Topic: Educational Transformation
Research Report
March 17, 2022
Playbook for Transfer Pathways to the Liberal Arts
How to Design and Implement Statewide Pathways from Community Colleges to Independent Colleges
Bachelor’s degree attainment for community college transfer students is one underutilized but essential pathway for reducing equity gaps in higher education. One way to achieve this at scale is through state-level initiatives dedicated to supporting transfer from community colleges to not-for-profit independent colleges. The Teagle Foundation and the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations’ Transfer Pathways to the Liberal Arts initiative aims to create such pathways in 20 states in the next five years. This playbook draws on the experience of grantees…
Blog Post
March 16, 2022
What Role(s) Do Stakeholders Play in an Advising Technology Implementation?
A New Report Outlines Nine Personas Taken on by Key Stakeholders in an Advising Technology Implementation
Holistic advising is a resource-intensive yet beneficial practice that prioritizes being student-centered in the institutional process of undergraduate academic advising. This approach has gained prominence within the higher education landscape for its potential to better support student communities that have historically been insufficiently served by more transactional approaches to advising, including students of color, first-generation students, and students experiencing poverty. Given the comprehensive nature of holistic advising, institutions have increasingly turned to technology to support the students, staff,…
Blog Post
March 10, 2022
A Preliminary Analysis of Debt Forgiveness Programs
The COVID-19 pandemic spotlighted the ever-increasing amount and crushing effects of student debt, including debts owed directly to postsecondary institutions. In an earlier report, Solving Stranded Credits, we estimated that roughly 6.6 million students owe over $15 billion in unpaid balances to colleges and universities in the United States. The weight of institutional debt can leave students feeling defeated, forcing many to avoid pursuing postsecondary education altogether. On a national scale, these debts…
Past Event
April 12, 2022
Catharine Bond Hill at the National Conference on Trusteeship
Govern for Student Success: Leadership Beyond Disruption
On Tuesday, April 12, Catharine Bond Hill is speaking on the opening plenary panel at the National Conference on Trusteeship. The panel will be moderated by Carlton Brown, former president of Clark Atlanta University and Savannah State University, and the other speakers include Bridget Burns, executive director of the University Innovation Alliance; David Huntley, trustee of Southern Methodist University; and Miriam “Mim” Pride, trustee of Berea College and president emeritus of Blackburn College. The conference is being held virtually and…
Past Event
February 23, 2022
Discerning New Directions in the New Normal
Catharine Bond Hill at the ACAD Annual Meeting
On Wednesday, February 23, Catharine Bond Hill is speaking on the plenary panel, “Discerning New Directions in the New Normal,” at the American Conference of Academic Deans’ Annual Meeting in St. Petersburg, Florida. The panel will take place from 3:30 – 4:45 pm. More information about the event is available on the conference website. About the plenary: Facilitator: Michael K. Wanous, ACAD Chair and Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Northern State University Panelists: Catharine (Cappy) Bond Hill,…
Past Event
March 8, 2022
The Chronicle’s Shark Tank: Edu Edition
Catharine Bond Hill at SXSW EDU
On March 8, Catharine Bond Hill will join fellow “sharks” Goldie Blumenstyk and Paul Freedman at SXSW EDU in Austin, Texas. To learn more, please visit the SXSW EDU website. About the session: The seventh annual pitch-a-thon pays homage to the TV show, but with a twist. Our panel of experts brings a mix of viewpoints—from a journalist, a college-president-turned-equity expert, and an entrepreneur—weighing in on transformative ideas from new companies, nonprofits, and big dreamers for improving the college…
Blog Post
February 3, 2022
An Interview with Dr. Jay Darr, Director of University Counseling Center at the University of Pittsburgh
A Deep Dive on the Importance of Mental Health and Its Shared Responsibility Across Campus
Dr. Jay Darr is the Director of the University Counseling Center (UCC) at the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt), a member of the American Talent Initiative’s (ATI) Academic Equity Community of Practice (CoP). As part of our Academic Equity Interview Blog series (for our first post we interviewed Claremont McKenna’s Nyree Gray on campus climate), we asked Dr. Darr to help…
Blog Post
February 2, 2022
Bringing Credit Transfer into Focus
New Report on the Articulation of Transfer Credit at CUNY Project
When a student transfers from one college to another, the receiving college has to decide how to treat the credits that the student earned at prior institutions. While the specific process varies from place to place, in general, the institution has to make two interrelated decisions: (1) the course equivalency—how each course the student completed at another institution translates into courses in the catalog at the new institution, and (2) how the translated courses…
Research Report
February 2, 2022
Archiving Degree Audit Data to Measure and Reduce Lost Transfer Credit
Since June 2019, the Articulation of Credit Transfer project (ACT) has focused on streamlining the information, advising, and administrative processes concerning how credits from one City University of New York (CUNY) institution transfer to another CUNY institution. This work addresses a critical challenge at CUNY, and indeed, across American higher education. When students transfer from one college to another, they frequently are unable to count their previously earned credits toward degree requirements at their new institution, jeopardizing their ability to…
Past Event
January 10, 2022
The Chronicle’s Strategic-Leadership Program
For Department Chairs
Department chairs help make important curricular, personnel, and budget decisions and increasingly play a crucial role in innovations around student success, research, and technology. Yet, while the department chair is typically the first rung on the ladder to senior leadership in academia, many take on the position without the necessary training or mentorship. We at Ithaka S+R are thrilled once again to be working with The Chronicle of Higher Education and Dever…
Blog Post
December 8, 2021
A Sustainable Solution to Settle Students’ Debt and Release Stranded Credits
Ithaka S+R and Eight Ohio Public Institutions Announce Promising New Pilot
Since publishing our first report on the subject in October 2020, Ithaka S+R has been at the forefront of defining the problem of stranded credits. We are now moving ahead with testing a potentially groundbreaking solution. “Stranded credits” are credits that students have earned but can’t access because their former institution is holding their transcript as collateral for an unpaid balance to the institution. Ninety-five percent of…
Past Event
November 9, 2021
Solving Stranded Credits
James Ward at State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO) Annual Conference
On November 9, James Ward Solving will present on Stranded Credits at the State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO) Annual Conference. Abstract: In this session we hope to introduce the issue of stranded credits, or credits students cannot access due to unpaid balances that result in a transcript hold. We estimate roughly 6.6 million students across the country may currently have stranded credits. Three presenters will share information and new research on the scope of the problem and how it…
Blog Post
November 10, 2021
Unpacking the Effects of Increasing Pell Grants
The Pell Grant is America’s most prominent tool to promote college access and affordability for low- and middle-income students. With a substantial increase in the maximum Pell award under consideration by Congress, a natural question is how that increase is likely to impact the access and affordability goals of the program. The answer, it turns out, depends a lot on the college or university at which a Pell recipient uses the grant. In a new…
Issue Brief
November 9, 2021
No “One Size Fits All” Impact of Doubling Pell Grants
Understanding the Impact of Changing the Maximum Pell Grant on Low- and Middle-Income Students
As policy makers consider revisions to the Higher Education Act (HEA), understanding the impact of increasing the size of Pell grants is important if it is to have the intended impact of improving educational outcomes for lower income students across the various types of colleges and universities. Proposals to increase the Pell grant have been put forward by the Education Trust, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Urban Institute, the Biden administration, and many others. House Republicans have…
Blog Post
September 27, 2021
An Interview with Nyree Gray, Chief Civil Rights Officer at Claremont McKenna
A deep dive on campus climate and how the Campus Climate Survey can help build a more equitable academic and social environment
Nyree Gray is associate vice president and chief civil rights officer at Claremont McKenna College (CMC). She has previously presented on a webinar for the American Talent Initiative (ATI) Academic Equity Community of Practice (CoP) and at the 2021 Academic Equity CoP Summer Institute, focusing on the intersection between campus climate and curriculum. In particular, she’s shared how she evaluates insights gained from…
Blog Post
September 14, 2021
As War Ends, Let’s Ensure Veterans Have Access to Higher Education
The similarities between the helicopters that left Saigon and the scenes last month at the Kabul airport are painful. For whatever reasons, we have not learned to retreat safely for our citizens and allies. We have failed in our obligations and commitments to those Afghans who most importantly assisted and protected our young men and women who we sent in harm’s way. There is another lesson from Vietnam that I hope we have learned, even if…
Blog Post
August 30, 2021
Collecting Data on New Debt Relief Programs
What’s the Impact on Stranded Credits and Student Outcomes?
Stranded credits, or academic credits previously earned but inaccessible due to an outstanding debt to an institution, impact an estimated 6.6 million students across the country. Students affected by stranded credits represent nearly one-sixth of the estimated 36 million students who left college with some credit, but no degree, and are more likely to be students of color and from lower-income backgrounds. Recently, the issue of stranded credits…
Blog Post
August 30, 2021
Higher Ed Consolidation and Equity
Across American higher education, institutional consolidations are on the rise. In particular, multiple state systems have proposed or completed mergers of regional universities and/or community colleges with the stated goal of increasing efficiency. The conditions prompting these consolidations have been mounting for years—among them a long-term downward trend in state support for higher education and demographic shifts away from traditional-aged college students, especially in rural areas where numerous public institutions are located. With the COVID-19 pandemic contributing to…
Research Report
August 30, 2021
Public College and University Consolidations and the Implications for Equity
Across American higher education, institutional consolidations are on the rise. In particular, multiple state systems have proposed or completed mergers of regional universities and/or community colleges with the stated goal of increasing efficiency. The conditions prompting these consolidations have been mounting for years—among them a long-term downward trend in state support for higher education and demographic shifts away from traditional-aged college students, especially in rural areas where numerous public institutions are located. With the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting recession…
Case Study
August 30, 2021
A Georgia Case Study
A Look at the University System Consolidations with an Eye Towards Race, Ethnicity, and Equity
While it is clear that not all mergers and consolidations are a success story, and some collapse under backlash from students, faculty, and other community members, the University System of Georgia (USG) has completed an astounding number of successful mergers between its institutions. In fact, USG has “what is likely the nation’s most aggressive and high-profile campus consolidation program.”In 2010, when discussions regarding consolidations began, the university system had a total of 35 institutions “including roughly 10 in parts of…