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IHEnews Institute of Higher Education
The Institute passed another milestone on August 1 when Dr. Cameron Fincher marked his 50th anniversary as a University System of Georgia faculty member. His first appointment was with Georgia State. He joined the University of Georgia faculty in 1965, becoming Regents Professor of Higher Education and Psychology in 1981. He served as Director of the Institute from 1969 to 1999. The Board of Regents honored Dr. Fincher for his years of service at its August 8 meeting. The Institute will mark this event by conducting an oral history with him during fall semester that will be published in his honor later in the year.
During fall semester the Institute will also develop a comprehensive strategic plan. This will help us set our future priorities. Changes in organization leadership always constitute a good time to look back and ahead to develop plans for improving the organization. Dr. Steve Dempsey of the Carl Vinson Institute of Government will lead us in this process.
As the new director, I am very much looking forward to the future with the Institute. We have an excellent faculty and support staff. My impression is that everyone is eager to build on our strengths and become better in the future. We will be sharing our plans with you in the coming months.
Dr. Larry Jones has received the Distinguished Membership award by the Association of Institutional Research. The award represents a lifetime achievement award for outstanding contributions to the field of institutional research. Dr. Jones is among 22 members who have received this award in the 41 years that it has been given. Another Institute faculty member, Dr. Cameron Fincher, received the award at an earlier time. The University of Georgia is one of two institutions that have two faculty members who have received this award. Congratulations to Dr. Jones!
At the invitation of the University of Zagreb's Office of International Relations, Dr. Edward Simpson spent 10 days in June meeting with administrators and faculty of this the largest Croatian university (60,000 students). The purpose of the trip was to begin exploring possible exchange programs for faculty and students and to investigate how the Institute of Higher Education might be of assistance as the University of Zagreb explores strategies for change and reorganization in the post-war period and in the environment of the country's still new, independent status.
Dr. Light is Professor of Education in the Graduate School of Education and the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, where he has taught more than 30 years. His scholarly work emphasizes ways to collect and analyze information to improve policy decisions. He teaches courses ranging from introductory statistics to advanced cases in education policy, and has won many teaching awards. Light is currently Director of the Harvard Assessment Seminars, a consortium that brings together faculty and senior administrators from 24 colleges and universities to carry out research on college effectiveness. Light recently joined the Kearns Program at the Kennedy School's Center for Business and Government to lead efforts to enhance emerging, productive relationships among education, business, and government.
Outside of the university, Light has been elected President of the American Evaluation Association and chaired the Panel on Youth for the National Academy of Sciences. He serves on the National Advisory Board for the U.S. General Accounting Office, the National Board of the Fund for Improvement of Postsecondary Education, and the Board of Directors of the American Association for Higher Education. Recently he was honored with the Paul Lazarsfeld Award for distinguished contributions to scientific practice and by Vanderbilt University as one of America's great teachers.
The Institute of Higher Education and the Advanced Learning Technologies (ALT) unit of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia have entered into collaboration to assess and evaluate distributed education activities and impact. Kris Biesinger, Assistant Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs, is the project sponsor. ALT's mission is to develop and evaluate tools, techniques, and strategies to support effective and efficient technology facilitated course delivery; to collect, evaluate and disseminate information regarding the effectiveness of development models and specific tools and strategies to higher education institutions; and, to conduct research to validate effectiveness of teaching models on student learning outcomes. This project is being directed by Catherine Finnegan, Associate Director-ALT, and Libby Morris of the Institute's faculty. A second project on usability is being directed by Brian Finnegan, Associate Director-ALT, and Erick Lauber of the Institute.
The Institute of Higher Education faculty and support staff joined Dr. Ron Simpson for a lunch honoring him for his service to the Institute of Higher Education and the University of Georgia as he retired from the faculty on June 30, 2001. Dr. Simpson will continue to be involved in Institute work despite his retirement. He currently directs several dissertations. He will also teach EDHI 9030, Instructional Processes in Higher Education, in spring semester 2002.
Kenneth Waldrop (2000) has been named Dean of Students at Sul Ross State University in Alpine, Texas. He will supervise the Directors of the University Center, Residence Life, Intramural/Recreation Sports, and Student Activities. He is also responsible for health services, judicial services, and working with food services.
John Lough (1997) has been promoted to Manager of Professional Development Programs at Branch Banking and Trust (BB&T) in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He manages a more than $9 million budget earmarked for the development of middle to senior level managers in the bank.
Tom Bowen (1990) is now Associate Vice President for Business and Finance at the University of Georgia. His new responsibilities include monitoring and directing follow-up action on projects and requests that flow through the Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration Office. It suits his background and skills, and gives him a new perspective on University operations.
Robert E. Smith (1972) is the fifth graduate of the Institute of Higher Education's doctoral program, and has recently retired. He was Dean of Students at the Annandale Campus of Northern Virginia Community College for fifteen years. Later, he held a similar position at Chipola Junior College in Marianna, Florida, and then spent his final working years as a Psychological Specialist at a residential facility for retarded adults in Marianna.
Recent Institute Graduate
Kenneth B. Sanders (6/13/01)—"Blending Eastern and Western Traditions in Drama Education: A Case Study of the Curriculum Design Process in the Undergraduate Theater Program at National Taiwan University"
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We anticipate a busy fall semester at the Institute of Higher Education. In addition to a new director, two others have joined us. Dr. Scott Thomas has already assumed his position as Associate Professor and Member of the Graduate Faculty. He will be teaching Organization and Governance in Higher Education in the fall semester. Scott has an unusually high level of accomplishment for someone with a recent doctorate and will be a great addition to the Institute faculty. Dr. David Morgan will be a Senior Fellow for a one-year appointment. David comes to the Institute with many years on the staff of the University System of Georgia. He will conduct a study of continuing education at University System institutions, with the goal of developing recommendations to the Board of Regents to improve this dimension of higher education in Georgia. We look forward to working with David on this project. We will also benefit greatly from his system office perspective.
Dr. Richard Light will give the annual Louise McBee Lecture on October 18 at 1:30 p.m. in the Chapel. His topic will be "What Students, Faculty, and Administrators Can Do to Enrich the College Experience." The lecture will feature Dr. Light's most recent research, which examines why some students make the most of their college experience and others do not. His study is based on extensive interviews with students over a ten-year period. Harvard University Press awarded the resulting book, Making the Most of College, the Virginia and Walter Stone prize for the best book of the year about education and society. A copy of the book will be provided to those who attend the lecture.
Dr. Scott Thomas joined the Institute faculty on July 15 as Associate Professor of Higher Education. His research interests include education policy, economics, higher education finance, and campus culture. He is especially interested in problems that can be understood through the structural relations of institutions and individuals. Recently he co-authored a book entitled An Introduction to Multilevel Modeling in Educational and Organizational Research which gives an introductory approach to the use of multilevel modeling techniques for conducting research within organizational and educational settings. Dr. Thomas was previously at the University of Hawaii, Manoa as Assistant Professor of Educational Administration and Director of the Hawaii Educational Policy Center.