Research in Higher Education Archives - Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

New Works Explore Challenges and Future of Fraternities and Sororities

August 4, 2020 by Jonah Hall

New Works Explore Challenges and Future of Fraternities and Sororities

ELPS Professor Patrick Biddix’s latest co-edited volumes explore conversations about the challenges and future of fraternities and sororities.

Foundations, Research, and Assessment of Fraternities and Sororities (2019) features continuing conversations about the challenges facing fraternities and sororities on campuses across the country. Faculty, administrators, and alumni/ae will find inspiration as higher education scholars and practitioners that examine the past and future constructs of fraternity and sorority institutions. The volume opens with a historical section on the origins of fraternities and sororities, then moves to examine values, legal issues, and research before concluding with an overview of fraternity/sorority scholarship that includes profiles of large, national benchmark surveys.

“As higher education professionals seek to build leaders and programs that align with institutional values, this text provides thoughtful study and practical assessment of the fraternity and sorority experience.”

-Kathryn Cavins-Tull, Texas Christian University Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs

Biddix’s second volume, Supporting Fraternities and Sororities in the Contemporary Era (2019), follows conversations and scholarship suggesting that not just change is necessary, but that there ought to be a fundamental reconceptualization of the fraternity and sorority construct.

“The authors’ focus on collaboration between campus based and Headquarters based fraternity and sorority professionals adds an important new perspective to the administration of fraternity and sorority affairs.”

Charles G. Eberly, PhD, Emeritus Professor of Counseling and Higher Education, Eastern Illinois University

Including summaries of national organizations from authentic, represented voices, chapters in Supporting Fraternities and Sororities in the Contemporary Era focus on solutions to support the fraternity and sorority experience and provide strategies and emerging explanations for the issues described in this text.

Both titles are available online via Myers Education Press.

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.

Ishitani and Flood Published in Research in Higher Education Journal

October 23, 2018 by Jonah Hall

Ishitani and Flood Published in Research in Higher Education Journal

Congratulations to Dr. Terry Ishitani, Associate Professor of Higher Education, and Lee D. Flood, Higher Education PhD student, whose article “Student Transfer-Out Behavior at Four-Year Institutions” is listed first in the November 2018 issue of Research in Higher Education, one of the leading journals in the Higher Education field.