Higher Education
We offer a variety of courses and seminars for both masters and doctoral students. For masters students these include practicum seminars and the Graduate Interest Group (GIG) seminar that is part of our graduate learning community.
Course Descriptions:
Core Courses:
Master's & Doctoral students *
Master's students **
Doctoral students ***
The Academic Program***
The course covers four general areas: frames of reference on the curriculum, views on knowledge and pedagogy, planning and implementation of the curriculum, and curriculum in practice. Students will understand better the historical and philosophical forces that have helped shape the curriculum in American higher education, gain knowledge of current practices and issues, and better understand the development and implementation of a new academic program.
Advanced College Student Development***
This course seeks to build upon students' current knowledge and increase their complexity of understanding about how college students develop and learn. Considering the range and diversity of college students (e.g., students of various races, ethnic backgrounds, sexual orientation, ages, genders, and disabilities), the course critically examines the inclusivity and applicability of theoretical perspectives. Students are encouraged to develop the knowledge, skills and competencies to assess how and what students learn and to integrate theoretical perspectives in practice.
American College and University*
The American College and University course provides a context for understanding the current and emerging nature and role of higher education in contemporary American society. It introduces students to the American higher education system--its purposes, institutions, faculties, curriculum, organization and administration, constituencies, and relations with society--through discussions and analyses of major historical influences and current issues and practice.
Administration Principles and Practices in Higher Education**
This course introduces students to various perspectives on leadership and management, the impact of gender, and strategies to create work environments to support empowering leadership. Students develop knowledge and understanding of the nature of administrative work in general and how the organizational context of higher education affects administrative work. Specifically, they examine such administrative practices as the selection, training, supervision, and evaluation of personnel, development and evaluation of programs, crisis management, and fiscal management.
Assessing Student Learning in Higher Education
The focus of this course is on the assessment of student learning outcomes at the course and curricular level. Students will learn about the historical context of the student-learning, outcome-assessment movement and about practical assessment strategies and practices.
College Student Development*
This course requires students to examine developmental patterns of college students from several theoretical viewpoints, particularly cognitive-developmental and psychosocial perspectives, and the relevance of these theories for practice. Students are asked to consider the inclusivity and applicability of theoretical perspectives being studied to the range and diversity of college students (e.g. students of various races, ethnic backgrounds, sexual orientation, ages, genders, and disabilities). In addition, they are introduced to assessment approaches appropriate to each theoretical perspective.
Foundations and Practices of Community Service Learning
Exploration of the history and development of community service learning, program models, and issues surrounding administration and management of service programs within various institutional contexts and cultures. Students will examine the philosophical and theoretical assumptions of community service learning, analyze research in the area of service learning, model strategies and pedagogical methods inherent in service learning, and develop a curricular or co-curricular service project or module for possible application. The course is designed to appeal to a broad audience including faculty, teachers, administrators, agency personnel, etc.
Gender and Race in Higher Education
This course examines the ways our ideas of gender and race are constructed by scholars and other members of the academy, and how these ideas have changed over time. Class members develop historical case studies using archival material and other resources.
Internship in Higher Education**
The purpose of this intensive practical experience is to provide students an opportunity to develop and integrate professional knowledge and skills to a "real world" higher education setting. Students are to gain an appreciation of the philosophy, challenges, and day-to-day culture and operations of a higher education department/division and how the work of this unit interfaces with other constituents involved in a college/university community. Through this experience, it is intended that students' personal philosophy and commitment to student affairs/higher education work are enhanced and personal and professional career issues are addressed.
Laboratory in Learning Communities**
This "hands-on" experience requires students to examine the purpose, research, and diverse organizational structures of interdisciplinary learning communities at local, regional, and national levels. Through involvement in an environment that models collaboration between various departments within Academic and Student Affairs, students will begin to develop an understanding of the learning objectives, strategies for development and implementation, and benefits and challenges of learning community initiatives.
Legal Issues in Higher Education*
This course surveys legal issues arising from the relationship between higher education institutions and their governing boards, administrators, faculty, students, and governmental bodies. Students explore higher education law, the role of law on campus, the relationship between law and academia, and the relationship between lawyers and administrators.
Organization and Administration in Higher Education***
This course examines colleges and universities as organizations through such topics as models of organizational functioning, organization adaptation and decline, processes of governance, organization culture, and authority and leadership in colleges and universities. Throughout the course, students apply course concepts to institutional situations and problems.
Principles and Practices of Student Affairs Administration**
The course is concerned with the evolution and current practice of student affairs in higher education. The philosophical, historical, conceptual, and research foundations of the profession and the cultural and organizational contexts of student affairs work will be explored. The course also will examine how various functional areas contribute to learning, personal development, and other elements of institutional mission.
Public Policy in Higher Education***
This course focuses on how the public policy-making process pertains to higher education. Specifically, the course examines the effects of public policy on the functioning of higher education institutions and explores the various sides to public policy issues. The course also applies models of the public policy decision-making process to real and hypothetical public policy issues.
Research on the College Student*
This course offers a wide-ranging survey of research on the college student which covers both the range of students now being served by higher education and the types of institutions in which they participate. The topics that are covered include the values and orientations of today's students, the varying experiences of students of different ages, race, gender, and work status, and the impact of college on student learning and persistence. Active participation and willingness to engage in collaborative class activities is a course requirement.
Seminar in College Instruction***
This seminar focuses on current issues and trends in higher education that impact teaching and learning. Selected topics include teaching and learning theories, instructional approaches, evaluation methods, classroom climate, the design of courses and syllabi, diversity, effective uses of technology, the use of adjunct instructors, promotion and tenure, perspectives on scholarship, and institutional expectations.
Seminar on Colleges as Communities
This course explores the many ways in which colleges are being reorganized into forms of community that promote student development and learning. Class projects on exemplary practice are used to blend theory, research, and practice. Active participation and a willingness to engage in collaborative projects are required.
Seminar on Student Attainment in Higher Education
This course is a theory and research seminar, which covers both the character of student attainment in higher education and the forces shaping it. This course also focuses on the longitudinal process of student attainment from access to graduation and early occupational attainment after college to produce a more complex picture of how differential patterns of early access and attainment shape subsequent attainment through and beyond college.
Understanding Educational Research*
This course is designed to meet the needs of masters' students and beginning doctoral students who have had little if any exposure to research methods. It seeks to provide an overview of research methods as they are commonly applied to the study of education and a deeper understanding of the process through which research projects are constructed. Students will learn how to read, make sense of and, within reason, critique existing educational studies.