The Data Culture Framework is a high-level guide designed for institutional leaders who want to create and sustain an effective data culture on campus. The Framework offers a set of practices designed to help institutions of higher education create and maintain an effective data-informed community among institutional leaders, faculty, and staff.

Public Agenda's Choicework Discussion Starters support dialogue and deliberation on a wide variety of issues. They have been used in thousands of community conversations, discussion groups and classrooms and by journalists, researchers, policymakers, community leaders, and individuals looking to better understand and discuss solutions to a variety…

Over the years, careers have transformed to be flexible and changing rather than stable, life-long commitments to an organization. As such, making work meaningful, controlling the work environment, and taking the opportunity to get required training for the next job are as important as the financial advantages. Educators' careers cannot be…

Higher education is in the midst of a deep financial crisis, and the failure of governing boards to focus on academic programs is arguably the single greatest cause of overspending. This brochure shows trustees both why and how to prioritize academic programs. All too often, attempts to reduce expenses have concentrated on the administrative side…

Today's challenging higher education environment demands a new way of making decisions. Changing business models and methodologies for delivering academic programs present new opportunities (as well as risks) and call for innovative responses. This publication aims to "reboot" dialogues among boards, presidents, and faculties. It creates…

Institutions of higher education are unique organizations: They have multiple goals, extending beyond their central aims of teaching and research. They are not always organized in a clear hierarchy. One of their most prevalent populations, the faculty, is a cross between independent contractors and employees; another class, administrators, is a…

The use of data for making educational decisions and to assess educational outcomes has been legislated by political bodies and codified by accreditation. Faculty have always used data to inform the grading process--data is gathered throughout the term to inform the letter grade assigned at the end. However, in today's educational environment,…

Each fall, thousands of eager freshmen descend on college and university campuses expecting the best education imaginable: inspiring classes taught by top-ranked professors, academic advisors who will guide them to a prestigious job or graduate school, and an environment where learning flourishes outside the classroom as much as it does in lecture…

Discusses ethics regarding the journalism and mass communications professoriate. Suggests a schema or audit to positively address such issues as accountability and loyalty, values, and principles. Offers eight questions for a personal ethics audit which attempt to join good intentions with good decisions, and shift the enterprise to a positive…

A unified approach to identifying and solving the fundamental problems that prevent colleges and universities from responding effectively to new demands is presented. It demonstrates the underlying causes of institutional problems using case study examples of administrators and faculty members in their institutions. Chapter 1, "Current Approaches…

This two-volume work is intended to help readers develop powerful new ways of thinking about organizational principles, and apply them to policy-making and management in colleges and universities. The book is written with two audiences in mind: administrative and faculty leaders in institutions of higher learning, and students (both doctoral and…

The process and outcome of a planning system are affected by the different perspectives held by senior participants in an institutional planning system. A review of the literature of planning in higher education was conducted to identify characteristics an institution should have prior to starting a planning process. (MLW)

Faculty members desiring administrative roles can find the structure and function of shared governance a fertile ground for growth through practical experience in institutional decision making. Typical areas of faculty governance work include departmental and degree-level curricular matters; policies on such matters as reappointment, tenure and…

This paper discusses management strategies based on feminist social psychological principles, applies them to the administration of small colleges, and suggests their effectiveness for dealing with intelligent and independent faculty members. The principles cited are: (1) individuals are located in a sociological context that creates differences…

This paper discusses the principles of an effective faculty evaluation system that are repeatedly recommended in the literature. These principles include the following: (1) clarify institutional goals; (2) decide on the purposes of the data to be collected; (3) use pilot programs when appropriate; (4) significantly involve participants in the…