Robert Ackerman

From Combat to Campus: Voices of Student-Veterans

What needs do veterans bring to campus? Little is known about this emerging student population. The researchers interviewed 25 students who served in the current Iraq and Afghan conflicts. This was a multicampus study, with the sample derived from three geographically diverse universities representing northern, southern, and western regions of the United States. Using a model of adult transition by Schlossberg as a guiding theory, a grounded theory epistemology was used to generate a conceptual framework for understanding students who are making the transition from wartime service to college. Findings and implications will help institutions organize a holistic approach for assisting veterans and improving their chances for success.

A BUSINESS MARKETING STRATEGY APPLIED TO STUDENT RETENTION: A HIGHER EDUCATION INITIATIVE

Relationship marketing, a concept that focuses on attracting, maintaining, and building business relationships, has enhanced the profitability of businesses. The core of the relationship marketing approach in business is that resources are directed toward strengthening ties to existing customers on the proven premise that maintaining existing customers is less costly than is attracting new ones. Relationship marketing models have been developed in a wide range of settings and evidence exists suggesting that it is a successful approach. This article explores the concept of adapting the business relationship marketing framework to the challenges of college student retention. The student retention and relationships marketing literatures are reviewed and parallels are drawn. The relationship marketing model presents a different way of viewing student retention, provides a different perspective on retention strategies, and provides an economic justification for implementing retention programs. Retaining students in post secondary programs has been a national concern for decades (Braxton, 2000). However, doing so remains a challenge (Habley & McClanahan, 2004; Maldonado, Rhoads, & Buenavista, 2005). Improving student retention is a worthwhile goal for a variety of individual, social, and economic reasons (Institute for Higher Education Policy, 2005; Schuh, 2005; Tinto, 1993). And, while not everyone will be comfortable applying concepts from business to an issue in education, adapting the customer retention model to student retention is appropriate given the emphasis both place on quality of services. We include a formula for determining the economic benefits to the institution of retaining students.

Implementing and Sustaining Service-Learning at the Institutional Level.

In this study, we offer insights regarding the tactics used by institutions to implement and sustain service-learning at various levels of commitment as identified by Holland (1997). An analysis of data collected from 12 directors of service-learning centers provides a description of common practices associated with implementing and sustaining service-learning initiatives at the institutional level, focusing on organizational tactics associated with funding, administration, faculty recruitment and support, and student involvement and assessment.

Evaluating quality in associate degree culinary arts programs

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to determine which categories and indicators of quality are best suited to evaluating associate degree culinary arts programs (ADCAP).Design/methodology/approach – The researchers surveyed a national sample of culinary educators and industry chefs in the USA. The instrument asked the participants to rate the importance levels of 50 potential quality indicators for ADCAP. The data were analyzed to determine the most important indicators as well as categories of indicators.Findings – Data analysis revealed the five most important indicators of quality, based on mean scores, to be: sanitation of kitchen laboratories; industry experience of faculty; subject experience of faculty; required internship; and job placement rates. From these data, the researchers developed a list of 20 suggested quality indicators. The indicators were originally divided into eight categories. The majority of the suggested indicators came from the faculty, organization and administration, and f...

Foundations of Higher Education Law and Policy: Basic Legal Rules, Concepts, and Principles for Student Affairs

Media Review: Foundations of Higher Education Law and Policy: Basic Legal Rules, Concepts, and Principles for Student Affairs Ackerman, R. (2012). Media Review: Foundations of higher education law and policy: Basic legal rules, concepts, and principles for student affairs. Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, 49(4), 475–477. doi:10.1515/jsarp-2012-6626 Available at http://journals.naspa.org/jsarp/vol49/iss4/art10/

Review of "Reconnecting education & foundations: Turning good intentions into educational capital"

For a century the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching has existed to further Andrew Carnegie’s dual goals of education and philanthropy. Reconnecting Education & Foundations is an important benchmark of those efforts because by funding the research upon which the book is based, the Foundation is focusing attention on what educational and philanthropic organizations need to do to improve relationships between two important social change agents.