Higher Education Reading List
One of our wonderful trustees recently asked me to recommend a higher-education reading list. Here it is:
Newsletters and Magazines
I start each weekday with a review of these three:
Inside Higher Ed publishes a daily newsletter of current events in higher education. These include 3 or 4 feature stories and a daily list of briefs of related interest.
The Chronicle of Higher Education was for many years the most popular job-posting publication in higher education. The weekly newspaper format has been largely replaced by a daily e-newsletter with feature stories ranging from current news stories from the academy to annual higher-ed almanac reports, to opinion pieces from faculty, administrators, and pundits.
Peterson-Rudgers Scan is a daily anthology of links to higher-education related stories across the news media. It is a public service offered by the Peterson-Rudgers Group, a higher-ed communications consultancy. Each issue includes curated links to 2 to 4 stories on 3 to 5 timely issues including campus leaders responding to current events, trends in philanthropy, and impacts of national stories on our campuses.
I consult these publications frequently:
Higher Ed Deep Dive publishes in-depth examinations of current topics affecting higher education.
University Business publishes a variety of content in support of finance, administration, auxiliaries, and facilities management.
Educause Review is the publication of Educause, which is the principal organization supporting IT professional in higher education.
Trusteeship is a magazine published by the Association of Governing Boards. It focusses on the roles and best practices of boards of trustees and shared governance.
Liberal Education is a magazine published by the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) focused on the relationship of liberal education and good citizenship and preparing students for lives of purpose and meaning. It also lifts up best practices in pedagogy and curricula.
Books
These are some texts I have found especially meaningful and helpful in thinking about the collegiate enterprise.
History
Kimball, Bruce A.: Orators and Philosophers: A History of the Idea of Liberal Education, expanded edition. New York: College Board, 1995.
Ricks, Thomas E.: First Principles: What America’s Founders Learned from the Greeks and Romans and How It Shaped Our Country. New York: Harper Collins, 2020.
Higher Education Identity and Purpose
Delbanco, Andrew: College: What it Was, Is, and Should Be. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2012.
Bok, Derek: Higher Education in America, revised edition. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2013.
Daniels, Ronald J.: What Universities Owe Democracy. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2021.
Liberal Arts
Leadership and the Liberal Arts: Achieving the Promise of a Liberal Education, edited by J. Thomas Wren, Ronald E. Riggio, and Michael A. Genovese. New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2009.
Roth, Michael: Beyond the University: Why Liberal Education Matters. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2014.
Zakaria, Fareed: In Defense of a Liberal Education. New York: W.W. Norton, 2015.
Detweiler, Richard A.: The Evidence Liberal Arts Needs: Lives of Consequence, Inquiry, and Accomplishment. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2021.
Diversity. Equity, and Inclusion
Williams, Damon A.: Strategic Diversity Leadership: Activating Change and Transformation in Higher Education. Sterling, VA: Stylus, 2013.
Givens, Jarvis R.: School Clothes: A Collective Memoir of Black Student Witness. Boston: Beacon Press, 2023.
Governance
Chait, Richard P., William Ryan, and Barbara E. Taylor: Governance as Leadership: Reframing the Work of Nonprofit Boards. Hoboken: Board Source, 2005
Bowen, William G. and Eugene Tobin: Locus of Authority: The Evolution of Faculty Roles in the Governance of Higher Education. Princeton University Press, 2015.
Demographics and Enrollment
McGee, Jon: Breakpoint: The Changing Marketplace for Higher Education. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2015.
Grawe, Nathan: Demographics and the Demand for Higher Education. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2018.
____________: Agile College: How Institutions Successfully Navigate Demographic Changes. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2021.
Business Model
Townsley, Michael K.: Small College Guide to Financial Health: Weather Turbulent Times. Washington, DC: NACUBO, 2009.
Soliday, Joanne and Rick Mann: Surviving to Thriving: A Planning Framework for Leaders of Private Colleges and Universities. Whitsett, NC: Credo, 2013.
