Using their cross-disciplinary review of "Ideas that Work in College Teaching," the authors explore the pedagogical commonalities of fifteen higher education instructors from SUNY Potsdam (State University of New York at Potsdam) in an attempt to reveal the secrets of teaching success across thirteen academic disciplines--math, computer…

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has required faculty and students to adapt to an unprecedented challenge and rapidly transition from traditional face-to-face instruction to distance learning formats through virtual classrooms. While most campuses trained faculty to ensure quality and maintenance of the curriculum through virtual classrooms,…

As participation in online learning continues to expand, higher education institutions must implement policies and procedures to ensure quality at the course, program, and institution levels. In this paper, the authors describe a process that the State University of New York (SUNY) System implemented, utilizing the OLC Quality Scorecard, to help…

When the author entered Columbia Law School in 1951, first-year tuition was $600--$5082.07 in today's money (according to the U.S. Department of Labor's CPI inflation calculator). Today (with some additional compulsory payments) it is over $50,000. How could this have happened? Law schools were once noted for providing inexpensive education, what…

The Online Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering is a collaborative effort among three University Centers at SUNY (State University of New York), namely Stony Brook, Binghamton, and Buffalo. The program delivers the complete electrical engineering curriculum at the bachelor level to students online and asynchronously. Students, however,…

Recent education policy designed to promote arts education tends to focus on how such curriculum supports "skills for innovation" required for success in the global economy. Emphasis on the transfer of arts-based learning to professional innovation and achievement, a dynamic that is difficult to determine, can undermine the value of…

College students have a tendency to become stressed from both their schoolwork and their personal lives. As the end of a semester approaches, the stress levels begin to rise for everyone. The procrastinators, the planners, and even those ahead in their work become tenser even with small problems, such as slow printers or an unavailable book needed…

In December 2010, the California Postsecondary Education Commission (CPEC) staff surveyed public universities in other states to learn how they have dealt with cuts in state funding. All of the institutions CPEC surveyed have increased tuition and or fees at least once in the last two fiscal years, and many project additional increases. All have…

This essay seeks to explain the history that led to the establishment of First-Year Writing at Binghamton University, a program which offers a set of electives that complement discipline-specific and writing-across-the-curriculum courses while providing first-year students a common experience in and comprehensive introduction to college writing.

In this article, the author examines the financial crisis on Wall Street which resonates through higher education across the state, and beyond. The economic malaise is taking its toll in places like Rhode Island, where state budget cuts of 17 percent forced colleges to cut class offerings and leave more than 150 positions unfilled. Florida's…

Universities are watching their state budgets crumble across the country: The University of Arizona has put a freeze on all state-financed hiring, Georgia's 14 technical colleges are being merged into seven, and New York will probably have to shelve a plan to create a $3-billion fund to attract cutting-edge research to the Empire State, which…

To say the American economy is in a precarious mode would be the understatement of the century. Banks have foundered, American industry is looking for federal bailouts, and belts are tightening everywhere. Not surprisingly, higher education officials at private institutions are wondering which students will be able to afford ever-escalating…

Faculty sometimes use votes of no confidence as a tool of last resort to express opposition to a college administration. Unfortunately, however, such votes often have limited effect aside from further damaging relations between administrators and faculty. This article describes how a no-confidence vote was averted at Alfred State College (formally…

This article talks about the retired faculty members from different types of institutions around the country that were interviewed to find out how well their preparations for retirement are serving them now. Like other state employees in California, faculty members at public institutions participate in the California Public Employees' Retirement…

The State University of New York (SUNY) assessment initiative is an ambitious project that seeks to establish a comprehensive assessment program across the largest public education system in the United States, with over 413,000 total students. This article focuses on the principles that have guided the assessment of general education across SUNY…