discussion, you will conduct an article review of one of the five articles listed above, with a focus on assessing an argument or position discussed or put forth in the article on how to use state, federal, and private funds to fund institutions of higher education.
20EDU589: ISSUES AND INNOVATIONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION COURSE GUIDE
In your initial post, address the following items:
Provide a full APA reference entry for the article you are reviewing. If you need additional help creating
your reference entry, please go to the Formatting Your Reference List web page in the Ashford Writing
Center.
Briefly summarize the author’s major argument or point.
Critically assess the author’s or authors’ position, explaining why the argument is correct and can usefully
inform decisions about higher education funding, and maybe identifying where the argument falls short.
Guided Response: Respond to at least two peers by Day 5. Select at least one classmate who selected the same article to assess as you did and at least one who wrote about a different article. In your responses, engage in critical discussion, and when applicable, debate your classmates’ positions on the article.
Though two replies are the basic expectation, for deeper engagement and application of the material, you are encouraged to provide responses to any comments or questions others have given to you (including your instructor) before Day 7. This ongoing engagement in the discussion will deepen the conversation while providing opportunities to demonstrate your content expertise, critical thinking, and real-world experiences with this topic. In addition to offering comments, encourage further conversation by questioning your peers about their responses.
Assignment
1.
State Funding Memorandum [WLO: 2] [CLO: 2]. Due by Day 7. Prior to beginning work on this assignment, read the article Federal and State Funding of Higher Education: A Changing Landscape and review the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems website.
For this assignment, you will create a memorandum on state financing of higher education to be presented at a fictional local community college forum, which is being held to support increased funding for higher education at the state level. Your memorandum is intended to inform participants regarding the state and national environments within which decisions regarding the funding of higher education are made.
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EDU589: ISSUES AND INNOVATIONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION COURSE GUIDE
A memorandum is a written report that is prepared for a person or committee in order to provide them with information about a particular matter. Note that the requirement (stated below) to cite credible sources reflects the research and information-gathering process that is part of constructing a memorandum.
Your memorandum should address the following:
Summarize the main issues facing institutions of higher education with respect to the financing of higher
education at the federal and state levels.
Assess how the funding of higher education is structured and governed in a state of your choosing (which
for the purposes of this assignment is the state in which the forum is being held). This section of the memorandum should examine how the funding of higher education has changed over the past 5 to 10 years in the state and nationally.
Discussion
Participate in the following discussion:
1. Accreditation Agencies [WLO: 2] [CLO: 2]. 1st Post Due by Day 3. Prior to beginning work on this discussion read the articles Federal Panel Votes to Shut Down an Accreditor Blamed for Failures of For-Profit Higher Ed and No Love, but No Alternative.
As you have read this week, the federal government relies on a system of private accreditation agencies to determine which postsecondary institutions are eligible to participate in federal student aid programs. These accreditation agencies have become the gatekeepers over institutional access to federal student aid funds.
Using support from scholarly and credible sources, critically analyze one of the topics below. The Scholarly, Peer-Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources table offers guidance on appropriate source types.
Federal eligibility consequences and the decisions of accrediting agencies.
Accountability of accrediting agencies in relationship to federal interest.
Competition among accrediting agencies.
In your initial post,
26EDU589: ISSUES AND INNOVATIONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION COURSE GUIDE
Paste the topic you selected in the first line, so when your peers reply, they will know what topic is under discussion.
Identify the most critical issue or issues associated with the topic you selected.
Assess possible solutions or actions in response to the issues you identified.
Guided Response: Respond to at least two peers by Day 5. Include at least one classmate who selected the same topic as you did and one who selected a different topic. In your responses, critically engage your classmates’ identification of a critical issue and the possible solutions they put forth, critiquing and maybe extending the points and argument they made and offering new ideas to extend the scope of the discussion.
Though two replies are the basic expectation, for deeper engagement and application of the material, you are encouraged to provide responses to any comments or questions others have given to you (including your instructor) before Day 7. This ongoing engagement in the discussion will deepen the conversation while providing opportunities to demonstrate your content expertise, critical thinking, and real-world experiences with this topic. In addition to offering comments, encourage further conversation by questioning your peers about their responses.
Assignment
1. Presentation on Choosing Accreditation [WLO: 1] [CLO: 2]. Due by Day 7. Prior to beginning on this assignment read the articles An Overview of Accreditation of Higher Education in the United States and Accreditation in the USA: Origins, Developments and Future Prospects and review the website Accreditation in the United States.
Consider the following scenario: you have just started working for a start-up for-profit university. A goal of this new university is to obtain accreditation. The leadership of the university would like to understand the different accreditation agencies. Your task is to create a professional presentation that highlights and compares and contrasts at least three different types of accreditation agencies to which the university could apply.
For this assignment, develop and submit a professional presentation meeting the content expectations below:
Describe each of the three accreditation agencies chosen, including the names of the agencies and their
missions.
Weigh the pros and cons regarding why each agency might be chosen or rejected as the accreditation
agency for the university.
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EDU589: ISSUES AND INNOVATIONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION COURSE GUIDE
Describe the accreditation process for each of the accreditation agencies chosen, including how eligibility is determined, how long the accreditation process, and what expenses are related to the accreditation process.
Defend your choice of one of the accreditation agencies that you feel is the strongest fit for the university.
Discussion
Participate in the following discussion:
1. Shared Governance [WLO: 1] [CLO: 2]. 1st Post Due by Day 3. Prior to beginning work on this discussion, read the following resources.
Arresting Decline in Shared Governance: Towards a Flexible Model for Academic Participation 32
EDU589: ISSUES AND INNOVATIONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION COURSE GUIDE
Understanding Faculty Senates: Moving from Mystery to Models
Shared or Divided Governance
The External Pressures on the Internal Governance of Universities
Shared Governance: Changing with the Times
For this discussion, you will describe and critically analyze shared governance or leadership at the university level. In your initial post,
Describe the structures and functions of shared governance and leadership at the university level, with focus on how governance affects and is affected by, one of the following groups: students, faculty, staff, or community at large.
Assess more broadly how the group you selected is represented in the higher education governance process—that is, how does the group make its needs, interests, and preferences known by governance and participate in governance, and how effectively are their needs, interests, and preferences addressed?
Guided Response: Respond to at least two peers by Day 5. In your responses, actively engage your classmates’ analyses, pointing out similarities and differences between theirs and your own, and when applicable, debating points of difference.
Though two replies are the basic expectation, for deeper engagement and application of the material, you are encouraged to provide responses to any comments or questions others have given to you (including your instructor) before Day 7. This ongoing engagement in the discussion will deepen the conversation while providing opportunities to demonstrate your content expertise, critical thinking, and real-world experiences with this topic. In addition to offering comments, encourage further conversation by questioning your peers about their responses.
Journal
1. State and Federal Governance [WLO: 2] [CLO: 2]. Due by Day 7. Prior to starting on this week’s journal, review the website Postsecondary Governance Structures: State Profiles.
For this journal, you will review the governance structures in place for your state or a state of your choice. Provide a brief overview of the general governance structures of higher education.
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EDU589: ISSUES AND INNOVATIONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION COURSE GUIDE
Provide the name of the state and the website or websites from which you obtained state financing information.
Describe the governance structure of the state you selected.
Reflect on how governance in the state is unique, or in some ways different from, other states in the
national environment and why.
Finally, discuss why having a governance structure and process at both the state and federal level is
important to a university (in terms of accountability, transparency, responsiveness, rule of law, stability, equity and inclusiveness, empowerment, and broad-based participation).
1. Address a Community Relations Need [WLO: 1] [CLOs: 2, 3]. 1st Post Due by Day 3. Prior to beginning work on this discussion, read the articles Into the Storm and Crops for Cash, and the webpages Overview: University & Community Partnerships and Connecting Communities with Colleges & Universities.
For this discussion, you will select one of the following functions of community relations for institutions of higher education to apply what you have learned, and engage the responses of your peers.
Bridging racial, class and cultural differences within a community
Facilitating political engagement as a vehicle for community and social change
Youth development, leadership and mentoring
Forming fellowships to strengthen professional skills.
Before you write your initial post, recall, research, or fabricate a scenario wherein a college or university faces circumstances in which it requires, or can benefit from, community relations practices of the sort specified by the community relations function you selected.
In your initial post,
Describe the scenario you recall, researched, or fabricated.
Explain why the community relations function you selected would be needed by, or beneficial to, the
institution and the community.
Identify what the institution seeks to achieve by applying community relations practice(s).
Apply what you have learned to propose how community relations practice(s) could be developed or
deployed to bring about the desired outcome or outcomes.
Guided Response: Respond to at least two peers by Day 5. In your responses critically assess your classmates’ assessment of the scenarios they reported and their application of a community relations practice or practices. At the same time, propose additional practices or actions that would extend their solutions.
Though two replies are the basic expectation, for deeper engagement and application of the material, you are encouraged to provide responses to any comments or questions others have given to you (including your instructor) before Day 7. This ongoing engagement in the discussion will deepen the conversation while providing opportunities to demonstrate your content expertise, critical thinking, and real-world experiences with this topic. In addition to offering comments, encourage further conversation by questioning your peers about their responses.
38EDU589: ISSUES AND INNOVATIONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION COURSE GUIDE
2. Critically Assess an Innovative Development [WLO: 2] [CLOs: 2, 3]. 1st Post Due by Day 3. Prior to beginning work on this discussion, review the webpages Disruptive Innovations in Higher Education and 2018 Most Innovative Schools.
As you read the article on “2018 Most Innovative Schools,” you may have noticed that each of the universities listed demonstrated formidable achievements, but that few were related to student learning, effective operations, or improvements in approaches to higher education. The achievements were mainly research related.
Some have argued (as noted in the article “Disruptive Innovations in Higher Education”) that universities’ innovations should be in the form of adapting to business models; creating new lines of business such as continuing education, facilitating business training, and professional development; and/or focusing on outcomes.
For this discussion choose one of the articles listed on the web page “Disruptive Innovations in Higher Education” to critically assess and discuss.
In your initial post,
Provide a citation and web link for the article you critically analyzed.
Provide a brief overview of the article.
Critically assess the innovation described with respect to its viability, usefulness, and overall value.
In your critical assessment, address questions such as the following. (Note that you don’t have to answer these precise question, which are provided only as possible avenues for inquiry.)
Is the innovation something that would appeal to you as a learner or to others in your social group?
What characteristics and/or qualities make it viable and potentially useful?
What are the flaws in the innovation?
What are some of the concepts that you find appealing?
1. Most Important Takeaway [WLO: 1] [CLOs: 1, 2, 3]. 1st Post Due by Day 3. Prior to beginning work on this
discussion, review the website The Chronicle of Higher Education.
This student-led and moderated discussion format provides the chance to interact with your classmates at a scholarly level regarding any of the Week 1-5 topics. The format is designed to allow for autonomy and deep exploration of the content that is meaningful to you and your peers. Your instructor will participate in the discussions to clarify details or to provide guidance, support, and/or resources.
Your discussion may be generated from any topic, instructional material, resource, or assignment through all five weeks of course content. The topics must be aligned with the three course-level learning outcomes (CLOs), which are listed below.
Describe the types of institutions by scope and control.
Analyze the operation of institutions including finance, community relations, and accreditation.
Appraise innovative developments in higher education.
42EDU589: ISSUES AND INNOVATIONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION COURSE GUIDE
The subject matter and approach of your initial post is open ended and should draw on the interests and experience of the students in course. Your post should,
Identify a higher education topic and at least one learning outcome that is aligned with that topic.
Provide a brief summary to the topic.
Identify one or two important issues associated with the chosen topic.
Reflect on the meaning and importance of the topic and outcome.
Assess how well one or more issues associated with the topic are addressed by institutions of higher education.
Reflect on how they could be better addressed.
Provide one or more open ended questions to promote continued dialogue.
Guided Response: Respond to at least two peers by Day 5. Address the open-ended questions they proposed in their initial response and add any related thoughts or reflections you may have. Compare and contrast what you and your peers found interesting, valuable, and perhaps not-so-valuable about topics presented in the course and the way in which institutions of higher education respond to associated issues and problems. Support your responses with citations to the course materials and/or outside scholarly sources.
Though two replies are the basic expectation, for deeper engagement and application of the material, you are encouraged to provide responses to any comments or questions others have given to you (including your instructor) before Day 7. This ongoing engagement in the discussion will deepen the conversation while providing opportunities to demonstrate your content expertise, critical thinking, and real-world experiences with this topic. In addition to offering comments, encourage further conversation by questioning your peers about their responses.
Final Paper
1. University Comparison [WLO: 2] [CLOs: 1, 2, 3]. Due by Day 7. Competitive intelligence is the act of collecting and analyzing information about competitors and the marketplace in a business sector. Often, competitive intelligence is utilized to see what new market trends are emerging and anticipate, or respond to, challenges and problems before they arise. While we often associate competitive intelligence with startup companies, universities also conduct a competitive intelligence to determine areas of growth and inform strategic planning. Competitive intelligence, as part of a broader strategic planning process, can assist a university with improving oversight by implementing competitive assessment techniques across university departments.
43
EDU589: ISSUES AND INNOVATIONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION COURSE GUIDE
Prior to beginning work on this assignment, review the article Competitive Intelligence: Significance in Higher Education.
To begin this assignment, assume the following scenario: you have been selected to complete and present a competitive analysis of two different universities for your university’s yearly strategic planning meeting. You have been asked to complete a presentation that provides a side by side comparison of two different universities. Your presentation and paper should demonstrate your knowledge of all aspects of this course with a comprehensive analysis and discussion.
2. Carnegie Classification [WLO: 1] [CLO: 1]. 1st Post Due by Day 3. Prior to beginning work on this discussion, read the article Understanding Postsecondary Options: Guiding the Decision-Making Process and explore the website Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.
Carnegie Classification [WLO: 1] [CLO: 1]1st st Post Due by Day 3Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education
The Carnegie Classification provides a way to group comparable institutions into meaningful and analytically manageable categories, which enable researchers to make comparisons among ostensibly similar institutions and to contrast them with groups of ostensibly different ones. Because the classifications are used by foundations and businesses as eligibility criteria for grant programs, —and some states use the classification in their funding formulas—universities have tangible interests in maintaining or changing their classifications and often seek to do so.
In light of the diversity among universities and the politics that invariably surround the ranking of universities, address the following items in your initial prompt:
Assess the degree to which the ranking of universities can be objective and neutral.
Explain how rankings of institutions of higher learning can be of use to individuals, businesses,
foundations, and the institutions themselves.
Assess some limitations of rankings, supporting your thinking with examples.
Guided Response: Respond to at least two peers by Day 5. In your responses, engage your classmates’ positions on the topics provided, point out where you concur and maybe differ, and make efforts to understand or resolve differences and refine your thinking.
Guided Response:
Though two replies are the basic expectation, for deeper engagement and application of the material, you are encouraged to provide responses to any comments or questions others have given to you (including your instructor) before Day 7. This ongoing engagement in the discussion will deepen the conversation while providing opportunities to demonstrate your content expertise, critical thinking, and real-world experiences with this topic. In addition to offering comments, encourage further conversation by questioning your peers about their responses.
16EDU589: ISSUES AND INNOVATIONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION COURSE GUIDE
16
Journal
Journal
1. Mission Statements [WLO: 2] [CLO: 1]. Due by Day 7. Before starting on this week’s journal assignment, read the articles Purpose, Mission, and Context: The Call for Educating Future Leaders and Sameness and Difference: Analyzing Institutional and Organizational Specificities of Universities Through Mission Statements.
Mission Statements [WLO: 2] [CLO: 1]Due by Day 7
Mission statements are said to be the cornerstones of universities. They ostensibly solidify an institution’s identity, help faculty members share a common set of beliefs, and help students understand the fundamental values of a university. For some, an institution’s formally adopted mission statement represents its fundamental reasons for existence, its shared values, and the students that it aims to serve. On the other hand, critics claim that mission statements are fundamentally marketing and public relations, filled with jargon and bromides that are viewed by the institution’s personnel and faculty as mere window dressing, without meaning or substantive implications.
For this journal, locate mission statements for three institutions of higher education with which you have some familiarity and knowledge. Then address the following items in your journal entry:
Identify the three universities, providing the URLs of their websites, and provide the mission statement for each.
Reflect on the ways the publication of mission statements may have substantive impacts on the institution’s character and on the actions of its employees and community; how may such a collection of words inspire, guide, and limit how the institution does what it does?
Assess the limits to the power of mission statements; how may they be circumvented, misused, and maybe transgressed by an organization and its personnel?
Describe examples of institutional activity that illustrate the power and limitations of mission statements.
Identify what an institution’s leaders can and must do to assure that an organization’s mission is taken
seriously and achieved.
Discussion
Discussion
Participate in the following discussion:
1. Who Pays? [WLOs: 1, 2] [CLO: 2]. 1st Post Due by Day 3. Prior to beginning work on this discussion, read each of the following articles:
Who Pays? [WLOs: 1, 2] [CLO: 2]1st st Post Due by Day 3
Starting from Scratch: A New Federal and State Partnership in Higher Education
Partisans, Professionals, and Power: The Role of Political Factors in State Higher Education Funding
Settling a U.S. Senatorial Debate: Understanding Declines in State Higher Education Funding
Role Clarity: The Interplay of Entities Funding Higher Education. State-Federal Partnerships in
Postsecondary Education
State Funding of Higher Education and the Underfunding of Public Pensions
For this discussion, you will conduct an article review of one of the five articles listed above, with a focus on assessing an argument or position discussed or put forth in the article on how to use state, federal, and private funds to fund institutions of higher education.
20EDU589: ISSUES AND INNOVATIONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION COURSE GUIDE
20
In your initial post, address the following items:
Provide a full APA reference entry for the article you are reviewing. If you need additional help creating
your reference entry, please go to the Formatting Your Reference List web page in the Ashford Writing
Ashford Writing
Center.
Briefly summarize the author’s major argument or point.
Critically assess the author’s or authors’ position, explaining why the argument is correct and can usefully
inform decisions about higher education funding, and maybe identifying where the argument falls short.
Guided Response: Respond to at least two peers by Day 5. Select at least one classmate who selected the same article to assess as you did and at least one who wrote about a different article. In your responses, engage in critical discussion, and when applicable, debate your classmates’ positions on the article.
Guided Response:
Though two replies are the basic expectation, for deeper engagement and application of the material, you are encouraged to provide responses to any comments or questions others have given to you (including your instructor) before Day 7. This ongoing engagement in the discussion will deepen the conversation while providing opportunities to demonstrate your content expertise, critical thinking, and real-world experiences with this topic. In addition to offering comments, encourage further conversation by questioning your peers about their responses.
Assignment
Assignment
1.
State Funding Memorandum [WLO: 2] [CLO: 2]. Due by Day 7. Prior to beginning work on this assignment, read the article Federal and State Funding of Higher Education: A Changing Landscape and review the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems website.
State Funding Memorandum [WLO: 2] [CLO: 2]Due by Day 7Federal and State Funding of Higher Education: A Changing Landscape National Center for Higher Education Management Systems
For this assignment, you will create a memorandum on state financing of higher education to be presented at a fictional local community college forum, which is being held to support increased funding for higher education at the state level. Your memorandum is intended to inform participants regarding the state and national environments within which decisions regarding the funding of higher education are made.
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EDU589: ISSUES AND INNOVATIONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION COURSE GUIDE
A memorandum is a written report that is prepared for a person or committee in order to provide them with information about a particular matter. Note that the requirement (stated below) to cite credible sources reflects the research and information-gathering process that is part of constructing a memorandum.
Your memorandum should address the following:
Summarize the main issues facing institutions of higher education with respect to the financing of higher
education at the federal and state levels.
Assess how the funding of higher education is structured and governed in a state of your choosing (which
for the purposes of this assignment is the state in which the forum is being held). This section of the memorandum should examine how the funding of higher education has changed over the past 5 to 10 years in the state and nationally.
Discussion
Discussion
Participate in the following discussion:
1. Accreditation Agencies [WLO: 2] [CLO: 2]. 1st Post Due by Day 3. Prior to beginning work on this discussion read the articles Federal Panel Votes to Shut Down an Accreditor Blamed for Failures of For-Profit Higher Ed and No Love, but No Alternative.
Accreditation Agencies [WLO: 2] [CLO: 2]1st st Post Due by Day 3Federal Panel Votes to Shut Down an Accreditor Blamed for Failures of For-Profit Higher Ed No Love, but No Alternative
As you have read this week, the federal government relies on a system of private accreditation agencies to determine which postsecondary institutions are eligible to participate in federal student aid programs. These accreditation agencies have become the gatekeepers over institutional access to federal student aid funds.
Using support from scholarly and credible sources, critically analyze one of the topics below. The Scholarly, Peer-Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources table offers guidance on appropriate source types.
Scholarly, Peer-Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources
Federal eligibility consequences and the decisions of accrediting agencies.
Accountability of accrediting agencies in relationship to federal interest.
Competition among accrediting agencies.
In your initial post,
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Paste the topic you selected in the first line, so when your peers reply, they will know what topic is under discussion.
Identify the most critical issue or issues associated with the topic you selected.
Assess possible solutions or actions in response to the issues you identified.
Guided Response: Respond to at least two peers by Day 5. Include at least one classmate who selected the same topic as you did and one who selected a different topic. In your responses, critically engage your classmates’ identification of a critical issue and the possible solutions they put forth, critiquing and maybe extending the points and argument they made and offering new ideas to extend the scope of the discussion.
Guided Response:
Though two replies are the basic expectation, for deeper engagement and application of the material, you are encouraged to provide responses to any comments or questions others have given to you (including your instructor) before Day 7. This ongoing engagement in the discussion will deepen the conversation while providing opportunities to demonstrate your content expertise, critical thinking, and real-world experiences with this topic. In addition to offering comments, encourage further conversation by questioning your peers about their responses.
Assignment
Assignment
1. Presentation on Choosing Accreditation [WLO: 1] [CLO: 2]. Due by Day 7. Prior to beginning on this assignment read the articles An Overview of Accreditation of Higher Education in the United States and Accreditation in the USA: Origins, Developments and Future Prospects and review the website Accreditation in the United States.
1. Presentation on Choosing Accreditation [WLO: 1] [CLO: 2]. Due by Day 7. Prior to beginning on this assignment read the articles Presentation on Choosing Accreditation [WLO: 1] [CLO: 2]Due by Day 7and and review the website .
Consider the following scenario: you have just started working for a start-up for-profit university. A goal of this new university is to obtain accreditation. The leadership of the university would like to understand the different accreditation agencies. Your task is to create a professional presentation that highlights and compares and contrasts at least three different types of accreditation agencies to which the university could apply.
For this assignment, develop and submit a professional presentation meeting the content expectations below:
Describe each of the three accreditation agencies chosen, including the names of the agencies and their
missions.
Weigh the pros and cons regarding why each agency might be chosen or rejected as the accreditation
agency for the university.
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EDU589: ISSUES AND INNOVATIONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION COURSE GUIDE
Describe the accreditation process for each of the accreditation agencies chosen, including how eligibility is determined, how long the accreditation process, and what expenses are related to the accreditation process.
Defend your choice of one of the accreditation agencies that you feel is the strongest fit for the university.
Discussion
Discussion
Participate in the following discussion:
1. Shared Governance [WLO: 1] [CLO: 2]. 1st Post Due by Day 3. Prior to beginning work on this discussion, read the following resources.
Shared Governance [WLO: 1] [CLO: 2]1st st Post Due by Day 3
Arresting Decline in Shared Governance: Towards a Flexible Model for Academic Participation 32
EDU589: ISSUES AND INNOVATIONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION COURSE GUIDE
Understanding Faculty Senates: Moving from Mystery to Models
Shared or Divided Governance
The External Pressures on the Internal Governance of Universities
Shared Governance: Changing with the Times
For this discussion, you will describe and critically analyze shared governance or leadership at the university level. In your initial post,
Describe the structures and functions of shared governance and leadership at the university level, with focus on how governance affects and is affected by, one of the following groups: students, faculty, staff, or community at large.
Assess more broadly how the group you selected is represented in the higher education governance process—that is, how does the group make its needs, interests, and preferences known by governance and participate in governance, and how effectively are their needs, interests, and preferences addressed?
Guided Response: Respond to at least two peers by Day 5. In your responses, actively engage your classmates’ analyses, pointing out similarities and differences between theirs and your own, and when applicable, debating points of difference.
Guided Response:
Though two replies are the basic expectation, for deeper engagement and application of the material, you are encouraged to provide responses to any comments or questions others have given to you (including your instructor) before Day 7. This ongoing engagement in the discussion will deepen the conversation while providing opportunities to demonstrate your content expertise, critical thinking, and real-world experiences with this topic. In addition to offering comments, encourage further conversation by questioning your peers about their responses.
Journal
Journal
1. State and Federal Governance [WLO: 2] [CLO: 2]. Due by Day 7. Prior to starting on this week’s journal, review the website Postsecondary Governance Structures: State Profiles.
State and Federal Governance [WLO: 2] [CLO: 2]Due by Day 7Postsecondary Governance Structures: State Profiles
For this journal, you will review the governance structures in place for your state or a state of your choice. Provide a brief overview of the general governance structures of higher education.
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Provide the name of the state and the website or websites from which you obtained state financing information.
Describe the governance structure of the state you selected.
Reflect on how governance in the state is unique, or in some ways different from, other states in the
national environment and why.
Finally, discuss why having a governance structure and process at both the state and federal level is
important to a university (in terms of accountability, transparency, responsiveness, rule of law, stability, equity and inclusiveness, empowerment, and broad-based participation).
1. Address a Community Relations Need [WLO: 1] [CLOs: 2, 3]. 1st Post Due by Day 3. Prior to beginning work on this discussion, read the articles Into the Storm and Crops for Cash, and the webpages Overview: University & Community Partnerships and Connecting Communities with Colleges & Universities.
Address a Community Relations Need [WLO: 1] [CLOs: 2, 3]. 1st st Post Due by Day 3Into the Storm Crops for CashOverview: University & Community Partnerships Connecting Communities with Colleges & Universities
For this discussion, you will select one of the following functions of community relations for institutions of higher education to apply what you have learned, and engage the responses of your peers.
Bridging racial, class and cultural differences within a community
Facilitating political engagement as a vehicle for community and social change
Youth development, leadership and mentoring
Forming fellowships to strengthen professional skills.
Before you write your initial post, recall, research, or fabricate a scenario wherein a college or university faces circumstances in which it requires, or can benefit from, community relations practices of the sort specified by the community relations function you selected.
In your initial post,
Describe the scenario you recall, researched, or fabricated.
Explain why the community relations function you selected would be needed by, or beneficial to, the
institution and the community.
Identify what the institution seeks to achieve by applying community relations practice(s).
Apply what you have learned to propose how community relations practice(s) could be developed or
deployed to bring about the desired outcome or outcomes.
Guided Response: Respond to at least two peers by Day 5. In your responses critically assess your classmates’ assessment of the scenarios they reported and their application of a community relations practice or practices. At the same time, propose additional practices or actions that would extend their solutions.
Guided Response:
Though two replies are the basic expectation, for deeper engagement and application of the material, you are encouraged to provide responses to any comments or questions others have given to you (including your instructor) before Day 7. This ongoing engagement in the discussion will deepen the conversation while providing opportunities to demonstrate your content expertise, critical thinking, and real-world experiences with this topic. In addition to offering comments, encourage further conversation by questioning your peers about their responses.
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2. Critically Assess an Innovative Development [WLO: 2] [CLOs: 2, 3]. 1st Post Due by Day 3. Prior to beginning work on this discussion, review the webpages Disruptive Innovations in Higher Education and 2018 Most Innovative Schools.
Critically Assess an Innovative Development [WLO: 2] [CLOs: 2, 3]1st st Post Due by Day 3Disruptive Innovations in Higher Education 2018 Most Innovative Schools
As you read the article on “2018 Most Innovative Schools,” you may have noticed that each of the universities listed demonstrated formidable achievements, but that few were related to student learning, effective operations, or improvements in approaches to higher education. The achievements were mainly research related.
Some have argued (as noted in the article “Disruptive Innovations in Higher Education”) that universities’ innovations should be in the form of adapting to business models; creating new lines of business such as continuing education, facilitating business training, and professional development; and/or focusing on outcomes.
For this discussion choose one of the articles listed on the web page “Disruptive Innovations in Higher Education” to critically assess and discuss.
In your initial post,
Provide a citation and web link for the article you critically analyzed.
Provide a brief overview of the article.
Critically assess the innovation described with respect to its viability, usefulness, and overall value.
In your critical assessment, address questions such as the following. (Note that you don’t have to answer these precise question, which are provided only as possible avenues for inquiry.)
Is the innovation something that would appeal to you as a learner or to others in your social group?
What characteristics and/or qualities make it viable and potentially useful?
What are the flaws in the innovation?
What are some of the concepts that you find appealing?
1. Most Important Takeaway [WLO: 1] [CLOs: 1, 2, 3]. 1st Post Due by Day 3. Prior to beginning work on this
Most Important Takeaway [WLO: 1] [CLOs: 1, 2, 3]1st st Post Due by Day 3
discussion, review the website The Chronicle of Higher Education.
discussion, review the website .
This student-led and moderated discussion format provides the chance to interact with your classmates at a scholarly level regarding any of the Week 1-5 topics. The format is designed to allow for autonomy and deep exploration of the content that is meaningful to you and your peers. Your instructor will participate in the discussions to clarify details or to provide guidance, support, and/or resources.
Your discussion may be generated from any topic, instructional material, resource, or assignment through all five weeks of course content. The topics must be aligned with the three course-level learning outcomes (CLOs), which are listed below.
Describe the types of institutions by scope and control.
Analyze the operation of institutions including finance, community relations, and accreditation.
Appraise innovative developments in higher education.
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The subject matter and approach of your initial post is open ended and should draw on the interests and experience of the students in course. Your post should,
Identify a higher education topic and at least one learning outcome that is aligned with that topic.
Provide a brief summary to the topic.
Identify one or two important issues associated with the chosen topic.
Reflect on the meaning and importance of the topic and outcome.
Assess how well one or more issues associated with the topic are addressed by institutions of higher education.
Reflect on how they could be better addressed.
Provide one or more open ended questions to promote continued dialogue.
Guided Response: Respond to at least two peers by Day 5. Address the open-ended questions they proposed in their initial response and add any related thoughts or reflections you may have. Compare and contrast what you and your peers found interesting, valuable, and perhaps not-so-valuable about topics presented in the course and the way in which institutions of higher education respond to associated issues and problems. Support your responses with citations to the course materials and/or outside scholarly sources.
Guided Response:
Though two replies are the basic expectation, for deeper engagement and application of the material, you are encouraged to provide responses to any comments or questions others have given to you (including your instructor) before Day 7. This ongoing engagement in the discussion will deepen the conversation while providing opportunities to demonstrate your content expertise, critical thinking, and real-world experiences with this topic. In addition to offering comments, encourage further conversation by questioning your peers about their responses.
Final Paper
Final Paper
1. University Comparison [WLO: 2] [CLOs: 1, 2, 3]. Due by Day 7. Competitive intelligence is the act of collecting and analyzing information about competitors and the marketplace in a business sector. Often, competitive intelligence is utilized to see what new market trends are emerging and anticipate, or respond to, challenges and problems before they arise. While we often associate competitive intelligence with startup companies, universities also conduct a competitive intelligence to determine areas of growth and inform strategic planning. Competitive intelligence, as part of a broader strategic planning process, can assist a university with improving oversight by implementing competitive assessment techniques across university departments.
University Comparison [WLO: 2] [CLOs: 1, 2, 3]Due by Day 7
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Prior to beginning work on this assignment, review the article Competitive Intelligence: Significance in Higher Education.
Competitive Intelligence: Significance in Higher Education
To begin this assignment, assume the following scenario: you have been selected to complete and present a competitive analysis of two different universities for your university’s yearly strategic planning meeting. You have been asked to complete a presentation that provides a side by side comparison of two different universities. Your presentation and paper should demonstrate your knowledge of all aspects of this course with a comprehensive analysis and discussion.
