Coming to Grips with Higher Education

(Hardback)

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Description

The American university faces many challenges. It has become too costly and inefficient. It fails too many students. It spends too much time and money on matters that should not be its priorities. It clings to policies and practices that need to go away. And it is too disconnected from the students and communities it must serve. This book proposes several changes to standard policies in our colleges and universities that will sharpen their missions, redirect funding to the highest priorities, improve student learning and attainment, redefine faculty engagement, slow down spending on amenities, and reduce the excesses of intercollegiate athletics. The recommended reforms remain true to the essential academic values embraced by the academy, but at the same time they recognize and respond to the new realities facing higher education.

Reviews

Higher education has never been more necessary to the United States future than it is today, yet also faces questions from the public and our state legislatures . Mike Nietzel offers a common-sense approach to addressing some of the challenges we face to increase our effectiveness and our accountability. A practical read from someone who cares deeply about higher education. -- Chuck Staben, president, University of Idaho
I had the privilege of working with university presidents for almost a decade and can assure you that Dr. Nietzel gives voice to what many of them think and say in private. He does not shy away from tackling the thorny and controversial issues that bedevil higher education. However, even his sharpest observations come with an insiders prescriptions for improvement and a passion for teaching and scholarship. -- Dr. Brian K. Long, Missouris Council on Public Higher Education
Coming to Grips With Higher Education does an outstanding job of describing significant challenges facing High Education e.g. mission creep, student financial aid, performance funding. What is unique about this book is the way Dr Nietzel uses his experiences in academic and political environments to not only describe the underlying reasons for these challenges but also to provide the political, financial, and practical reasons why it is so difficult to resolve those challenges. -- Ken Dobbins, President Emeritus, Southeast Missouri State University

Author Bio

Michael T. Nietzel is the retired president of Missouri State University, and prior to that he was Provost of the University of Kentucky. After retiring as president, Nietzel served as Senior Policy advisor to Missouri Governor Jay Nixon.