Hardback
October 19, 2021
9781421442525
English
232
69529
2
9.00 Inches (US)
6.00 Inches (US)
0.86 Inches (US)
1.05 Pounds (US)
$37.00 USD, £30.50 GBP
v2.1 Reference
Electronic book text
October 19, 2021
9781421442532
9781421442525
English
232
69529
2
9.00 Inches (US)
6.00 Inches (US)
$37.00 USD, £30.50 GBP
v2.1 Reference

What's Public about Public Higher Ed?

Halting Higher Education's Decline in the Court of Public Opinion

Exploring the current state of relationships between public universities, government leaders, and the citizens who elect them, this book offers insight into how to repair the growing rift between higher education and its public.

Higher education gets a bad rap these days. The public perception is that there is a growing rift between public universities and the elected officials who support them. In What's Public about Public Higher Ed?, Stephen M. Gavazzi and E. Gordon Gee explore the reality of that supposed divide, offering qualitative and quantitative evidence of why it's happened and what can be done about it.

Critical problems, Gavazzi and Gee argue, have arisen because higher education leaders often assumed that what was good for universities was good for the public at large. For example, many public institutions have placed more emphasis on research at the expense of teaching, learning, and outreach. This university-centric viewpoint has contributed significantly to the disconnect between our nation's public universities and the representatives of the people they are supposed to be serving. But this gulf can only be bridged, the authors insist, if people at the universities take the time to really listen to what the citizens of their states are asking of them.

Gavazzi and Gee draw on never-before-gathered survey data on public sentiment regarding higher education. Collected from citizens residing in the four most populous states—California, Florida, New York, and Texas—plus Ohio and West Virginia, the authors' home states, this data reflects critical issues, including how universities spend taxpayer money, the pursuit of national rankings, student financial aid, and the interplay of international activities versus efforts to create "closer to home" impact. An unflinching, no-holds-barred exploration of what citizens really think about their public universities, What's Public about Public Higher Ed? also places special emphasis on the events of 2020—including the COVID-19 pandemic and the worst racial unrest seen in half a century—as major inflection points for understanding the implications of the survey's findings.

About the Authors

Stephen M. Gavazzi is a professor of human development and family science at The Ohio State University. He is the author of Families with Adolescents: Bridging the Gaps between Theory, Research, and Practice. E. Gordon Gee is the president of West Virginia University. He is the coeditor of Leading Colleges and Universities: Lessons from Higher Education Leaders. Together, Gavazzi and Gee are the coauthors of Land-Grant Universities for the Future.

Endorsements

"This engaging and informative book provides today's college and university leadership with evidence-based insights into the way the public views a range of issues faced by higher ed leaders. Using a survey of respondents in six states to marshal fresh evidence, What's Public about Public Higher Ed? is helpful at a time when more Americans have begun to view our nation's colleges and universities—like most large institutions—in more critical terms."

- Peter H. Henderson, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, coauthor of The Empowered University: Shared Leadership, Culture Change, and Academic Success

"This engaging, intriguing book made me ponder the whole of higher education and the current state of the world. Timely and groundbreaking, it will generate debate and discussion that will eventually and hopefully move education forward beyond petty partisan divides."

- John Michael Lee Jr., Vice President, Development and Policy Research, Southern Regional Education Board

"In their typical outspoken style, Gavazzi and Gee address the growing public skepticism toward higher education. Their fact-based analysis and practical suggestions will be helpful to all who believe that an educated and informed citizenry is critical to a functioning democracy."

- Buck Goldstein, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, coauthor of Our Higher Calling: Rebuilding the Partnership Between America and Its Colleges and Universities

"As accessible as it is scholarly, Gavazzi and Gee's latest book is premised on the straightforward notion that if you want to understand how citizens view public universities, you need to ask them. And that's just what the authors do, via a national survey of Americans' opinions about the major tensions facing public universities. A bracing but optimistic take on higher education today."

- Michael Nietzel, President Emeritus, Missouri State University

"Gavazzi and Gee provide insight on what the court of US public opinion believes about higher education and how institutions might be better able to share contributions, showcase value, and garner further support. It is a useful read for anyone who works at a public college or university."

- Sonja Ardoin, coauthor of Straddling Class in the Academy and Social Class Supports: 26 Stories of Students, Administrators, and Faculty From Poor and Working-Class Backgrounds and Their Compelling Lessons for Higher Education Policy and Practice
Johns Hopkins University Press
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Hardback
232 Pages
$37.00 USD
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Other Titles by Stephen M. Gavazzi

Land-Grant Universities for the Future

Stephen M. Gavazzi and E. Gordon Gee - foreword by C. Peter Magrath
Nov 2018 - Johns Hopkins University Press
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$37.00 USD - Electronic book text

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College for the Commonwealth

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Nov 2018 - University Press of Kentucky
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Land-Grant Universities for the Future

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Nov 2018 - Johns Hopkins University Press
$37.00 USD - Hardback
$37.00 USD - Electronic book text

Leading Colleges and Universities

edited by Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, Gerald B. Kauvar, and E. Gordon Gee
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Transylvania

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$30.00 USD - Paperback / softback
$12.95 USD - Electronic book text

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edited by Yalile Suriel, Grace Watkins, Jude Paul Matias Dizon, John Joseph Sloan, III, series edited by Michael R. Hames-García, Micol Seigel
Jan 2024 - University of Washington Press
$105.00 USD - Hardback
$30.00 USD - Paperback / softback

Voices of Campus Sexual Violence Activists

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Dec 2023 - Johns Hopkins University Press
$34.95 USD - Hardback
$34.95 USD - Electronic book text