Student Development

While a large group of students enroll in graduate studies in Canada every year, more than half do not reach degree completion (Elgar, 2003; Baird, 1990). This article highlights recent graduates’ experiences of their doctoral studies, including the dissertation process. A questionnaire was applied to 15 institutions of higher education, representing all regions of Canada. A total of 53 questionnaires were returned and analyzed. Findings indicated that doctoral students found several challenges to program completion including funding, interactions with faculty, and the writing of the dissertation. Participants also noted that the Canadian Academy provided them with quality experiences, if not at times, rocky ones. An overview is provided of structures and processes that supported and hindered students’ doctoral studies as outlined by Gardner’s (2009) conceptual framework of doctoral student identity development.

Universities focus significant attention on internationalization to prepare empathyglobally minded graduates by engaging students in study abroad programs and expanding international student enrollment. However, scholarship has not yet considered the role returned study abroad students play in meeting friendship needs of international students. This research aimed to determine if such experiences impact friendships between participants and internationals. Four basic themes emerged: isolated application of intercultural competencies, differences in empathy experiences, friendships between study abroad and international students, and institutional contributions. Key findings revealed institutions do not teach study abroad students to utilize their experience in fostering empathetic friendships withinternational students and should consider how the experience can more effectively impact intercultural friendships rather than focusing solely on domestic students’ reverse culture shock.

This study examines how designers in professional practice are evolving the concept of " value " in designed products and systems. Contemporary culture's obsession with design, coupled with a knowledge-based economy and an over-saturated marketplace, requires designers to create and contextualize their work in unique ways if they are to stand out and attract consumers. To succeed, designers must shift their focus from creating mere artifact to developing highly complex narratives and design processes utilizing sophisticated research methods that, in turn, create new forms of perceived value. In addition, they must collaborate with other disciplines, understand interconnectivity of global systems, and adopt a "designer-as-social scientist" approach. This professional shift from "what to design" to "how to design" is radically altering design education. This study aims to provide design educators and program directors with an awareness of how they can improve their students' preparation for entry into professional practice. It also aims to provide designers with an awareness for how they may develop and strengthen their professional practice.

Colleges and universities are placing an emphasis on the importance of community service. Creating a generation
that restore value for the community is the goal of education. In fact, it is observed in every part of the world, that
government and higher learning institution invests time and financial resources in promoting community service. In this
study, the effect of community service on student development was examined. A total of 344 students in different program
such as marine engineering, arts, criminology, hospital management and elementary, technical and secondary education from
Technological Institute of the Philippines, Quezon City, Campus and Palawan State University, Cuyo Campus was used as a
sample in the study. The data has been gathered on community engagement (level of community engagement behavior),
number of hours and frequency of involvement, and type of service and student development (interpersonal, productivity,
leadership and social and ethical responsibility) as variables. The study used descriptive research design. The data gathered
is analyzed with multiple regressions using a stepwise method with a backward deletion method to eliminate weakest
variables in predicting the influence of community engagement in students‟ development and p-values < 0.05 were
considered significant. Community engagement (β =0.411, p<0.000), no. of hours volunteering (β =-0.096, p=0.043) and
type of service (β =-0.112, p=0.023) emerged as predictors. The results of the study suggest that community service partially
affects students‟ development when combined with other factors (academic service learning, etc.) --- which is not involved in the study may greatly influence student development.

Keywords: community service, service learning, student development, social and ethical responsibility, student outcomes

Issues of plagiarism are mutual debates across Higher Education Institutions (HEI). As a result, institutions have employed software detection tools as a measure to deter such unacceptable academic practices. This study explores experiences related to the adoption and implementation of Turnitin (Tii) perspective through a developmental approach at a HEI, namely, the University of the Western Cape (UWC), South Africa, during the period 2010 January to 2013 June . A case study approach was adopted targeting the lecturers, their assistants and Centre for Innovative Educational and Communication Technologies (CIECT) Tii support team members. Qualitative research design was applied. This was in addition to an analysis of data collected from post-Tii training workshop evaluation questionnaires, and random email enquiries and responses between lecturers and the CIECT team on Tii matters. The paper reflects on the slow uptake of Tii by the lecturers, which is worrisome as the students are dependent on their commitment. The support team encourages a developmental, rather than a punitive approach. Students need to be encouraged by their lecturers to submit assignments and subsequently improve on their academic writing according to originality reports retrieved from Tii. The researchers hope that these findings would highlight the importance of the dissemination of an anti-plagiarism document which will enable plagiarism discourse.

Abstract: The argument I will develop in this essay is that the foreign students are a latent human resource who can assist with overcoming English monolingualism in the Australian population. Foreign students, properly rewarded, can be a major source of skills transfer. Every one of those students is a walking compendium of language and cultural skills that Australians need to know.

This paper examines literature on the transition period into college of first year college students. Promoting development and success during a student’s entry to college, known as the transition period, is critical. Research suggests that colleges and universities must use information on incoming students, including demographics and diversity, to provide proper transition programming and to promote success. However, there is a lack of research regarding student affairs programming for students in transition. As success in college can be determined by their first semester, and even the first few weeks, creating programming to assist transitioning students is necessary to promote and enhance their cognitive and intellectual development and success. Student affairs programming should emphasize total inclusion at the institution as student success includes integration into the campus community. This can be accomplished through academic and social programming, with special attention to diversity, technology, and preparing students for the job market after college.

This study aimed to determine the employability of Radiologic Technology graduates from 2013 to 2015. Descriptive type of research was utilized in the study. Results showed that there are 93.8 percent of the BSRT graduates are gainfully employed locally with regular or permanent status. Majority of them landed a job one (1) to 2 years. Career challenge and relevance of course completed to job assignment are the reasons of the graduates for accepting and staying on the job. Communication and critical thinking skills are considered very useful in most BSRT graduates in meeting the demands of their present job. The value of hard work contributed very much to the job placement of most Radiologic Technology graduate-respondents followed by leadership, perseverance, honesty and love for truth and courage (3.64). Courses in Natural science are considered the number one (1) useful aspect for their employment in terms of General Education while Human Anatomy & Physiology and Radiographic Anatomy & Physiology are considered two of the most relevant professional courses to their present employment.

The study assessed the effectiveness of student services and their influence on student development in the four campuses of Central Bicol State University of Agriculture (CBSUA), SY 2013-2014. Descriptive, evaluative, comparative and correlational methods of research were employed. Respondents were administrators, faculty members and student leaders. Data were gathered through questionnaire, interview, documentary analysis and ocular inspection and were treated statistically using weighted mean, ranking, one-way ANOVA, Pearson R correlation analysis and DMRT. Findings revealed that the four campuses of CBSUA were "very effective" in managing the different student services. The social, cultural, political and intellectual aspects of students in the four campuses of CBSUA were "highly developed" through the various student services provided. Student services such as sports development, library, student organizations, arts and culture development, guidance and counseling, scholarship and financial assistance, campus ministry and health services did not vary among campuses.

The purpose of this study was to explore how white college students construct and give meaning to their racial locations through the act of storytelling. Guided by narrative inquiry and grounded in critical whiteness studies, the results of this study highlight 3 constructions of whiteness that illuminate understandings of the racial self, the racial self in relation to People of Color, and systems of racism and white supremacy. Implications for engaging white students on race, racism, and whiteness are offered.

Η μελέτη αυτή περιγράφει με συντομία τη θεωρία των Πολλαπλών Τύπων Νοημοσύνης (ΠΤΝ) του Howard Gardner, η οποία υποστηρίζει τη θέση ότι η νοημοσύνη δεν είναι μονοδιάστατη και ενιαία –όπως αποτυπώνεται με τη μέτρηση του Δείκτη Νοημοσύνης (στα IQ tests) – αλλά συνίσταται από τουλάχιστον οκτώ διακριτούς Τύπους Νοημοσύνης (ΤΝ), καθιστώντας το άτομο μοναδικό μέσα στον πλουραλισμό των ικανοτήτων του. Δεδομένων των νομικών πλαισίων της χώρας μας για «ολόπλευρη ανάπτυξη των δυνατοτήτων των μαθητών» αναμένεται ότι τα γνωστικά περιεχόμενα του προγράμματος σπουδών και οι δραστηριότητες που περιέχονται στα σχολικά εγχειρίδια θα είναι «πολυτροπικά», έτσι ώστε μέσω αυτών να διευκολύνονται οι εκπαιδευτικοί να καλλιεργούν το σύνολο των πολλαπλών διαστάσεων ανάπτυξης των μαθητών τους. Με βάση την ανωτέρω προσέγγιση διεξήχθη μια μελέτη ανάλυσης περιεχομένου σε επιλεγμένα σχολικά εγχειρίδια του προγράμματος σπουδών, προκειμένου να εξεταστεί πόσο «ευφυή» είναι τα σχολικά βιβλία και ποιοι ΤΝ αναδεικνύονται σε αυτά. Στο εν λόγω πλαίσιο, η παρούσα μελέτη διερευνά τον τρόπο με τον οποίο εκπροσωπούνται και προωθούνται οι οκτώ ΤΝ του Gardner σε επιλεγμένα σχολικά εγχειρίδια τάξεων της δευτεροβάθμιας εκπαίδευσης –της Νεοελληνικής Γλώσσας και της Ιστορίας, τόσο στα βιβλία του μαθητή όσο και στα τετράδια εργασιών. Η ανάλυση αποκάλυψε ότι οι δραστηριότητες των παραπάνω εγχειριδίων δεν καλλιεργούν τους πολλαπλούς ΤΝ, ώστε να καλύπτουν σφαιρικά τις ανάγκες ανάπτυξης όλων των μαθητών. Επιπλέον, διαπιστώθηκε ότι μόνο οι μαθητές που παρουσιάζουν το πλεονέκτημα να έχουν ευχέρεια σε συγκεκριμένους ΤΝ –π.χ. στη Γλωσσική και στη Λογικομαθηματική Νοημοσύνη– θα είναι σε θέση να ανταπεξέλθουν με επιτυχία στις δραστηριότητες των εγχειριδίων που αναλύονται. Άλλο βασικό εύρημα της μελέτης αποτελεί η αποκάλυψη ότι οι δύο αυτοί ΤΝ κυριαρχούν σε όλα τα σχολικά εγχειρίδια που εξετάζονται, καθώς πουθενά οι ΠΤΝ δεν αναπτύσσονται σε όλο το φάσμα τους (8 ΤΝ) με εξαίρεση την κυρίαρχη παρουσία της Γλωσσικής και Λογικομαθηματικής Νοημοσύνης. Παρόμοια ευρήματα έχουν διαπιστωθεί σε προηγούμενες σχετικές μελέτες προγραμμάτων σπουδών και σχολικών εγχειριδίων στην πρωτοβάθμια εκπαίδευση. Συνιστάται, επομένως, κατά την υποχρεωτική εκπαίδευση να καλλιεργείται όλο το εύρος των ΤΝ στα σχολικά εγχειρίδια και τις δραστηριότητές των μαθητών, μέσω της πολλαπλής αναπαράστασης του διδακτικού περιεχομένου και των κατάλληλων στρατηγικών διδασκαλίας, καθώς και μέσω της ισότιμης ενεργοποίησης των «πυλών εισόδου» όλων των ΤΝ, όπως προτείνεται από τον ιδρυτή της θεωρίας, Howard Gardner.

This study aimed to determine the employability of Radiologic Technology graduates from 2013 to 2015. Descriptive type of research was utilized in the study. Results showed that there are 93.8 percent of the BSRT graduates are gainfully employed locally with regular or permanent status. Majority of them landed a job one (1) to 2 years. Career challenge and relevance of course completed to job assignment are the reasons of the graduates for accepting and staying on the job. Communication and critical thinking skills are considered very useful in most BSRT graduates in meeting the demands of their present job. The value of hard work contributed very much to the job placement of most Radiologic Technology graduate-respondents followed by leadership, perseverance, honesty and love for truth and courage (3.64). Courses in Natural science are considered the number one (1) useful aspect for their employment in terms of General Education while Human Anatomy & Physiology and Radiographic Anatomy & Physiology are considered two of the most relevant professional courses to their present employment.

In this article, the authors examine the role of vicarious racism in the experiences of doctoral students of color. The researchers conducted semi-structured individual interviews with 26 doctoral students who self-reported experiencing racism and racial trauma during their doctoral studies. The analysis generated four themes that detail the different ways in which doctoral students of color in
the study experienced vicarious racism and the consequences of this secondhand racism. These themes are (a) observed racism, (b) trickledown racism, (c) normalization of racism, and (d) racial resistance. The article concludes with implications for future research and practice.

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to investigate the relationship between participation in Extended Opportunity Programs and Services (EOPS) at California Valley College (CVC) (one of the 113 California Community Colleges in California) and several measures of student learning. An embedded survey design was developed using William Sedlacek’s non-cognitive questionnaire (NCQ), items from the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE), items based on Marcia Baxter Magolda’s epistemological reflection model of cognitive complexity, and items based on student learning outcomes for learning in EOPS. The survey had a 43.7% response rate. Students’ demographic characteristics, progress data, and grades were also collected. The survey concluded with four open-ended questions examining students’ perceptions about their learning. GPA (grade point average) as an outcome measure, and several NCQ scales were positively correlated with the Learning in EOPS Scale. Qualitative and mixed methods analyses extended statistical findings, highlighting the importance of positive outlook, positive self-concept, realistic self-appraisal, and support for learning. Finally, the study found that students’ academic and social involvement played a noteworthy role in students’ development, especially as related to cognitive complexity and learning in EOPS.

Archaeologist Joel Klenck authors a draft for the graduate program in Archaeology and Cultural Heritage, at the  Centre for Samoan Studies, at the National University of Samoa. The program will be geared toward building an excellent foundation in archaeological method and theory and preparing students to work within or outside of Samoa. Special emphasis will be made on training in ESRI ArcGIS, remote sensing, LiDAR, ground penetrating radar ("GPR"), magnetometers, and survey and excavation techniques. Additional training will involve techniques in the analysis of data from LiDAR, GPR, petrography, and use wear on stone tools and debitage.

The mentorship programme in the school of education of a South African university shows what is possible in peer mentor leadership development. Through the analysis of first-year student mentees' perceptions, experiences, and assessment of their peer mentors' roles, and accounts of the mentors' review of their role in the mentorship programme, this paper examines ways the peer mentor role opens spaces for enacting leadership and indirectly scaffolding leadership development. The study used a qualitative approach and a case study design. Data was collected using semi-structured interview, focus group discussion, and document analysis. The data was analysed applying the theoretical lens of implicit leadership theory. Three categories of findings were made: first, both mentees and mentors see the role of the peer mentor as primarily involving leadership, which is important to mentoring outcomes. Second, the peer mentors understand their role as including the activities of a leader, which entails opportunity for leadership development. Third, peer mentees and mentors are not ignorant of their needs. They make sense of these needs while characterizing their expectations as mentee and mentor in the mentoring relationship. These findings reveal that though non-systemic issues in academic development practices in this context detract mentoring outcomes, peer mentoring fosters leadership development of the student peer mentors.

The educability of personal qualities has garnered attention for its potential to raise student achievement. This investigation asks how one such quality—grit—has become a commonsensical way to think about differences among students. As a history of the present, grit is approached as a cultural thesis that links individualism to narratives of American exceptionalism and historical progress. This thesis is embodied in contemporary school reforms to ‘‘get gritty’’ in order to close achievement gaps. A danger of these reforms is how pedagogies of grit generate classificatory regimes that divide people by the display of particular attitudes and behaviors. As grit travels globally, it decontextualizes social and economic inequalities and explains them as owing to the intrinsic qualities of people.

With an emphasis on diversifying higher education, responding to the question of how we know that all of our students know what we need for them to know requires educators to include context and culture within our educational inquiry methodologies. A synthesis of literature shares a table of measures that are organized into seven inquiry approaches, all used to understand how students know. Ways to foster students' awareness of their knowing that incorporate considerations of context and culture are proposed as well as challenges of integrating the approaches or lenses through which we evaluate all students' ways of knowing. Introduction In 2000, the National Research Council published an informative book about how we understand people learn. Within that book, there were several empirically informed ways to understand how students learn in order to improve learning environments, whether online or in person. The book organized content that Discovering what our students know and are able to do is not only a good idea; it is a responsible way to design and deliver education, especially when the emphasis is on understanding how well what we are doing is working for whom. Furthermore, we are required by accreditation and quality assurance agencies and in some cases, state/province agencies, to provide evidence of what our students are able to know and do. In order to close achievement gaps, it is inherent that we understand how all of our students are able to know what we need them to know, so we can improve their experiences. While institutions invest a great deal in discovering how to improve the systems that design, deliver, and evaluate higher education, we continue to be criticized for the value of a degree and our inability to close achievement gaps. As such, this is as good a time as any to step back, reflect, and discern whether the questions we are asking about how and what students know and are able to learn are the ones that will equip us with combating the increasing challenges facing higher education today. This meta-synthesis describes the inquiry approaches we have historically used to discover what students know and are able to do and posits questions and inquiry methods to consider as we work to transform not only our educational design and delivery, but also the ways in which we discover what students know they know.

There has been a great deal of emphasis
on using data analytics to close achievement
gaps in terms of persistence, graduation
rates, and time-to-degree among varying and
intersecting identity groups. For some institutions,
applying just-in-time academic and student support
initiatives predicted as necessary by data analytics has been
fruitful. For other institutions, this approach may be less
welcomed, as it may not account for institutional leaders’
desire to understand individual students’ needs or to critically
examine how well the institution is avoiding a deficit
mindset. Indeed, both of these may occur simultaneously.
Using predictive analytics that are in essence based on
historical institutional processes without an understanding of
how those analytics intersect with students’ attainment of desired
career readiness skills could potentially increase rather
than decrease achievement gaps. With increasing emphasis
on preparing career readiness competencies, such as social
emotional intelligence, self-awareness, global citizenship,
compassion, pro-social behavior, and lifelong learning skills
and abilities, this article seeks to offer an additional lens
through which to collect data in order to close achievement
gaps while also ensuring optimal career readiness preparation.

In an effort to improve performance and retention of first-year college students, a few institutions have started offering summer bridge programs. Varying from days to weeks or months, these programs offer an extended orientation to college life, teach specific academic skills and/or content, and help students form social connections with peers, faculty, and staff and increasing their social capital. While bridge programs are gaining popularity in STEM fields, there is potential value in expanding these programs to other disciplines. In this analysis, we offer both a narrative summary and findings from our summer bridge program and living learning community in the social sciences. Results include positive student perceptions of the program and mixed results regarding academic performance and retention rate. We conclude with an overview of lessons learned and future directions for summer bridge programs and living learning communities, as well as empirical research in this domain.

Universities focus significant attention on internationalization to prepare globally minded graduates by engaging students in study abroad programs and expanding international student enrollment. However, scholarship has not yet considered the role returned study abroad students play in meeting friendship needs of international students. This research aimed to determine if such experiences impact friendships between participants and internationals. Four basic themes emerged: isolated application of intercultural competencies, differences in empathy experiences, friendships between study abroad and international students, and institutional contributions. Key findings revealed institutions do not teach study abroad students to utilize their experience in fostering empathetic friendships with international students and should consider how the experience can more effectively impact intercultural friendships rather than focusing solely on domestic students' reverse culture shock. College and university students become exposed to unprecedented internationalization as institutions increasingly understand the saliency of preparing graduates for the global workforce. The Institute of International Education (IIE) opened its 2007

The growth of the number of persons pursuing education outside of their home country has created a relatively new population of transnationally mobile students who experience a pivotal developmental period crossing and across international borders. There are few suitable theoretical models to examine the developmental experiences of this growing population. In his last publication, Urie Bronfenbrenner acknowledged his ecological model was a developmental yet evolving model to be tested and amended by incorporating new evidence. This conceptual paper draws from existing empirical work to advance the ecological model and revise it to be more applicable to and explanatory of developmental experiences of international students in the United States. The resulting model, which we call the Spanning Systems model, can be used to identify spaces of potential contradictions or learning in a student's development.

This research study was undertaken to determine the significant relationship between the teachers' leadership styles, and student development and teachers self-efficacy. The descriptive method of research was employed in the study. A survey questionnaire was administered to 635 elementary teachers from selected schools of Second Congressional District of Quezon. It was found out that the teacher respondents perceived that the teachers' leadership styles are moderately practiced by the teachers. They considered that the student shows very satisfactory learning development. They also perceived that the teachers has moderate self-efficacy. It is divulged that the teachers' leadership styles has significant relationship to the student development obtaining the r-values significant to .01 level. Also, the teachers' leadership styles has significant relationship to teachers' self-efficacy having r-values significant to .01 level. Furthermore, the results also declared that the impact of the teachers' leadership styles to student development is explained by the adjusted R² of 19.2% of the variation among the teachers' leadership styles associated in the variation of student development. Likewise, the impact of the teachers' leadership styles to teachers' selfefficacy is explained by the adjusted R² of 21.1% of the variation among the teachers' leadership styles associated in the variation of teachers' self-efficacy. It is clearly revealed that the teachers' leadership styles has significant relationship with student development and teachers' self-efficacy having r-values significant to .01 level in all variables. It is realized that the level of student development is based on how frequent the teacher practice leadership styles in leading the learners, and the extent of teachers' self-efficacy is figure out on how frequent the teachers practice their leadership styles.

Students get into higher education because they understand the importance of getting a degree to enhance their career opportunities, thus resulting in better income and a more satisfactory style of lie. The American University in Cairo (AUC) is the only Liberal Arts Institution in Egypt. It has an educational system that focuses on creating a holistic student. In addition, it is the first university to create an initiative in student development not only focused on academics but socially as well. This paper is a qualitative phenomenological case study of AUC and its First Year Experience (FYE) program which supports the development of students and their transition into university. The primary student development theory used in this paper is Chickering’s Identity Development Theory (Chickering & Reisser, 1993). To gather qualitative data for this research, interviews were digitally recorded and then the researcher listened to the session multiple times to discern common themes, quotes and connections to the student development theory. The findings illustrated that the university is indeed working on enhancing its first year experience student development programs, but unfortunately each department supporting student development is working on its own instead of all of them working together since they share a common purpose. Thus, it is suggested to have a common, inclusive and consistent objective all departments work on to achieve maximum benefit for the first year students.

Het onderzoek bestaat uit drie luiken. Het eerste luik past kwalitatieve onderzoeksmethoden toe. Naast documentenanalyse, worden verantwoordelijken en docenten uit het hoger onderwijs bevraagd aan de hand van diepte-interviews. In het laatste luik worden afgestudeerden uit het hoger onderwijs bevraagd aan de hand van diepte-interviews + arbeidsmarkt. Op basis van de diepte-interviews bij docenten en het literatuuronderzoek is er een gestructureerde vragenlijst ontwikkeld waarin de volgende topics aan bod komen: het studentenprofiel (2.4.1.1), hun perceptie van de opleiding (2.4.1.2) en hun perceptie over hun toekomstige professionele carrière (2.4.1.3). De bedoeling van deze kwantitatieve benadering is overwegend beschrijvend. Op basis van de bekomen informatie is het eveneens de bedoeling om bepaalde hypothesen te toetsen (2.4.1.4). In het laatste luik worden afgestudeerden uit het hoger onderwijs bevraagd aan de hand van diepte-interviews + arbeidsmarkt

Universities today have more reason than ever before to document the results of their efforts. Accreditation bodies require evidence of assessment. Some state legislatures require outcomes assessment of public universities. The general business environment has organizations reaching out to customers to learn about themselves and how they can improve. For all these reasons, universities and their academic programs are attempting to learn about themselves from various stakeholders, including employers. The Master of Public Administration (MPA) program at Southwest Texas State University (SWT) shares in the need for assessment. This program confers about twenty MPA degrees each year. This study reports the results of a series of interviews with government executives to explore the program’s outcomes in the eyes of government employers. The interviews explored awareness of the MPA degree, the value of the SWT program curriculum, including the core curriculum as specified by the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration, the SWT MPA program mission statement, and other areas of skill and knowledge identified in a review of related academic literature. Further, the research explored how well the graduates measure up to the ideals of these government employers. Finally, the interviews sought suggestions from the government executives on how to improve the program. The interviews showed that government executives value most of the curriculum of the SWT MPA program highly and believe that its graduates represent a high quality degree program. The research also uncovered several interesting and useful suggestions for improving the program.

When is the last time you took time to reflect…I mean really reflect?
It’s hard, isn’t it? It is not like anyone gets assigned time to simply reflect
with no expectation of a “product” that will result from investing time in
reflecting. And when we build in reflective pedagogy, it is often constrained
by a specific time element; as in “this reflection is due on [insert date].”
Furthermore, we often advise the student that we will be evaluating the
depth of the reflection with “this rubric,” which leaves me wondering
whether they are simply just going to “write to fit the rubric” instead of
reflecting, writing, and then using the rubric to self-assess before reflecting
and writing some more….

Over the past two decades, an increasing number of governments have recognized their higher education sectors as important to their economic development. In part, this recognition has prompted governments to adopt innovative, albeit sometimes untested, higher education development policies. Of late, many of these policies have been focused on the development of private higher education, where it had often been an underutilized tool in national strategies. One of the more prominent developments in this policy arena, particularly in becoming a hub, others use the phrase to give greater definition to an existing agenda. Even more, the level of government
involvement can vary (e.g., cities, states, nations). Hubs can include different combinations of domestic institutions, international branch campuses, and foreign partnerships. For example, in the early 1990s, the Australian city of Adelaide used the phrase “education city” (a variant of the hub lingo) to
describe its new focus on education, specifically for recruiting foreign students from Southeast Asia to attend local universities. More recently, Qatar's “Education City” is comprised of six branch campuses of American universities. Elsewhere, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand have all developed different policies intended to boost their respective reputations as a Southeast Asian education hub, while in East Asia, South Korea and Hong Kong use similar language to describe dissimilar activities.

On December 1, 2011, the full professors at Claremont School of Theology unanimously recommended two of my colleagues and me for tenure.  Provided that the Board of Trustees approves their recommendation and two extremes never come to pass (either “financial exigency” compels my institution to start laying off people willy-nilly or I do something professionally or morally egregious enough to be dismissed “for cause”), I now have a job for life! :)