This course deals with the history, purpose, philosophy, organization, curriculum, student personnel services, financial services, and trends of the American system of higher education.

Course Objectives:

Students who complete the course will develop:

(1) An understanding of the environment in which higher education operates, including how institutions are organized and managed on both a macrocosmic and microcosmic level.

(2) An understanding of the political nature of higher education.

(3) An understanding of the chronological and conceptual events that contributed to the current status of higher education.

(4) An understanding of the student constituency in higher education.

(5) An understanding of sound management and supervisory techniques as applicable to higher education.

(6) An understanding of the issues which have affected higher education in the past, as well as those which are most influential today.

(7) An appreciation for the complex nature and changing mission of higher education.

(8) An appreciation of the stresses that inherently affect contemporary students and how those conditions affect student potential for success both in postsecondary education and life in general.

(9) An appreciation for how things could be and a desire to contribute positively in shaping the future of higher education.

Textbooks:

Prescribing the Life of the Mind
by Charles W. Anderson.
The University of Wisconsin Press, 1993.

Education without Compromise
by William D. Schaefer.
Jossey-Bass, 1990.

When Hope and Fear Collide
by Arthur Levine & Jeanette S. Cureton.
Jossey-Bass, 1998.

Course Requirements:

(1) Article Reactions. Each student is to prepare a 2-3 page reaction to each of the ten (10) articles provided by the instructor. Copies of these reactions are to be made for each class member.

(2) Book Critique. Each student is to prepare an indepth, chapter-by-chapter critique and reaction of a book provided by the instructor. Each student will have a different book to critique and copies are to be made for each class member.

(3) Research Paper. Each student is to select a topic related to higher education and prepare a research paper on that topic. Topics must be pre-approved by the instructor prior to beginning this assignment. Copies of the paper are to be made for each class member.

(4) Discussion/Participation. Each of the above requirements will be discussed by class members at future class meetings. Class members are expected to be prepared to contribute meaningfully to those discussions.

Grading:

Article Reactions........................ 25%
Book Critique ........................... 25%
Research Paper.......................... 25%
Discussion/Participation ............. 25%
TOTAL ...................................100%