This essay focuses on the responsibility of AASCU universities and colleges to take deliberate, concerted actions to help sustain the nation's vitality and competitiveness in a global, multicultural and rapidly changing society. Guiding our work is the premise that presidential leadership is key to the success of any effort to make the nation's…

In 2008 Florida's Senate Bill No. 1716 was enacted, which replaced the Florida Community College System with the Florida College System and presented 9 out of the 28 community colleges with the option to transition to state colleges. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of Senate Bill No. 1716 and, in doing so, discuss the…

A policy analysis of Florida's 10-factor Performance-Based Funding system for state universities. The focus of the article is on the system of performance metrics developed by the state Board of Governors and their impact on institutions and their missions. The paper also discusses problems and issues with the metrics, their ongoing evolution, and…

Presented here are the top 10 issues most likely to affect public higher education across the 50 states in 2011, in the view of the state policy staff at the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU). This listing is informed by an environmental scan of the economic, political and policy landscape surrounding public higher…

This dissertation examines the formation, reformation, and standardization of land-grant colleges in the Northeastern United States during the last four decades of the nineteenth century. It is a history that explores the turbulent origins of land-grant colleges in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont,…

Just as the recession has taken a toll in other states, New Jersey state budget coffers are shriveling up as public colleges and other state-supported services are asked to do more with less. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's slashing of $173 million from public colleges and universities has drawn the ire of higher education leaders, educators and…

Strategic planning and innovation at Bismarck State College (BSC) found common ground in the college's goal to recruit and retain employees in an environment of low unemployment and strong competition for skilled employees. BSC's strategic plan for 2007-09 included the objective "to increase retention of employees." One of the strategies…

By design or default, anatomy educators are often responsible for introducing students to medical professionalism. Although much has been said about the role of anatomical education, there are no published reports suggesting how to measure change. This study investigated what professionalism attitudes, if any, change during a gross anatomy course.…

Greater accountability in public higher education systems is a fact of life in the current political climate. Increasingly, one form this accountability takes is performance funding, which arises from elected officials' need for assurance that taxpayer funds are not only being invested and used properly but are resulting in desired outcomes at…

This case study demonstrates how building a flexible portfolio of services allowed a continuing education (CE) unit to thrive during frequent leadership changes. The case is set in a small state college, State Technology Institute at Mohawk (STIM), which experienced nine leadership changes in as many years. The names of the institution and its…

Ten states now offer in-state college tuition rates to illegal immigrant students. Others are struggling to enact similar policies. But while many advocates want to open the doors to higher education for undocumented students, critics say the laws granting in-state tuition discriminate against other low-income students and legal residents of the…

The lingering economic downturn has affected virtually every American institution--perhaps none more significantly than the nation's higher education system. These days, facing significant revenue shortfalls that are widely recognized as the "new normal," state-supported colleges and universities are looking, sometimes desperately, for…

Public universities are not for-profit businesses with an easy-to-understand bottom line: their financial reports are not designed to convey information to the public fully or to reflect all the costs of teaching and research. Financial reports do track every dollar in accordance with the accounting rules required by auditors, but they do not…

The Commonwealth of Virginia, like the rest of the nation, has endured the effects of an historical economic recession for the past three years. While Virginia is perhaps no longer in recession, the still fragile economy is a major cause for concern. Shrinking tax revenues and the need to balance the state's budget led the 2010 General Assembly to…

Given the overarching ramifications that financial literacy plays in the modern economy, this paper contends that a renewed emphasis on financial literacy is central to individual, family and communal economic security. New responsibilities and opportunities given to consumers, such as retirement planning, have increased the need for more…