Sample Abstracts

Pike, G. R., Kuh, G. D., & Gonyea, R. M.   The Relationship Between Institutional Mission and Students' Involvement and Educational Outcomes.   Paper read at Association for Institutional Research, Toronto, Canada, June 2002, 30 pp.

Data from a stratified random sample of 1,500 undergraduates from across the nation who completed the College Student Experience Questionnaire were used to examine whether students differed in terms of their colleges and experiences and learning outcomes by the type of institution they attended. The findings revealed that students attending different types of institutions differed in their academic involvement, social involvement, and perceptions of the college environment, but they did not differ in their integration of diverse experiences and, with the exception of general education, the gains they reported from college. Differences in student background, not institutional type, were responsible for differences in reported college experiences. Women, minority students, and students with aspirations beyond the baccalaureate degree tended to be more involved, held more positive perceptions of the college environment, and, as a result, reported greater gains in learning and intellectual development. First-generation college students, however, reported less involvement and fewer gains. (51 ref)--Assistant Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Director of Student Life Studies, University of Missouri, Columbia.

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Annual Meeting: Changing Students in a Changing World.   Liberal Education, 2002, 88 (Spring) pp. 6-29.

Five articles in this issue deal with the changing nature of civic and moral education for college students. The first article addresses the challenge of providing students with opportunities to develop and engage their moral imagination and reasoning, which depends on ascertaining the public values needed in today’s society. In the second article, the author argues the importance of developing the cognitive, social, and democratic dispositions and values for effective functioning in a diverse society. The third article explores the creation of spaces where moral learning can occur. The fourth article notes the pervasiveness of commercialization and privatization and how civic education must respond now that terrorism has accented global interdependence. Finally, the author of the fifth article, who is director of Heads Up in the District of Columbia, describes his experiences in providing the services of college students as teachers and mentors to inner-city school children.

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Kantrowitz, Mark.   Causes of Faster-than-Inflation Increases in College Tuition.   College and University, 2002, 78 (Fall) pp. 3-10.

Two quantitative models were employed, one for public colleges and universities and the other for private colleges and universities, to explore the relationship of college expenditures, revenue streams, and other factors to the rate of tuition increases. The results revealed that the practice of tuition discounting (colleges awarding financial aid from their own funds) accounted for 27 to 32 percent of the increase in tuition. Research expenditures were less responsible than financial aid for tuition increases. The volatility of tuition rates was related to the percentage of total revenues derived from tuition and fees: each 1 percent decline in non-tuition revenue meant an increase in gross tuition revenue of 1.3 percent at private colleges and 4.3 percent at public colleges. Increases in tuition at public colleges were linked to declining state support for higher education, and instructional costs were the most significant contributor to rising tuition at public colleges. (3 ref)--Director of Advanced Projects, FastWeb.

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Cavalier, Jamie C.   The Forgotten Question in Information Technology Strategic Planning.   Planning for Higher Education, 2002, 31 (September-November) pp. 5-14.

Strategic planning for information technology (IT) begins with the purpose for using technology and the outcomes that are expected. Five critical success factors for IT strategic planning are: a sense of institutional ownership in the strategic planning, alignment of the plan with the institutional mission and goals, selection of a cross-functional team to represent the institution’s functional areas and constituencies, bringing an experienced facilitator on board, and limiting the plan’s maximum development time. A case study, drawn from a community college that submitted an IT strategic plan in response to a statewide funding initiative, illustrates the advantages of planning, incorporating the success factors, and the resulting benefits. (10 ref)--Senior Consultant, Collegis, Inc.

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