PERC Archives - Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

Spica Presents Policy Analysis at 2019 Open Education Conference

November 5, 2019 by

Spica Presents Policy Analysis at 2019 Open Education Conference

Elizabeth Spica, doctoral student in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies interning with UT’s Postsecondary Education Research Center, presented research exploring Open Educational Resources (OER) and state-level policies at the 16th annual Open Education Conference in Phoenix, Arizona.

Elizabeth Spica presents poster at OpenEd 2019

Elizabeth Spica, ELPS doctoral student

Open Educational Resources (OER) have been shown to positively impact issues related to student access and success, from course material affordability to course completion and enrollment intensity (Fischer, et al, 2015; Hilton, 2018). Despite progress over the past decade, faculty still consistently report the effort required to find readily available, high-quality materials to be a barrier to the use and adoption of OER (Barker, et al, 2018; Braddlee, 2018; Jhangiani, et al, 2016; Seaman and Seaman, 2017).

While almost half the states in the United States have considered or adopted legislation to support the development and use of OER, little research has elucidated the practical impact of state-level policies on contributions from faculty at institutions within those respective states. Spica’s research, entitled Open Educational Resources (OER) and State-Level Policies: A Network Analysis, examined the relationship between state-level policies and OER contributions from faculty at institutions within those respective states. Results from the data analyzed showed that faculty affiliated with institutions in states with existing textbook affordability and/or OER policies contributed significantly more OER than faculty affiliated with institutions in states without existing policies.

You can view and download the poster by clicking this link.

PERC Examines UTK Student Debt

September 22, 2019 by Jonah Hall

PERC Examines UTK Student Debt

In the age of the student loan crisis, The University of Tennessee Knoxville has been a leader in helping students minimize and manage the debt they accrue while pursuing degrees. In 2017, for instance, UTK’s proportion of graduates in debt fell not only below the state average, but 15% below the national average as well.

These and other findings were just released by UT’s Postsecondary Education Research Center from Data Science and Engineering PhD student and PERC Graduate Research Assistant Kriss Gabourel. Gabourel’s report, entitled “Student debt profile: A brief look at a decade of graduates from UT Knoxville” was also presented at the July 2019 Tennessee Association for Institutional Research (TENNAIR) Conference in Franklin, TN.

You can click here to view the report summary. The next phase of analysis is anticipated to include income data for those same graduates, which will provide deeper insight into the relationship between student debt and earnings for graduates at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

National Panhellenic Conference Graduation Rate Study

August 5, 2019 by Jonah Hall

National Panhellenic Conference Graduation Rate Study

ELPS faculty Dr. Patrick Biddix and Dr. Terry Ishitani, along with ELPS alumnae Nicole Nicholson and Kaitlin Singer, completed and published a study that demonstrated women in sororities across 18 four-year institutions were more likely than non-members to graduate in four years, with the graduation rate between the two groups stabilizing for years five and six. Recommendations for practice to strengthen the educational component of sorority membership were also provided.

The article, “The Influence of National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) Sorority Membership on Graduation and Time-to-Degree: A Multi-Institution Study” was published in the Journal of Women and Gender in Higher Education (subscription required for access).

PERC Explores Policies that Promote Course Material Affordability

June 15, 2019 by Jonah Hall

PERC Explores Policies that Promote Course Material Affordability

Mergers of major publishers and the ever-rising cost of course materials have catalyzed UT’s Postsecondary Education Research Center examination of policies that promote course material affordability, namely through the use of Open Educational Resources (OER).

The Hewlett Foundation (hewlett.org) defines Open Educational Resources (OER) as “high-quality teaching, learning, and research materials that are free for people everywhere to use and repurpose.” In contrast to the restrictive copyright license tied to traditional course materials, authors of OER apply a “Creative Commons” (CC) license to their work that legally enforces free access and sharing. Similar to authors of traditionally copyrighted materials, credit is also given to authors of OER, with the added benefit that others may freely use, build upon, and enhance their work.

The full report and executive summary are now available on PERC’s Research Report site.

In addition to the PERC publication, ELPS PhD student and PERC research affiliate Elizabeth Spica recently presented on Best Practices and Institutional Models in textbook affordability during the June 2019 Textbook Affordability Summit hosted by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission in Nashville, TN.

ELPS, PERC, & CEL Honored at Big Orange Family Campaign Celebration

April 19, 2018 by Jonah Hall

ELPS, PERC, & CEL Honored at Big Orange Family Campaign Celebration

The Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, including the Postsecondary Education Research Center and the Center for Educational Leadership, were honored at the Big Orange Family Campaign Celebration for achieving 100 percent participation among its faculty and staff.

The Big Orange Family Campaign is an annual month long initiative to enhance philanthropy among faculty and staff. Last year, donations helped provide 6,148 undergraduate and graduate students with scholarships. This year the Big Orange Family Campaign reached 59.56% participation, a full 5.5% higher than the campus-wide goal of 54%.

April 2018 Promising Practice

April 3, 2018 by Jonah Hall

April 2018 Promising Practice

PERC publishes another Promising Practices for 2018 discussing results of results for Chattanooga State Community College’s “Focus on Completion.”

Promising Practices is an initiative sponsored by the Postsecondary Education Research Center (PERC) at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. The series highlights evidence-based practices promoting student success inclusive of access, persistence, retention, and postgraduate success.

PERC’s Graduate Student Receives First Grant

December 6, 2017 by Jonah Hall

PERC’s Graduate Student Receives First Grant

Gresham Collom, a graduate research assistant for PERC, receives his first grant with Faculty member Dorian McCoy from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. This Student/Faculty Research Award will help support student research and foster the mentor relationship between faculty and graduate students.

The project titled. “Stories to be Told: Life-Course Narratives of Previously Incarcerated Persons” will identify the need here at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville to support previously incarcerated individuals and also work towards breaking barriers to their enrollment through recruitment initiatives. Collom states. “By gathering rich, qualitative narratives from previously incarcerated person who have attended or wish to attend UTK, we hope to bring to light important stories which do no often get told.”

As a first year PhD student Collom is grateful for this opportunity and hopes everyone keeps an eye out for the results.