Using Typological Approaches to Understand College Student Experiences and Outcomes


Book Description

Facing a new round of criticisms on the quality of undergraduate education in American colleges and universities, higher education administrators are eager to find—or create—effective programs and practices that can enrich student experiences and enhance outcomes. In order to do that, those who work at colleges and universities need to have a better understanding of their students. Institutional researchers, with access to a wealth of student data, have the analytical expertise to supply information that can guide institutional policy and practice. Typological frameworks particularly can be used to generate such information, and this volume presents rich examples of typological approaches to the study of college students. Typological research can reveal patterns in students’ characteristics, attitudes, and behaviors and how those patterns are related to desirable outcomes such as learning and persistence, or to the nature, meaning, and utility of student-faculty interactions outside the classroom. Such information can help campus leaders and other concerned groups gain a deeper understanding of their students, design better targeted and intentional interventions to optimize student experiences, and maximize student learning and personal development outcomes. This is a special supplemental issue of New Directions for Institutional Research. Always timely and comprehensive, this series provides planners and administrators in all types of academic institutions with guidelines in such areas as resource coordination, information analysis, program evaluation, and institutional management.




SYNER-G: Typology Definition and Fragility Functions for Physical Elements at Seismic Risk


Book Description

Fragility functions constitute an emerging tool for the probabilistic seismic risk assessment of buildings, infrastructures and lifeline systems. The work presented in this book is a partial product of a European Union funded research project SYNER-G (FP7 Theme 6: Environment) where existing knowledge has been reviewed in order to extract the most appropriate fragility functions for the vulnerability analysis and loss estimation of the majority of structures and civil works exposed to earthquake hazard. Results of other relevant European projects and international initiatives are also incorporated in the book. In several cases new fragility and vulnerability functions have been developed in order to better represent the specific characteristics of European elements at risk. Several European and non-European institutes and Universities collaborated efficiently to capitalize upon existing knowledge. State-of-the-art methods are described, existing fragility curves are reviewed and, where necessary, new ones are proposed for buildings, lifelines, transportation infrastructures as well as for utilities and critical facilities. Taxonomy and typology definitions are synthesized and the treatment of related uncertainties is discussed. A fragility function manager tool and fragility functions in electronic form are provided on extras.springer.com. Audience The book aims to be a standard reference on the fragility functions to be used for the seismic vulnerability and probabilistic risk assessment of the most important elements at risk. It is of particular interest to earthquake engineers, scientists and researchers working in the field of earthquake risk assessment, as well as the insurance industry, civil protection and emergency management agencies.




Handbook on the Politics of Higher Education


Book Description

Understanding the politics of Higher Education is becoming more important as the sector is increasingly recognised as a vital source of innovation, skills, economic prosperity, and personal wellbeing. Yet key political differences remain over such issues as who should pay for higher education, how should it be accountable, and how we measure its quality and productivity. Particularly, are states or markets the key in helping to address such matters. The Handbook provides framing perspectives and perspectives, chapters on funding, governance and regulation, and pieces on the political economy of higher education and on the increased role of external stakeholders and indicators.




Performance-Based Funding in Higher Education


Book Description

Performance-Based Funding in Higher Education examines the touted aims of higher education policies over the past thirty years. The focus on job creation and increased graduation rates has distracted educators, students, and surrounding communities from an educator’s traditional and valued role as the promoter of democracy and critical citizenship. Letizia contends that institutions of higher education must redirect and promote their policies so that this aim is achieved and acknowledged. Recommended for scholars of education, sociology, political science, and philosophy.




The Oxford Handbook of Higher Education Systems and University Management


Book Description

The world's systems of higher education (HE) are caught up in the fourth industrial revolution of the twenty-first century. Driven by increased globalization, demographic expansion in demand for education, new information and communications technology, and changing cost structures influencing societal expectations and control, higher education systems across the globe are adapting to the pressures of this new industrial environment. To make sense of the complex changes in the practices and structures of higher education, this Handbook sets out a theoretical framework to explain what higher education systems are, how they may be compared over time, and why comparisons are important in terms of societal progress in an increasingly interconnected world. Drawing on insights from over 40 leading international scholars and practitioners, the chapters examine the main challenges facing institutions of higher education, how they should be managed in changing conditions, and the societal implications of different approaches to change. Structured around the premise that higher education plays a significant role in ensuring that a society achieves the capacity to adjust itself to change, while at the same time remaining cohesive as a social system, this Handbook explores how current internal and external forces disturb this balance, and how institutions of higher education could, and might, respond.




Reforms, Organizational Change and Performance in Higher Education


Book Description

This open access book investigates the effects of changes in leadership and managerial structures of Nordic universities resulting from reforms in the last decade. It builds on a rich, comparative dataset across a multiplicity of system-wide (macro) and organisational (meso and micro) dimensions, namely: reform or policy initiatives; drivers, aims, instruments and actors; structural changes within universities; strategic and performance management; the rise of accountability regimes; incentive and evaluative systems; and perceived changes/effects by the key actors involved, at various levels. The volume provides critical insights to the larger phenomenon of change and adaptation within the public sector. Its findings and implications are of relevance to social science researchers, policy makers, managers/administrators, and external stakeholders.




Examining the Role of Entrepreneurial Universities in Regional Development


Book Description

Universities are becoming more entrepreneurial, and for local communities and companies, this has increased their economic standings tenfold. However, the competitiveness of developing economies thanks to these financially focused institutions has likewise increased. Examining the Role of Entrepreneurial Universities in Regional Development provides emerging research exploring how universities foster and support entrepreneurship and the development of a more entrepreneurial organization and highlights the importance of this process for local communities and companies. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics such as institutional entrepreneurship, public management, and economic contribution, this book is ideally designed for university presidents, provosts, rectors, chancellors, board members, managers, business professionals, policymakers, academicians, students, and researchers.




Improving Research-Based Knowledge of College Promise Programs


Book Description

Also known as “free tuition” and “free college” programs, college promise programs are an emerging approach for increasing higher education attainment of people in particular places. To maximize the effectiveness of their efforts and investments, program leaders and policymakers need research-based evidence to inform program design, implementation, and evaluation. With the goal of addressing this knowledge need, this volume presents a collection of research studies that examine several categories and variations of college promise programs. These theoretically grounded empirical investigations use varied data sources and analytic techniques to examine the effects of college promise programs that have different design features and operate in different places. Individually and collectively, the results of these studies have implications for the design and implementation of promise programs if these programs are to create meaningful improvements in attainment for people from underserved groups. The authors’ efforts also provide a useful foundation for the next generation of college promise research.




Teaching and Research in the Knowledge-Based Society


Book Description

This book addresses common themes relating to the teaching and research nexus in the knowledge-based society through historical, comparative and empirical perspectives. It analyzes traditions of academic systems and national initiatives, and other factors affecting the main characteristics of the teaching and research nexus in eleven case countries from Asia, Europe, North America and South America. The book identifies key challenges of the academy, and trends in relation to the teaching and research nexus. The focus of case countries is on the attitudes and activities of the academy, as reported in the international comparative survey “The Academic Profession in the Knowledge-Based Society” (APIKS) in 2017-18. The data compared with previous international comparative survey “The Changing Academic Profession” (CAP) in 2007-08 in most chapters to make time series changes. The book discusses the teaching and research nexus in the case countries similar to and different from those of reference countries drawing on findings from the international databanks of the two international comparative surveys and previous research.