Blog
May 14, 2024
Drawing New Directions for Research Data Services
In response to universities’ strategic need to provide effective data support services to researchers, Ithaka S+R launched the Building Campus Strategies for Coordinated Data Support project in February 2023. In the first two phases of the project, participants conducted an inventory of data services on their campus and interviewed researchers about their research data services support needs. Spring 2024 marked the beginning of phase three during which participants will implement innovative strategies to assist researchers in navigating support services…
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May 9, 2024
From Debt to Degrees
Evaluating the Ohio College Comeback Compact
Across the US, the number of individuals who started college but stopped out before attaining a degree has continued to grow. Research shows that earning an associate’s degree, bachelor’s degree, or a targeted credential has wide-ranging benefits, from increased lifetime earnings to improved health outcomes. Postsecondary institutions and regional economies also benefit when students re-enroll and complete programs. Returning students face unique challenges to re-enrollment and completion, and this is especially true for students with past-due balances at their…
May 2, 2024
The NCAA Transfer Portal Chaos Says a Lot About the State of Credit Mobility
Will the Changes Institutions Are Making to Ease Transfer for Athletes Benefit All Mobile Students?
As the semester draws to a close and the glow of March Madness and College Football Playoff victories fade in our memories, the eyes of all college sports fans have been on the NCAA spring transfer portal. The college football and basketball transfer portals, which closed this week, had several live trackers on major sports sites so eager fans could see which athletes were looking to leave their current college or university and where they may land. This included…
April 25, 2024
Removing Barriers to Re-Enrollment for Adult Learners
Announcing A New Technical Assistance Project in Kentucky
In collaboration with the Kentucky Council for Postsecondary Education (CPE), Ithaka S+R is providing research and consulting to identify barriers to re-enrolling adult learners who have stopped out and assess intervention opportunities to improve adult learner re-enrollment in Kentucky. This project builds on Ithaka S+R’s prior research, implementation, and evaluation efforts to address stranded credits—credits that students have earned but cannot access because of administrative holds placed by the college or university they previously attended as collateral…
April 24, 2024
AI Chatbots in Education
A Comparative Analysis at Bryant University
A recent survey conducted at Bryant University reveals an interesting trend: while students and faculty are increasingly adopting AI chatbots, staff members seem to lag behind. This guest blog post delves into the possible reasons behind this disparity using the 77 faculty, 111 staff, and 224 student responses collected between November 2023 and February 2024.
April 23, 2024
Generative AI and Scholarly Publishing
Announcing a New Research Project
Over the past several years, Ithaka S+R has conducted several major studies on the scholarly publishing landscape during a time of rapid technological change. There is no better example of how rapid and radical this pace is than generative AI tools, which have moved from the margins to a focal point of scholarly publishing in little more than one year. Last spring, we conducted interviews with publishers, librarians, advocates, analysts, funders, and policymakers as the horizons of possibility and risk…
April 8, 2024
Maximizing Public-Academic Library Partnerships
Seeking Case Study Partners
Through our Maximizing Public-Academic Library Partnerships project funded by ECMC Foundation, Ithaka S+R is investigating different types of cross-sector library partnerships at a national level, with a focus on identifying their strengths and challenges. These partnerships can range from formalized agreements with shared resources to more informal collaborations where public and academic library leaders convene periodically to address their priorities.
April 3, 2024
Navigating Two Systems
New Report on Censorship and Self-Censorship in Higher Education in Prison Programs
Today we’re publishing Between Two Systems: Navigating Censorship and Self-Censorship in Higher Education in Prisons. Based on interviews with students and educators, this is the third report in a series made possible by Ascendium Education Group focusing on the intersection of technology, surveillance, and censorship in higher education in prisons.
March 28, 2024
New Report on Self-Censorship and Public University Libraries
In the Fall of 2023, Ithaka S+R reached out to 15 library leaders at public research universities throughout the United States and asked them to speak about their current experiences regarding censorship, self-censorship, and academic freedom. Today, we are publishing our anonymized findings from these semi-structured interviews.
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March 20, 2024
The Library of Congress Research Experience Survey Is Open
Ithaka S+R is honored to be partnering with the Library of Congress on a research study to better understand the experiences of people who use the library's collections and resources to conduct research. This mixed methods project includes an online survey followed by interviews of selected researchers. The findings from this study will be used to help inform the Library of Congress’ strategy for supporting the researchers that utilize the library’s collections and resources.
March 14, 2024
An Emerging Framework for Data Services for Indigenous Data
As part of our ongoing project, Building Campus Strategies for Coordinated Data Support, we completed a national inventory of research data services offered at higher education institutions across the US and Canada. While conducting the inventory, we observed an uneven approach to the topic of Indigenous research data sovereignty and governance at libraries and other units involved in research support and facilitation. Some schools provided robust information about the imperative for Indigenous groups and scholars to have control over…
March 14, 2024
Mapping Research Data Support Services
A New Report from Ithaka S+R Shares Findings from an International Inventory
The complexity of contemporary research practices have created significant demand for a wide range of support services within university research communities. Libraries and other campus units have responded by developing an array of research data support services to help researchers learn new tools, improve their skill sets, and manage their data across the research lifecycle. Because these services often evolved without central oversight or cross-unit coordination, it can be difficult for users to understand exactly what is available to them…
March 12, 2024
The College Fluency Survey Is Open!
We are thrilled to announce that Ithaka S+R in partnership with the Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) Library has launched our new, national College Fluency Survey. This survey is a part of a comprehensive, two-and-a-half-year initiative funded by IMLS aimed at understanding how institutions can better support a critical aspect of student success: college fluency—or the knowledge and abilities that enable students to effectively access, utilize, and advocate for needed college services and resources. Through this project we…
March 7, 2024
Keeping Up with the Educational Market for Generative AI Tools
Announcing Ithaka S+R’s Product Tracking Tool
Ithaka S+R has been closely tracking the generative AI product landscape through a unique Product Tracking Tool. The Product Tracker includes descriptions of tools marketed towards postsecondary faculty or student users, as well as information about the pricing model, key features, and other relevant detail.
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February 29, 2024
Crossing Boundaries
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology’s Twin Campuses and International Collaboration
On September 1, 2022, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) opened a new “smart green” campus in Guangzhou, China. Described as “heralding the university of the future” and designed for climate emergencies, this campus represents a significant milestone in HKUST’s strategic vision as it partners with the original HKUST campus located just across the border in Clear Bay, Hong Kong.
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February 28, 2024
Assessing the Diversity of Library Collections
Announcing a New Cohort Project
As we’ve explored in our previous work, academic libraries build collections in the context of their parent institutions—primarily to support the institution’s research, teaching, and learning mission. They also build collections that document and preserve the cultural and scientific heritage of our society to represent a wide range of perspectives. In these efforts, universities and their libraries are developing approaches that address calls for greater diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) with a focus on creating space for the…
February 22, 2024
Providing Credit Transfer Visibility to Improve Credit Mobility
Ithaka S+R’s “Universal Credit Transfer Explorer” Launching in Three States in 2024
To help address the many challenges college students face when they move between institutions or attempt to transfer credits they have earned in high school or elsewhere, Ithaka S+R is launching a new, public, non-profit, national credit mobility website. This “universal credit transfer explorer” will go live later this year with data from an inaugural set of institutions across three states, thanks to collaborations with the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system, the South Carolina Commission on Higher…
February 14, 2024
From the Ground Up
Developing Robust Student Success Programming to Boost Statewide Credential Attainment
Like many states, Texas is seeking to increase the share of adults with postsecondary degrees and credentials. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB)’s Building a Talent Strong Texas strategic plan lays out the state’s ambitious goal: by 2030, 60 percent of Texans ages 25-65 will hold a credential of value. To meet this target, the state has activated and engaged institutions, agencies, and advocates across the state (and nationally) to address the highly-varied educational needs of Texas…
February 13, 2024
No Longer Stranded?
How New Department of Education Rule Creates Opportunities for Students and Institutions
In 2020, Ithaka S+R estimated that approximately 6.6 million students did not have access to their educational transcripts due to past due balances, resulting in stranded credits. This challenge may impact any student, but our research indicated it was more likely to affect students who identified as women, racial and ethnic minorities, and those from low-income backgrounds. During our initial investigation of stranded credits, we found that nearly all higher education institutions used transcript holds as a tool to…
February 12, 2024
From Awareness to Action
Addressing Basic Needs Insecurity on Campus
The latest federal data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS) highlights some of the critical challenges students face outside of the classroom when it comes to basic needs: roughly one in five undergraduate students (23 percent) and one in 10 graduate students (12 percent) are experiencing food insecurity, while 8 percent of undergraduate students and 5 percent of graduate students are experiencing homelessness. For millions of students, the struggle to…