Adrianna Kezar recently sat down with Chancellor Tim White of the California State University system to discuss, among many other things, the newly released California State Graduation Initiative and what it will take to enact it. The key commitments of the initiative are: (1) hire more tenure-track faculty; (2) develop engaged advising; (3) solve…

The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education and the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning have awarded David Spence, its 2006 Virginia B. Smith Award for Innovative Leadership in Higher Education. Mr. Spence is formerly executive vice chancellor and chief academic officer of the California State University system and now…

Developmental courses in English, math, and reading have an important purpose in higher education, especially in the open-access world of community colleges. These classes--also referred to as "remedial"--are intended to give less-prepared students a chance to catch up and meet the challenges of college-level coursework. However,…

The community college represents the only form of universal access to education, and is thus purported to be the gateway to low-income and minority students' realization of the "American Dream." That dream is growing more and more elusive for a substantial number of people. Instead of breaking down ethnic and class barriers to economic…