Wellford W. Wilms

Accelerating change in the academy

Forces that are transforming the global economy are now sweeping through higher education. As the higher education environment becomes more turbulent, administrators and academic leaders are caught between opposing forces that both demand and resist change. Suggests five strategies to help universities adapt to the changing environment while preserving important academic values.

Occupational License Laws and the Creation of Educational Needs: A New Role for Community Colleges?.

The authors describe how growing state occupational license laws that require candidates to pass pencil and paper examinations create a large demand for education. In building contracting, insurance, and real estate, for example, that demand often is met by profit‐seeking examination preparation schools. The paper reports research from a large sample of applicants of the more than 20,000 each year who take the California contractors’ license examination. Some prepared for the examination, which is primarily business and law, through examination preparation schools, while others prepared on their own. Results show that while those who attended a license‐preparation school were somewhat less advantaged than those who prepared on their own, they had a somewhat higher probability of passing the examination. The paper also reports, however, that a large minority of license candidates were dissatisfied with their method of preparation, often expressing a need for a more comprehensive educational program in busi...