HIED 545: Discussion Posts
Walk the Line
In the Walk the Line survey, you were asked to respond to 10 questions about your undergraduate experiences. Now that we have reached the end of the lesson, take a minute and turn back to look at each of the graphs at the bottom of the page. By now, the graphs should have changed to reflect all of your responses.
What do the graphs say about the U.S. higher education system as a whole?
I, like my classmates, am also surprised by a large number of females in the survey. I have only taken one class in the program – currently I am in two now – but I thought that the male to female ratio was pretty even from what I’ve seen. I am also pleasantly surprised by the diversity in majors. I think this indicates the wide range of opportunities within higher education. There are many facets to this field that could attract people from varying backgrounds.
I have to admit that I’m not surprised by a large amount of classmates that went to a private liberal arts college. Often students who have attended smaller, private schools feel a huge sense of loyalty to their undergraduate college and this could be a driving factor in wanting to become a part of the field.
11th Generation Discussion
Earlier in this lesson (Thoughts on the Future), you were asked to collaborate with your peers to create your vision of the 11th generation of higher education. Now that everyone has had the opportunity to contribute to the collaborative space, take a few minutes to reflect on the result. Then, from your point of view, respond to the following questions:
- What do you think the 11th generation of higher education will look like? Why?
- What trends will continue or emerge?
Accessibility seems to be the theme of the 11th generation of higher education. Financially, institutions are not accessible to the majority of students, and it is becoming more common for scholarships to be offered by corporations and businesses. There is a shortage of applicable skills being learned and applied to common jobs, so I do agree that free institutions will become more common. AT&T, for example, offers a full-ride scholarship to a set amount of students, but one of the requirements of the scholarship is an internship within several departments of AT&T to expose the students to a variety of positions that are available within the company and train them in practical skills that would be directly applicable to an entry-level position in these departments. The program has been successful in training and recruiting undergraduate students to join the company following graduation. Scholarship opportunities like this have become increasingly more popular and clearly show a corporation’s hand in higher education.
Institutions that offer online courses to enhance clerical skills or supplement in-person classes will likely also become more utilized. Degree programs that offer totally online coursework or hybrid coursework allow students to take classes at their own place without relocating themselves or their families. It also allows students to continue working while also furthering their education. This provides accessibility to various types of students – especially those with financial burdens, family obligations, or those with mental or physical disabilities.
Providing more support to various populations on campus such as LGBTQ+, those with disabilities, or underrepresented students will also enhance retention and overall college experience. I think that in our society today it is absolutely necessary to provide support for students and thus increase their chances for success at the institution.
The most interesting proposal I saw was a reduction in residential status. Although this would be difficult to change, I do think that it would increase applications and retention of incoming students in state run institutions. This would be interesting to explore from a financial and political point of view.
Governance Crisis Discussion
In lesson 5, you wrote a paper that reflected upon one of the governance crises that were presented. To begin this discussion forum, summarize your paper in 1-2 paragraphs and post it.
I was assigned to the governance crisis at Upper Iowa University.
Between Fall of 2012 and Summer of 2013, Upper Iowa University experienced a financial deficit of seven million dollars, a change in university presidents, a five-day faculty furlough, a 600-student enrollment decrease, and the elimination of two established majors. These events triggered a governance crisis that caused faculty to fear job displacement and question if shared governance exists in their university. During the turnover of presidents, the new president was not appointed after interviews with the staff as was previously the custom but rather appointed by the president of the board of trustees. Furthermore, the university changed its faculty handbook so it was acceptable to fire a tenure-track teacher without revealing the university’s reason for letting them go.
The faculty felt like they had lost their right to shared governance because they should be entitled to express opinions or concerns about university policy without fearing negative repercussions. If I was in charge of the governing structure of Upper Iowa University, I would have focused on fostering stability, communication, and trust between the faculty and staff and the university governing structures through first, following the traditional method of hiring a new president, and waiting to change the faculty handbook until this new president had gained respect and trust. I would have then clearly communicated the proposed changes, explained the board’s reasoning, and stressed that the faculty could voice their disapproval without negatively affecting their position at the university. Although this would be more time consuming and incur debates between formal governance and faculty, it could have prevented the faculty’s feelings of job instability and lack of shared governance.
Flaherty, C. (2014, July 22). Faculty members at Upper Iowa U. say they lost jobs for questioning curricular changes. Retrieved February 12, 2020, from https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/07/22/faculty-members-upper-iowa-u-say-they-lost-jobs-questioning-curricular-changes (Links to an external site.)
Penn State World Campus. (n.d.). Lesson 5: Organization and Governance of Higher Education Institutions. In HIED 545: Foundations of Higher Education and Student Affairs: Spring 2020. Retrieved from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2043984/modules/items/27822341
Current Events Discussion
For this activity you will find a current events article from the Chronicle of Higher Education, New York Times or Inside Higher Ed (or other academic periodical). Try to find an article that is both of interest to you as a learner and relevant to the content in this lesson. It may be helpful to look for articles that could be thought of as “case studies.” That is, you do not need an article that summarizes what we have read, rather choose articles that demonstrate how states or institutions are dealing with specific challenges.
Here are two examples of articles that would work well for this assignment:
- Lonestar State uses Fear and Horror themed classes to keep students engaged (Links to an external site.)
- Colleges Measuring Learning but seldom share results (Links to an external site.)
Once you have identified your article, create your initial post. This post should include:
- the title of the article in the subject line (NOTE, If you notice another student has already posted your article, pick another article!!!)
- a high-level summary of the article
- the link to the article
- why you found it compelling
- how it expands the learning from the lesson.
Once you have created your initial post, spend time reviewing the articles found by other students. The purpose of this is twofold. One, you will have a broader knowledge of current trends and ideas (always a helpful thing for future writing assignments). Two, you will be able to gain insights into the perspectives of your peers. Engaging your peers in dialogue over these perspectives is highly encouraged.
More Students Report Talking With Their Professors Outside of Class. Here’s Why That Matters.
The National Survey of Student Engagement’s (NSSE) goal is to better understand undergraduates’ college experience in an effort to provide information to institutions to help improve students’ success. Most recent results show a 10% increase between 2004-2019 in “first-year students who say they have discussed career plans and other topics outside of class with their professors”. “This suggests that by and large, faculty who teach first-year students have devoted more effort to having meaningful conversations with students outside of the classroom – a form of engagement that helps to socialize new students, promotes their persistence, and facilitates their ongoing development,” the survey notes. “It also suggests that institutions have intentionally structured orientations, career services, and support units to connect students to the resources they most need.” ( McMurtrie, para. 3, 2020)
This directly connects to the non-academic learning and student time use for residential undergrads section in this week’s lesson when it discusses, “Knowing how to cultivate and manage relationships”. (Penn, n.d.) Many students have not been responsible for cultivating relationships with adults other than their parents before attending college. Having meaningful interactions with faculty outside of class gives first year students practice in talking to multiple adults who are experts in a number of fields that they may have not previously felt comfortable communicating with.
More communication with professors also helps students who would not be classified by Mary Grigsby as being academic, who enjoying talking with professors, to push past the natural discomfort of this activity and learn how to feel more comfortable with talking to authority figures who are experts in their fields. This skill is incredibly valuable for students who are entering into the workforce, as they will likely not be viewed as an expert in their field for some time and will need to communicate frequently to those who are experts.
The NSSE also showed an interaction between quality, rather than quantity, of advising between professors and students. “The survey found that first-year students who said they received high-quality advising also had twice as much interaction with professors and were more likely to say they planned to return the next year, compared with students who described their advising as low quality” (McMurtie, 2020, para 5). This further shows the connection between increased professor-student engagement to the overall student experience, success, and retention.
This increase in interaction did not simply happen but rather was the result of collaboration between the structure of classes by the institution and professors’ willingness to invest further time and energy into first-year students. The positive results of the higher student experience, success, and retention could reflect the impact that non-coursework related conversation could have on various types of students. For example, students like the careerist who is forced to take a general education course and finds the content a waste of time could be more engaged through enjoying the professor. Collegiate or alternative students could discover an organization or hobby they have in common with the professor which could increase their engagement within the classroom. Unfortunately, credentialist students may not improve due to increased conversation with their professors, as it would also require more time and energy spent in the classroom (Grigsby, 2009).
I found this article particularly compelling because I have found similar results in my classroom. Often students who are interested in art, business, or other subjects dislike learning higher level chemistry and biology so increasing their engagement with material is very difficult. Generally as I get to know the students and their goals personally through communication outside of the classroom, I also am able to tailor the material I teach to individual students, or the group as a whole, which makes them feel like a priority and gets them excited about the material. It is encouraging to see positive results at the university level as well.
Article Link:
https://www.chronicle.com/article/More-Students-Report-Talking/248068 (Links to an external site.)
References:
McMurtrie, B. (2020, February 20). More Students Report Talking With Their Professors Outside of Class. Here’s Why That Matters. Retrieved March 16, 2020, from https://www.chronicle.com/article/More-Students-Report-Talking/248068
Penn State World Campus. (n.d.). Lesson 8: Academic and Nonacademic Learning on Campus. In HIED 545: Foundations of Higher Education and Student Affairs: Spring 2020. Retrieved from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2043984/modules/items/27822375
Grigsby, M. (2009). Using the cultural tool kit. In College life through the eyes of students (pp. 91-142). Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
Student Charges Discussion
For this assignment, you will collect and then examine the data for the finances for your institution. To obtain these data, you will need to following the following steps.
Go to the IPEDS Data Center (Links to an external site.).
Select “Look up an institution”
Enter the name of your institution. (When typing, names will likely start to appear that match the letters typed to that point. You can just click on the name of your school when it appears.)
Explore the Student Charges tab and the Student Financial Aid tab.
Copy the information underneath the Student Charges and Student Financial Aid tab.
Paste the information into a Word document. Format as needed so the information is presented clearly,
Once you have gathered your institution specific information, engage your fellow learners in a discussion. The following questions should be used as a discussion prompt.
What is distinctive about your institution’s charges and student financial aide profile?
How do these data influence the pathway(s) a student may take to obtain a degree?
I reviewed cost and financial aid data from IPEDS for Meredith College.
It is distinctive that 96% of students receive grants or scholarship aid, and 64% of students utilize student loan aid. This makes sense as the yearly living expense and tuition and fees in 2017-2018 were $50,796. Financial aid is surely necessary to recruit students to Meredith College with such high tuition. It is also distinctive that 7% of students receive an average amount of $15,535 in other student loans. This is a substantial financial burden that students must face in the future. There are also opportunities for first-generation or financially underprivileged students through 34% of students being Pell Grant recipients.
This data indicates that Meredith College likely recruits both students who can afford the college, and “cost-sensitive” students by reducing the sticker price for most students. There are also many scholarships from various departments within the college which could be an attempt to recruit students with specific interests and talents into their programs.
As yearly tuition is quite high and there are financial aid packages available, it is likely that most students must weigh the potential benefits of a liberal arts education at Meredith with the future burden of debt.
Analysis of College Choice Decisions Discussion
In a discussion forum post, share your opinion regarding the best enrollment decisions for Rochelle, Anthony, and Sofia. For each of these three students:
- What institution would you recommend?
- What is the reasoning for this recommendation?
Submit your written response. Then comment on the posts of two of your fellow students.
Rochelle: Rochelle has the most options, and ultimately either choice will work in her favor. If one school has a better program than the other, she should pick the better program. If she hopes to study a traditionally lower-earning major, the clout that comes with an Ivy League school could be worth the investment. If, however, she wants a job that has standardized pay such as a teacher, she should choose the public university because there would likely be less to gain career-wise from the clout of the Ivy League name.
Anthony: Anthony is facing a tricky situation. I would advise him to pursue his associate’s degree at the community college while living at home for $4,800 for two years, then transfer his credits to the in-state public institution to attain a four-year degree. This way he could minimize his student loans while also getting the benefit of a four-year degree. Although some loans will be accrued, it is more likely that his investment will yield more financial reward from a four-year university than a two-year university. The chance that his family could help financially is not something that he should count on, and he should enter his institution knowing that he will likely be responsible for the cost himself. If he chose this path, combining the two options, his education would amount to around $47,800.
If he only wants to choose one option, I would advise him to chose a four-year degree because the post-graduation job prospects have a higher chance of financial gain than a 2-year degree can offer. It would cost $16,600 more than doing a combination of the two, but he would still graduate with a four-year degree.
Sofia: Being from a low-income family, financial issues have the potential to take a higher toll on her mental health. Often students growing up in this kind of environment know first-hand how stressful loans can be. It is possible that the weight of knowing she will have loans could affect her retention and GPA. Also, having to balance a work-study with academics could interfere with her overall experience and success. In a traditionally lower-paying major such as journalism, the higher-ranked program isn’t worth the risk of debt.
Bell Discussion
Respond to one of Derrick Bell’s arguments about using “diversity” for as a justification for affirmative action. Do you agree that “diversity is a distraction?” (put the argument in the title of your post so that others know which one you are responding to).
Post your thoughts. Your initial post should be 2-4 paragraphs in length.
Once you have made your initial post, find two posts from your classmates that responded to different arguments from Bell. Respond to their thoughts using information from the readings or your own opinions. Your responses to others should be at least a paragraph in length.
I agree that diversity is a distraction because, “3) Diversity serves to give undeserved legitimacy to the heavy reliance on grades and test scores that privilege well-to-do, mainly white applicants” (Bell, 2003, p. 1629)
Reliance on grades and standardized tests as well as the use of affirmative action and minority scholarships allows universities to be perceived as though they are addressing racial and socioeconomic inequality. Instead, they are introducing racial and socioeconomic bias as a foundational part of applications and later accepting a portion of students from diverse populations who did not initially fit their mold.
“Studies show that such tests [like the SAT and the LSAT] are notoriously poor predictors of performance either in school or after, but they measure quite accurately the incomes of the applicants’ parents” (Bell, 2003, p. 1630) This statement pointedly identifies a key flaw in standardized testing. It is not the students’ intellect that is tested as much as is their ability to take the test. Testing skills for specific exams are learned through taking electives such as SAT Prep or employing a private tutor rather than opting for an elective that could help a student build practical skills such as woodshop, horticulture, home economics, or drafting classes. A student from a lower socioeconomic status (SES) is more likely to take a vocational course in place of an SAT-prep course to ensure that they have practical skills following high school graduation.
Furthermore, standardized tests are expensive to take. It is possible that a student of higher SES is more likely to take the test multiple times in order to get the highest score possible. On the other hand, a student of lower SES is likely to only take the test once due to cost. Additionally, “Aptitude tests such as the SAT do not predict performance, as measured by first-year grades.” (Bell, 2003, p. 1630) As they are not effective predictors of first-year GPA, but they can quite accurately predict parental income, using high standard test grades to differentiate highly qualified applicants inherently favors the students from a higher socioeconomic background. This, “disproportionately screen(s) out women, people of color, and those in lower income brackets”. (Bell, 2003, p. 1630)
These facts support Bell’s claim that, “Diversity serves to give undeserved legitimacy to heavy reliance on grades and test scores that privilege well-to-do, mainly white applicants”. (Bell, 2003, p. 1630) The need to provide “special racial consideration for minority applications” would be greatly decreased if women, people of color, and those in lower income brackets were not already being screened out by reliance on GPA and standardized testing scores. It seems as though the universities are introducing bias initially in order to be considered ethically sound when they choose to give the diverse populations admissions offers despite the applicants’ lower grades and test scores.
References:
Bell, D. (2003). Diversity’s Distractions. Columbia Law Review, 103(6), 1622–1633. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/3593396