The Key with Inside Higher Ed

Ep. 50: A Better ‘Transcript’ for Learners and Employers

What skills, knowledge and abilities do students develop as they navigate through college? How do students themselves know, and how do institutions arm their graduates to show prospective employers what they know and can do?

This week’s episode explores an effort to iterate beyond the academic transcript, which has historically been the main tool available to students, institutions and employers alike to sum up what’s gained during the college experience. And a not very effective one at that.

In this episode, Insiya Bream, assistant vice provost for data and systems at the University of Maryland Global Campus, explains the “comprehensive learner record” it has created for its MBA students. And Matthew Pittinsky, CEO of Parchment, describes why a “better transcript” – which is often discussed in the context of professionally-focused learning like at UMGC – could actually help liberal arts institutions make their case for the value of what they do.

Hosted by Inside Higher Ed Co-founder and Editor Doug Lederman.

This episode is sponsored by Wiley Education Services.

Ep. 49: The Future of the Physical Campus

The COVID-19 pandemic forced almost every college or university to make do without a physical campus at some point in the last 15 months. But many students and employees yearned to return, and most institutions anticipate resuming at least quasi-normal in-person operations this fall.

But changes in how students learn and employees work will almost certainly compel most colleges and universities to reassess how they use their physical campuses – one of the many ways institutions may rethink how they best fulfill their missions.

This episode of The Key podcast examines that landscape by looking at the University of Akron’s decision to sell, repurpose or otherwise shed nearly 1 million square feet of the land and buildings it owns – about one-eighth of its total holdings. 

Nathan Mortimer, vice president of operations at Akron, discusses the university’s evolving strategy. Lander Medlin, executive vice president of APPA: Leadership in Educational Facilities, offers a national perspective on the analysis college leaders are doing to assess their own situations. And Tomas Rossant and Alex O’Briant of Ennead Architects share their insights on the continuing importance of the physical campus and the link between mission and place.

Hosted by Inside Higher Ed co-founder and editor Doug Lederman.

This episode is sponsored by Wiley Education Services.

Ep. 48: The (Appropriate) Federal Role in Ensuring College Value

Students and state and federal governments alike are asking increasingly hard questions about the return on their investment in postsecondary education, as tuitions and debt grow.  

In this episode of The Key, which is sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, three experts with a diverse set of perspectives discuss the government role in ensuring value from academic institutions and programs:  the complexity of any attempt to formally measure postsecondary value; the importance of focusing on historically underrepresented students; and the centrality of the federal role in holding colleges accountable.

Jamienne S. Studley is president and CEO of the WASC Senior College and University Commission, an accrediting agency. Kim Hunter Reed is a former senior Education Department official who is now commissioner of higher education in Louisiana. Barbara Mistick is a former private college president who leads the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, which has historically bristled at federal attempts to regulate higher education too closely.

Hosted by Inside Higher Ed Founder and Editor Doug Lederman

Ep. 47: Gauging College Value Primarily in Economic Terms: Pro and Con

Most Americans say they pursue a degree or other credential after high school to improve their job or career prospects. So many efforts to judge the value of a college credential have focused exclusively on graduates’ income. A new report from the Postsecondary Value Commission expands that definition, considering other, longer-term economic measures (such as economic mobility and wealth) and recognizing the non-economic benefits that accrue to individuals and society when people get more postsecondary education.

But ultimately, the report from the commission recommends that institutions and programs be judged primarily by economic outcomes – and analysts are divided on that approach.

In this episode of The Key, which is sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the American Enterprise Institute’s Beth Akers argues that it’s logical to focus on economic measures given that postsecondary education in the United States is increasingly funded by individuals. Meanwhile, Claude Pressnell Jr., president of the Tennessee Independent Colleges and Universities Association, says that overdependence on income and other career outcomes in judging institutions’ success minimizes colleges’ role in preparing graduates to be productive members of our society. Pressnell also notes that like many such studies, the value commission’s report largely ignores independent nonprofit colleges and universities, which make up nearly 40 percent of American colleges and educate about one in five U.S. undergraduates.

Hosted by Inside Higher Ed Co-founder and Editor Doug Lederman.

Ep. 46: Defining and Measuring ‘Value’ in Postsecondary Education

Rapid growth in college debt and families’ out-of-pocket expenditures on higher education, along with complaints from employers about the preparedness of the people they hire, have intensified questioning about the value of postsecondary degrees and credentials.

This week’s episode of The Key explores a report from a high-powered group of policy makers, college leaders, researchers and others that proposes a new way of judging whether colleges and programs are providing a good return on investment to their students – with a particular focus on whether they’re ensuring equity. The report comes from the Postsecondary Value Commission, which was convened two years ago by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

This episode, which is sponsored by the Gates Foundation, features three perspectives on the report. Two are members of the commission: Margaret Spellings, secretary of education under President George W. Bush and former president of the University of North Carolina system, and José Luis Cruz, provost at the City University of New York System and incoming president of Northern Arizona University. The third is Tamara Hiler, director of education at the think tank Third Way.

Hosted by Inside Higher Ed Co-founder and Editor Doug Lederman.

Ep. 45: Debate: Using Pell Grants for Very Short-Term Programs

Congress is considering expanding use of the federal government’s main postsecondary grant program to cover enrollment in training programs as short as eight weeks. Supporters – community college leaders, corporations and advocates for a more skilled workforce – believe the change is essential to serve tens of millions of Americans who don’t have the money or time for degree and other longer-term programs. Those who oppose “short-term Pell,” though, say proponents exaggerate the quality and value of most short-term credentials and that this change will exacerbate existing equity gaps that leave Black, brown and low-income Americans behind.

In this episode of The Key, Monty Sullivan, president of the Louisiana Community and Technical College System, and Amy Laitinen, director for higher education at New America, discuss the promise and the potential pitfalls of short-term Pell.  

Ep. 44: Judging Colleges By Their Students’ Career Outcomes

Getting a job or improving career success is a primary reason why many students pursue a postsecondary degree or other credential. So it’s logical to assess the performance of colleges and universities – at least partially – by how their students fare after they leave.

This week’s episode of The Key examines a new way of judging colleges and universities based on how quickly their students recoup what they spent out of pocket for their degree or certificate. (Spoiler alert: students at one-fifth of institutions still hadn’t gotten a return on their investment within a decade.) Michael Itzkowitz of Third Way discusses the think tank’s analysis, and Rutgers University’s Michelle Van Noy talks about the overall landscape for holding colleges accountable for their students’ workplace success.

Ep. 43: Mergers and Other ‘Transformational Partnerships’

Merger is something of a dirty word in higher education, given that most of them are takeovers in which one college usually disappears. But as financial, demographic and other changes force many colleges to consider significant changes in how they operate, a cross-institutional collaboration of one sort or another – be it sharing of back-office operations, cooperation on academic programs or a merger – is likely to grow.

In this week’s episode of The Key, we discuss the Transformation Partnerships Fund, a new philanthropic effort to encourage colleges and universities to contemplate alliances that can better help them serve students, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds. The conversation features John MacIntosh of SeaChange Capital Partners and Art Dunning, former president of Albany State University, who oversaw that institution’s merger with Darton State College and advises the fund. And Sister Margaret Carney, president emerita of St. Bonaventure University, offers a cautionary tale about a merger that didn’t happen – and what went awry.

Ep. 42: Making Room for Adult Students

Adult students are key to meeting the postsecondary attainment goals in many states and the U.S., given the projected enrollment declines in traditional college-age Americans. Yet adults remain underrepresented in higher education, and they’ve been disproportionately hurt by the pandemic and ensuring recession.

 

This episode of The Key explores the landscape of current and prospective adult learners, examining why they often struggle to find their way to and through college, the institutional practices and government policies that can hamper them, and possible approaches to eliminating those obstacles.  We talk with Su Jin Jez, executive director of California Competes, whose recent report looks at the state’s nearly 7 million adults who could be “prospective graduates,” and provide a national perspective from Lisa Soricone, senior research director at Jobs for the Future.

 

Hosted by Inside Higher Ed Co-founder and Editor Doug Lederman

Ep. 41: The Pandemic’s Impact on Open Educational Resources (OER)

Use of free, openly licensed textbooks and other curricular materials have been on the rise amid growing concerns about college affordability. But uptake stalled last year as professors and students struggled with the transition to digital learning and the tumult of their lives, a new annual report on usage of OER finds.

This week’s episode of The Key examines the state of open educational resources and other affordable textbook options with Jeff Seaman, co-director of Bay View Analytics and the author of the OER report; Robbie Melton, a professor of educational administration at Tennessee State University and an advocate for OER use at historically black colleges; and Jorgo Gushi, a student at Quinsigamond Community College in Massachusetts. A key question: will the widespread shift to virtual learning and continued pressure on colleges to improve affordability and access for underrepresented students create opportunity for OER – or strengthen the hand of low-cost alternatives from publishers?

Hosted by Inside Higher Ed Co-founder and Editor Doug Lederman