ROPS 2012

ROPS 2012

Comprehending the International Initiatives of Universities: A Taxonomy of Modes of Engagement and Institutional Logics, by Richard J. Edelstein and John Aubrey Douglass

Richard J. Edelstein
John Aubrey Douglass
2012

The paper examines the behavior of universities at the level of the individual institution to create a taxonomy of actions and logics used to initiate international activities, engagements, and academic programs. The taxonomy is organized utilizing the concepts of activity clusters, modes of engagement, and institutional logics. Its purpose is to provide a framework for future research as well as a tool for scholars and practitioners to better analyze and understand what has become a rush by many universities to become more engaged globally. After a brief discussion of the importance...

Trends Towards Global Excellence in Undergraduate Education: Taking the Liberal Arts Experience into the 21st Century, by Marijk van der Wende

Marijk van der Wende
2012

Dissatisfaction over undergraduate education seems to be persistent and has been jeopardized by the boost in research performance as fuelled by global rankings. Yet it will continue to be the cornerstone and a key mission of higher education. Hence the tide is shifting and the global debate on “the world-class university” is increasingly inclusive towards excellence in teaching and learning. A renewed focus on liberal arts education is part of this global debate on redefining excellence. This article aims to explain why liberal arts education, as it is (re)emerging in different...

The Goals of Transnational Education: Reflections of a True Believer, by Jeffrey S. Lehman

Jeffrey S. Lehman
2012

Transnational education can both improve the lives of the students who experience it and also increase cooperation and reduce conflict across cultural lines. The value of transnational education is more apparent when one considers how, in a radically transformed twenty-first century, students need to develop a special set of nine essential qualities: curiosity, empathy, skepticism, logical thinking, patience, creativity, scientific literacy, effectiveness across cultural boundaries and multilingualism. The need to develop these qualities is framing the design of the educational...

California's Fiscal Returns on Investments in Higher Education by Jon Stiles, Michael Hout, and Henry Brady

Jon Stiles
Michael Hout
Henry Brady
2012

The ongoing budget crisis in California raises many questions about the most effective ways to allocate resources in ways which sustain future investments. In this paper, we consider two questions: What are the benefits to the state for investing in higher education? And, how do current educational investments create an environment which supports future needs? Drawing on current and historic data on returns to education for individuals, income tax regimes, state investments in higher education, progress and completion patterns, and mechanisms which translate individual impacts into...

Board Governance of Public University Systems: Stresses and Needs, by C. Judson King

C. Judson King
2012

Modes of board-level governance for public universities and especially public university systems should be re-examined in view of growing major forces that create both challenges and opportunities that are enormous for public higher education. To sustain the public mission and rise to the challenges and opportunities, there is a growing need to enhance funding from a variety of different sources, many of them private, and to map them onto new initiatives, partnerships, and directions of change. Boards of public universities need to develop new dimensions, including several of the...

CHANGES IN KNOWLEDGE CULTURES AND RESEARCH ON STUDENT LEARNING

Monika Nerland
2012

This paper discusses how contemporary changes in knowledge cultures and practices alter conditions for student learning in higher education and what this may imply for research on student learning. Drawing on perspectives from social studies of knowledge, it is argued that the general emphasis on science in society generates an increased research orientation also in professional programs and brings with it a focus not only on science-based knowledge but also on the investigative processes through which knowledge is produced and validated. Changes are also related to the emergence of...

THE FACULTY PROMOTION AND MERIT SYSTEM IN CHINA AND THE UNITED STATES:THE CASES OF WUHAN UNIVERSITY AND THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS

Cristina González
Yamin Liu
Xiaoling Shu
2012

Any serious inquiry about improving the quality of a university must begin with an examination of its faculty promotion and merit procedures, since a university’s quality cannot be higher than that of its faculty. In this essay, we will examine the tenure track or regular faculty promotion and merit systems at the University of California, Davis, and Wuhan University, with a view towards understanding how they motivate the professoriate and foster creativity. In our analysis, we will pay special attention to compensation, as well as to work-life balance, issues. Our hope is to...

Beyond the Ivy Islands: Building Undergraduate Teaching Muscle in Public Universities Without Detracting from Research, by Steven G. Brint

Steven G. Brint
2012

Reviewing Andrew Delbanco’s new book, College: What It Was, Is, and Should Be, this paper explores the current shifts in the college model—particularly those occurring at overstressed public campuses—and offers suggestions for improving teaching effectiveness in “dustbowl” classrooms to avoid the progressive mechanization of the undergraduate curriculum over the next decade and a growing exodus from public universities to online colleges-in-name-only.

EXPLORING CANDIDATES, ELECTIONS, CAMPAIGNS, AND EXPENDITURES IN CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICTS, 2004-2010

Patrick Murphy
Max Neiman
Jelena Hasbrouck
2012

Previous recommendations to eliminate the district-level, elected boards have met with strong local resistance, particularly from faculty. The findings in this report do little to strengthen the case for locally elected, community college boards, however. The highlights of our findings are as follows: (1) a very high proportion of trustees seem to choose not to run for re-election and, overall, relatively few individuals choose to compete for trustee positions; (2) nearly half of the races involve just two individuals competing for a trustee seat; (3) there are some districts where...

CLARK KERR: TRIUMPHS AND TURMOIL

David P. Gardner
2012

This paper is a personal recollection of Clark Kerr and his presidency of the University of California by a friend of 43 years, not from a distance, but as a former student, colleague and successor president of the University. It is also a summary remembrance of the contributions made by his three most influential predecessors. These three presidents: Gilman (1872-75), Wheeler (1899-1919), and Sproul (1930-1958), essentially defined the trail of history that led to and helped shape Kerr’s own presidency (1958-1967). The principal focus of this paper is Kerr’s beliefs, values, style,...

PORTRAIT OF THE DISENGAGED

Steven G. Brint
Allison M. Cantwell
2012

The topic of undergraduate academic engagement has been a matter of intense inquiry for more than a generation. This paper examines the other side of the coin: the size and characteristics of academically disengaged populations. Drawing on classic sociological work on conformity and deviance, we theorize four dimensions of student academic disengagement: values disengagement, behavioral disengagement, alternative involvement, and interactional disengagement. Using survey data, we estimate the size of disengaged populations along each of these dimensions and the characteristics of...

A New Approach to Analyzing University Prestige and Internal Resource Allocation: Geometric Interpretations and Implications, by Yasumi Abe and Satoshi P. Watanabe

Yasumi Abe
Satoshi P. Watanabe
2012

The content of this paper is based solely on the original study reported in Abe and Watanabe (2012a) in which the authors develop a structured and innovative theory of optimal resource allocation and prestige maximization for an institution of higher education. Although the study provides a sound diagnostic framework and unambiguous results, the paper requires relatively advanced knowledge of mathematics and microeconomic theory, which presents an unattractive feature for students and researchers in academic disciplines that do not necessarily incorporate such analytical...

Tales of University Devolution: Organizational Behavior in the Age of Markets, by John Aubrey Douglass

John Aubrey Douglass
2012

n the wake of the Cold War era, America’s research universities became increasingly characterized by a tribal mentality among schools and departments, and disciplines. The surge in research funding, and the tremendous growth rate among the major public universities in particular, fostered the idea of the “multiversity” was becoming less communal, and less aware of the collective purpose. These patterns have accelerated considerably over the past two decades in the US that reflect three relatively new realities or influences: a) within the public university sector, decreasing public...

Revisiting California Higher Education Coordination, by David E. Leveille

David E. Leveille
2012

Accountability in postsecondary education across the nation has matured for the most part over the past five years. The same cannot be said for California. In California, the limited attention to accountability is inconsistent to the heightened focus on accountability at the national level. As a result of widespread and increasing concern about the quality, efficiency, and effectiveness of California postsecondary education, its governance and the management of public postsecondary education institutions, this paper has three objectives: a)To briefly describe the state of governance...