University Business - December 2007 - (Page 18)

BEHIND the NEWS U.S. News, Princeton Review…and Nessie? THE NATIONAL SURVEY OF STUDENT ENGAGEMENT, OR “NESSIE,” may one day become as influential for students and parents as the annual rankings found in consumer publications. While the actual survey results are confidential and intended only for the participating institutions, NSSE officials are for the first time encouraging schools to make some of their results public. Because the survey measures five key areas of educational performance (level of academic challenge, active and collaborative learning, student-faculty interaction, enriching educational experiences, and supportive campus environment), officials believe it may deliver more useful information to prospective students than what is typically found in commercially published ranking guides. Now in its eighth year, the survey polled 313,000 randomly selected first-year and senior students at 610 participating institutions. Findings from the cumulative results revealed both promising and disappointing news for educators. For example, students who participate in “high impact” activities, such as study abroad programs or research with faculty members, report greater gains in intellectual and personal development than their peers who don’t. However, firstgeneration and transfer students were much less likely to participate in these activities. The survey also indicates that “helicopter parents” may not necessarily be a bad thing. Contrary to what some educators believe, parents who seem to be overly involved in their children’s college careers may actually be helping to provide a more satisfying college experience. Thirteen percent of students responding to the survey said their parents frequently intervened with college officials, while another quarter had parents who intervened sometimes. The annual report is available at www.nsse.iub.edu. —T.G. U B E T W E E N the L I N E S New Players, Different Game: Understanding the Rise of For-Profit Colleges and Universities By William G. Tierney and Guilbert C. Hentschke, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007, 216 pp., $38 IN THE ART OF WAR, SUN TZU ADVISED, “IF you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.” Inasmuch as nonprofit institutions consider their for-profit counterparts to be “the enemy,” those words still ring true. The authors of New Players, Different Game say that for-profit colleges and universities (or FPCU in the authors’ jargon) are here to stay, and traditional institutions (TCU) would do well to understand rather than deny them. For example, though TCUs typically include preparation for the working world as part of their stated missions, they rarely provide programming for work. FPCUs do just that, and often work closely with local corporations in developing the kinds of training and job skills that employers want. The value of a liberal arts education aside, the authors suggest that TCUs can learn something from the FPCU’s flexibility. Despite their differences, for-profits and nonprofits represent variations on a common theme more than they represent two distinct entities. —Tim Goral Kentucky’s Plan: More Degrees, Please BRAD COWGILL COMPARES THE CHALLENGE of his state’s education goal to “standing along a railroad track. You have to get from the caboose to the middle of the train, only the train is moving. You have to move faster than the train to make any progress.” Cowgill, the interim president of the Council on Postsecondary Education in Kentucky, is referring to a plan to dramatically increase the number of college grads in the state to match the (expected) national average for 2020. Here’s how the numbers shake out: • By 2020, an estimated 32 percent of all working-age Americans will have at least a bachelor’s degree. • In 2020, Kentucky will have about 2.5 million residents of working age, so reaching the national average will require about 791,000 of these Kentuckians to hold a bachelor’s degree then. (At the current degree production rate, that number will only be around 580,000.) The Council on Postsecondary Education believes increasing bachelor’s degrees is the quickest, most direct way for Kentucky to increase its economic prosperity. The approach has three pieces: 1. Goal. The Council on Postsecondary Education refined and operationalized the 1997 legislation to focus on something measurable, namely, bachelor’s degrees. 2. Plan. In 2005, the council released a five-strategy plan targeting high school students, GED students, adult learners, transfer students, and traditional college students. 3. Funding. In 2008 legislators will determine what resources can be applied toward making the plan a reality. The plan can be viewed online at www.cpe .ky.gov/planning/2020projections. —M.E. universitybusiness.com 18 | December 2007 http://www.nsse.iub.edu http://www.cpe.ky.gov/planning/2020projections http://www.cpe.ky.gov/planning/2020projections http://universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of University Business - December 2007

University Business - December 2007 Contents College Index Company Index Advisory Board Editor's Note Behind the News Viewpoint Admissions On The Hill Marketing Future Stock Independent Outlook Technology Spending Survey '08 Conference Call A Working Education 30 Smart Business Ideas Educause in Emerald City What's New Calendar of Events End Note

University Business - December 2007

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