Innovations in higher education: igniting the spark for success

Rising costs and increasing global competition press institutions to do more with less. At the same time, deep budget cuts and a general social and political impatience have revived calls for reform in educational affordability, curriculum, and outcome measurement. Yet within this environment, a myriad of success stories are being forged among educational institutions, supporting industries, and educational consortia that are embracing innovative approaches to all aspects of the higher education system. This book spotlights those fresh approaches and aims to bring higher education professionals together, as part of a broad, national movement to motivate reflection and encourage similar dynamic efforts. The editors and expert contributors focus in particular on areas such as measures of academic quality, benchmarking, faculty development, retention, curriculum development, technology, and facilities. In each case, this book illustrates successful pilot programs and documents tools that have proven to maximize efficiencies crucial to the continued success of the entire higher learning community.