Theoretically, higher education professionals agree that public trusteeship matters, yet little attention is given to the influence trustees have on the performance of public higher education. This study examines the relationship between selection and appointment processes and state higher education performance. Findings show that top-performing…

Intrusive advising has been frequently used to encourage or require at-risk or probationary students to attend advising sessions. The efficacy of intrusive advising targeted to all students has received little attention. We implemented a case-control experiment with 501 first-year students at a large, urban, state university to test the efficacy…

The Commission has expressed concerns about the preparation of University of California and California State University executive compensation and faculty salary studies. In response to the Commission's direction, a Compensation Study Advisory Committee was convened to explore the utility of salary and compensation studies and suggest…

In this fifth brief in "Excelencia" in Education's series on Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) the focus is on the methods and strategies that are producing successful results in a growing sector of colleges and universities we call, "Emerging" Hispanic-Serving Institutions. These Emerging HSIs are institutions that…

The Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education recognizes the importance of safe, functional, well-utilized and well-maintained facilities in supporting institutional efforts to provide exemplary programs. This principle forms the basis for the Commission's capital construction budget recommendations and prioritization for the 2009-2011…

"The Condition of Education" summarizes leading developments and trends in education using the latest available data. The report, which is required by law, is an indicator report intended for a general audience of readers who are interested in education. The indicators represent a consensus of professional judgment on the most…

This paper examines the difficulties of strategic planning under severe constraints in a state college. Constraints include the planning models available, the governance structure of the college and other externalities, and a not-for-profit model of constraints by Newman and Wallender. After presenting the planning challenges, we discuss…

Asynchronous text based discussion boards are included in many online courses, however strategies to compare their use within and between courses, from a disciplinary standpoint, have not been well documented in the literature. The goal of this project was to develop a multi-factor metric which could be used to characterize discussion board use in…

This report is the based on a 10-year study of the activities developed under a National Science Foundation (NSF) Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) grant to a collaborative of institutions from the State University of New York. The goals of LSAMP are to recruit and retain under-represented minority students in the STEM…

With the 2006 mid-term elections over, higher education will be an important topic in public policy discussions at the federal and state levels. State colleges and universities will need to stay informed and be prepared to take action as discussions about access, affordability, and accountability play out in the coming year. This issue of…

On July 28, the Governor signed legislation making significant revisions to the 2009-10 state budget. The revised budget allocates $85 billion in State General Fund spending, down from the $92 billion in the budget approved by the Governor and Legislature in February. This budget revision also captures some savings from the just-completed 2008-09…

One of the most common questions asked about the State University System (SUS) is "What is enrollment within the SUS?" The answer to the question will depend on how and when enrollment is counted. This information brief is an effort to provide an easily accessible, written explanation of the principal methods of measuring enrollment and…

A variety of studies provide evidence that the stock of college-educated labor has fundamental effects on state and local economies through its association with wages, economic growth, personal incomes, and tax revenues. As a result, policymakers in many states try to increase the percentage of the state's population (or workforce) that has a…

This report examined the impact of a four-year public college, West Virginia State College, on the local community and graduates. It discusses the economic benefits of a college degree in regard to the individual graduate and the society as a whole, noting that college graduates have significantly higher lifetime earnings than individuals with…

This study examines how a state system of higher education, located in the Rocky Mountains area of the United States, allowed faculty members from the state's public institutions of higher education to control the design and implementation of a pilot assessment of statewide general education courses. One of the primary reasons faculty were allowed…