The Reality of Trade-Offs
Discipline: Education
Type of Paper: Discussion Essay
Academic Level: Master's
Paper Format: APA
Question
Required Readings
McClellan, G. S., & Stringer, J. (Eds.). (2016). The handbook of student affairs administration (4th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Wiley.
- Chapter 4, "Fiscal Pressures on Higher Education and Student Affairs"
Jenkins, D. (2011). Redesigning community colleges for completion: Lessons from research on high-performance organizations (Working Paper No. 24, assessment of evidence series). New York, NY: Columbia University, Teachers College, Community College Research Center. Retrieved from: http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/
Publication.asp?UID=844 Jenkins, D. (2011). Redesigning Community Colleges for Completion: Lessons from Research on High-Performance Organizations from CCRC Working Paper No. 24, Assessment of Evidence Series. Reprinted by permission.
Zachry, E. M., & Coghlan, E. (2010). Investing in change: How much do Achieving the Dream colleges spend—and from what resources—to become data-driven institutions? New York, NY: MDRC. Retrieved from: http://www.mdrc.org/
publications/559/full.pdf Zachry, E., & Coghlan, E. (2010). Investing in Change: How Much Do Achieving the Dream Colleges Spend - And From What Resources - To Become Data-Driven Institutions? Copyright 2010 by MDRC. Reprinted by permission.
Optional Resources
Burdman, P. (2009). Sustaining changes that support student success in community college. New Directions for Community Colleges, 2009(145), 31–41.
Note: Retrieved from the Walden Library using the Education Research Complete database.
Discussion: The Reality of Trade-Offs
In Chapter 4 of the course text (McClellan & Stringer, 2016), Schuh suggests there are a number of factors influencing the financial health of institutions that may lead to extensive risks for both students and institutions. Zachry and Coghlan (2010) describe how institutions seek out and allocate resources in support of student success. The institutions described in their study all employed some external funding, including their Lumina-funded Achieving the Dream grant, to achieve their goals. In this week’s Discussion, consider what an institution without external funding might do to accomplish some of the reforms of the Achieving the Dream initiative.
By Day 3
Post a response to the following:
- As a higher education leader at an institution without the benefit of external funding, what types of investments would be your highest priority and why?
- What types of investments would be lower priority and why? What would you do differently from the Achieving the Dream institutions described in the Zachry and Coghlan (2010) study?
