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The Future of Higher Education in America:

Are we Academically Adrift?

June 15, 2011

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Keys to a Successful Webinar

• Tech Support—For technical assistance, dial 1-202-939-9730

• Q&A—To ask a question, simply type your question into the Q&A box on the right side of your screen. After all three of our speakers have presented, we will hold a full Q&A session

• Volume—Adjust the volume on your computer’s speakers and also through your system settings

• Teleconference—To join via telephone, dial 1-877-669-3239, access code: 661 058 011

• Archive—This webinar is being recorded, and the online archive will be available for view within 48 hours of the conclusion of this event

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Today’s Speakers• Terry Hartle (moderator)—Senior Vice President,

Government and Public Affairs, American Council on Education

• Richard Arum—Co-Author, Academically Adrift

• Josipa Roksa—Co-Author, Academically Adrift

• Gary Rhoades—Professor of Higher Education, University of Arizona’s Center for the Study of Higher Education; former General Secretary, American Association of University Professors

Please submit your questions at any time using the chat panel in the lower right corner of your screen.

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Academically Adrift:Limited Learning on College

Campuses

Dr. Richard ArumDr. Josipa Roksa

*We thank the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Lumina, Ford and Teagle Foundations for their generous financial support and the Council for Aid to Education for collaboration and assistance with data collection.

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Source: (University of Chicago Press, January 2011)

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Determinants of College Learning Dataset

• Longitudinal DesignLongitudinal Design– Fall 2005, Spring 2007, Spring 2009, Spring 2010, Spring

2011

• Large ScaleLarge Scale– 2005-2007: 24 diverse four-year institutions; 2,341

students– 2005-2009: 29 diverse four-year institutions, 1,666

students

• Breadth of InformationBreadth of Information– Family background and high school information, college experiences and contexts, college transcripts– Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA)

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Course Requirements

Note: Based on Spring 2007 survey.

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Students’ Time Use

Note: Based on Spring 2007 survey.

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Academic Commitment Over Time

Source: Phillip Babcock and Mindy Marks, forthcoming 2010

Academic time from 1925-1965 in time diaries relatively constant (39.2 to 34.1)

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CLA Performance: College Major

Note: Predicting 2007 CLA scores while controlling for 2005 CLA scores.

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Inequality in CLA Performance: African American vs. White

1040

1080

1120

1160

1200

1240

1280

2005 2007 2009

African American White

Note: Based on a 3-level HLM model, controlling for a range of demographic/family characteristics.

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Learning Within and Across Institutions

• 23 percent of variation in learning (i.e., CLA growth between 2005 and 2009) occurs across institutions; the majority of variation is within institutions

23%

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College Selectivity and CLA Performance

1080

1120

1160

1200

1240

1280

2005 2007 2009

High selectivity Low selectivity

Note: Based on a 3-level HLM model, controlling for a range of demographic/family characteristics.

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Graduate Transitions

• College Graduates, Spring 2010 follow-up survey: preliminary findings

– 60 percent reported loans (averaging $26,800)

– 9 percent are currently unemployed

– Only 35% earn more than $30,000• 48% if working FT

– Only 17% earn more than $40,000• 23% if working FT

– 31 percent living with parents and relatives

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College Graduates – News Awareness (2010 Survey)

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College Graduates: Civic Engagement (2010 Survey)

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Policy Recommendations

• Federal imposed accountability would be counterproductive (existing measurements are imperfect; unintended consequences likely)

• Federal resources could provide incentives for institutional improvement, innovation and assessment

• Federal resources needed to develop research infrastructure to advance scientific knowledge of learning in higher education

• Accountability should be at the institutional level

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Recommendations for Institutional Improvement

• Institutional leadership to emphasize learning, develop plans for improvement and support ongoing assessment of both program quality and student learning outcomes.

• Faculty collective responsibility for ensuring academic rigor across programs and classes (i.e., course requirements and appropriate grading standards).

• Promote organizational cultures emphasizing student academic engagement, not just social engagement and student retention

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Contact

• Richard Arum Richard Arum – richard.arum@nyu.edu

• Josipa RoksaJosipa Roksa– jroksa@virginia.edu

• http://highered.ssrc.org/http://highered.ssrc.org/

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Gary Rhoades

Professor of Higher Education, University of Arizona's Center for the

Study of Higher Education

Former General Secretary, American Association of University Professors

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Questions?

To ask a question, simply type your question into the Q&A box on the right side of your screen.

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ACE Webinar Series

• New webinars will be announced through the ACE Webinar Series website at www.acenet.edu

• Contact Elizabeth O’Herrin at eoherrin@acenet.edu if you would like to receive updates about future webinars.

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Thank you for participating