An Exploration of Nonresident Student Enrollment and Institutional Finances at Public Universities

Many public universities have sought to increase the number of students they enroll from other states, with the assumption that a larger share of nonresident students increases institutional revenues and prestige. In this paper, I examine the extent to which out-of-state undergraduate student enrollment shares are associated with changes in per-student revenue and expenditure patterns at four-year public universities both as a whole and by selectivity and Carnegie classification. I find that an increase in the percentage of students from out of state is associated with decreases in per-student tuition revenue and is often associated with a decline in per-student expenditures.

Analyzing academic mobility of U.S. professors based on ORCID data and the Carnegie Classification

This paper uses two open science data sources—ORCID and the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education (CCIHE)—to identify tenure-track and tenured professors in the United States who have changed academic affiliations. Through a series of data cleaning and processing actions, 5,938 professors met the selection criteria of professorship and mobility. Using ORCID professor profiles and the Carnegie Classification, this paper reveals patterns of academic mobility in the United States from the aspects of institution types, locations, regions, funding mechanisms of institutions, and professors’ genders. We find that professors tended to move to institutions with higher research intensity, such as those with an R1 or R2 designation in the Carnegie Classification. They also tend to move from rural institutions to urban institutions. Additionally, this paper finds that female professors are more likely to move within the same geographic region than male professors and that when they move from a less research-intensive institution to a more research-intensive one, female professors are less likely to retain their rank or attain promotion.

Classification of higher education institutions: qualitative content analysis

Aim – to identify criterions and parameters for classification of higher education institutions, using research method – qualitative content analysis. The following tasks are defined for reaching the aim: to conduct qualitative content analysis and define categories and their frequency; to describe and analyse defined categories; to compare different classifications of higher education institutions; to summarize the analysis results and draw conclusions. Research methodology – overview of literature and qualitative content analysis. Findings – qualitative content analysis helps to structure the information gathered, to select the relevant and applicable, and leads to the development of new categories; higher education institutions are classified in many ways, using different criterions and parameters; classifications made by individual researchers are available, as well as universally known and applied classifications of higher education institutions such as Carnegie Classification and European classification of higher education institutions. Research limitations – the classification of higher education institutions is analysed only from Europe and the United States of America.

Utah Valley University: A Continuing Culture of Transformation

Utah Valley University is a large, regional, open-admission institution with growing enrollments and changing demographics. It has a history of transformation and change, beginning as a trade school in 1941 and evolving to a university in 2008. This article illustrates how the university has engaged in on-going strategic planning to anticipate and effectively manage threats and opportunities. The article begins with background information and statistics about the university and the Woodbury School of Business, explains how the university has leveraged its elective Carnegie classification as a community engaged institution, and shares examples of transformations in teaching and learning to enable student success. It then illustrates how the university’s Woodbury School of Business has paralleled the directions of the university to build capacity among its faculty for engaged learning and pedagogical innovations. The article ends with a summary of key outcomes and thoughts on the sustainability of transformation.

Potatoes to patrons

Purpose This research was originally conducted as the author’s dissertation work at the Ohio University. The author explored LibQUAL+ results from two separate institutions with different Carnegie Classifications, and therefore different academic missions, to look for relationships between patron types, Carnegie Classifications, and scores across the minimum, perceived, and desired questions of the information control (IC) component of the LibQUAL+ instrument. By comparing results from a library affiliated with a research institution to one from a campus more focused on teaching and learning, a school going through the shift from one focus to another would be better able to anticipate changes related to patron needs. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach A three-way between-within subjects ANOVA was conducted. The first between-subjects variable was patron type, which included undergraduate, graduate, and faculty. The second between-subjects variable was Carnegie Classification, which included the two classifications of RU_H and Master’s_M. The within-subjects variable had three levels, which in this case functioned as three dependent variables made up of the mean or composite score of the combined eight questions included in the IC portion of LibQUAL+, broken in the three categories of minimum, perceived, and desired. An additional breakdown shows that 499 were undergraduate students, 137 were graduate students, and 197 were faculty. Findings The results of the study indicated that Carnegie Classification has no significant effect on how undergraduate, graduate, and faculty respond to the three levels of the IC component of the LibQUAL+ survey. As other studies have shown however, there were significant differences with regard to patron-level responses. For a more comprehensive look at all seven research questions and their answers, please see the complete dissertation here: http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1354726349 Research limitations/implications This study is limited in size and scope because of the limitations of the method of analysis. A broader study using the same analysis would be difficult because of the impracticality of adding, for example, additional Carnegie Classifications into the equation. A significant limitation is that LibQUAL+ results are not typically compared across institutions as the respondents are commenting on separate collections and services. This was minimized by choosing institutions that belong to the same very strong consortial system and have an interlibrary loan system in place which essentially creates one enormous collection for all to share. Practical implications Perhaps more significant than the findings themselves is the method of analysis used, as it is one that while complicated statistically, is relatively easy to explain by using the split-plot studies conducted by R.A. Fisher on which the analysis is based as a starting point. The author have found that conceptually it is easier for those without a statistical background to relate to images of potato fields with varying types of potatoes and fertilizer than Carnegie Classifications, patron types, and the multi-level components of LibQUAL+ results. Originality/value It would be difficult to speak to the originality of the proposal, but the author would say that a possible outcome would be a discussion of the value of translatable results that speak to broader audiences, particularly those outside library settings. Methods of analysis that can be explained in ways that do not involve the word ANOVA have value and will add to a stronger understanding of research questions and results by decision makers.

Writing on the walls: Engaging students through whiteboards

In today’s digital environment, connecting with students in a meaningful way can be difficult. Our recent whiteboard project at the University of Central Arkansas (UCA) was a successful way for us to engage students in the physical space of the library. UCA’s Carnegie classification is “Master’s Colleges and Universities (larger programs)” and had a total enrollment of 11,487 students for the fall 2016 semester. For the fiscal year 2015–16 our gate count was 482,934 students. The UCA Library operations are managed by 11 faculty members and 30 staff members, plus the assistance of 35 student workers.

A survey of information literacy credit courses in US academic libraries

Purpose There is a lack of data about information literacy (IL) credit courses in US academic libraries. This paper aims to provide a detailed snapshot of IL credit courses, including percentages of libraries that offer credit courses, the number of credits offered, the audience and how public institutions differ from private nonprofits and for-profits. Design/methodology/approach The authors surveyed a stratified random sample of libraries at higher education institutions across all categories from the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. Qualtrics software was used to create and distribute the email survey. The response rate was 39 per cent (n = 691). Findings In all, 19 per cent of the institutions in the survey have IL credit courses taught by librarians. Large institutions, public institutions and those granting doctoral degrees are the most likely to offer IL credit courses. The majority of these courses are undergraduate electives of 1-2 credit hours offered under the library aegis, although a significant minority are required, worth 3-4 credit hours, and taught within another academic department or campus-wide program. Originality/value The findings update previous surveys and provide a more granular picture of the characteristics of librarian-taught credit-bearing courses, the types of academic institutions that offer them and compensation teaching librarians receive. This survey is the first study of credit-bearing IL instruction to include for-profit colleges and universities.

Publication trends in top-tier journals in higher education

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze author and methodological characteristics in top-tier publications in higher education. As the importance of research in the professoriate continues to grow and faculty face ratcheted-up expectations for prestige in their research, such data are important contextually and historically. Design/methodology/approach This descriptive study examines 587 articles within four top-tier higher education research journals from 2008 to 2012. Data were open coded and analyzed with a research team, resulting in an intercoder reliability of 0.96. Findings Results show most authors are assistant professors, overwhelmingly received PhD’s from very high research institutions (Carnegie classification), and currently work in similar institutions. Five degree-granting institutions accounted for 29.0 percent of publications in top-tier journals. Additionally, quantitative research accounted for 60.6 percent of published articles, with regression as the most commonly used analytic technique (34.7 percent). Research limitations/implications This study examined only higher education faculty and institutions based in the USA as well as first authors. Practical implications These results are meant to provide baseline data for top-tier journals within higher education and might inform conversations about methodological acceptability, respectability of qualitative research, graduate education research requirements, journal editor trainings, and tenure and promotion criteria. Originality/value This paper provides an update to previous studies that examined publications in higher education within the last three decades. In addition, this study examines author characteristics, which previous studies have mostly excluded. This study offers empirical data to inform conversations about the state of research in top-tier publications within higher education.