This course provides an overview of how various types of two-year postsecondary institutions, primarily comprehensive community colleges, have evolved and how they function in the United States. Themes running through the course address policies, trends, issues and innovations influencing the evolution and current operation of community colleges from the 20th century to the present. Beginning with a brief history of community colleges, the course offers content dealing with foundations, governance and administration, curriculum, finance, faculty, students, and student outcomes. The course also offers a critical examination of community colleges that considers their position within the American secondary and postsecondary education systems. 7630 students will be held to higher standard

The financing of higher education in the United States is a longstanding public policy issue that invokes questions such as: Who should pay for higher education and how much? How equitable is higher education funding? and How do finance and budgeting policies influence students’ access to and success in college? The purpose of this course is to examine the landscape of higher education finance, finance policy, and budgeting and planning. The course will explore the following topics: higher education finance history and trends; the origins of finance challenges; institutional, state, and federal finance policies; the impacts of finance on educational quality, equity, accountability, and sustainability; state and institutional budgeting models; and strategic planning and budgeting. Some specific topics include: higher education price and cost structures; economic theories; state and federal financial aid; student loan and debt; free college proposals; sector-specific finance; performance-based funding and budgeting models; responsibility-centered management; and institutional financial planning

Discussion and practice of fundamental teaching methods. This class prepares individuals with the foundational pedagogical knowledge and skills to fulfill their teaching mission in an institution of higher education.

Social Justice is an awareness of structural or historical barriers that have precluded particular social identity groups from achieving in United States society. This course examines the role that K-12 and higher education has played in both providing and denying social justice to various groups and how leadership needs to address this for meaningful change.

Leaders in administrative positions in U.S. colleges and universities engage concepts and models from organizational theory, campus culture, and public policy to meet societal expectations for higher education. The purpose of this course is to explore theoretical concepts across these four areas (organizational theory, culture, policy, and leadership) to understand meaning and application for patterns, processes and problems in the 21st century higher education organization. Through engagement with case studies and leaders in higher education, students will focus on the connections between theory and practice within the governance of an institution.

This course will focus primarily on strategies and techniques for community college teaching.

This course supports an applied field experience in a college or university setting for deeper understanding of issues and topics in higher education administration. Through this on-site experience, students are experience supervision and interaction with leaders and administrators to enhance learning and explore the importance of scholarship to practice. The practicum provides students with an opportunity to network with administrators in their chosen field, enhances the transition from practitioner to leader, and facilitates the application of theory to the world of practice and leadership in higher education. The course serves as an opportunity to reflect on the experience, apply academic literature for key topics, and support students involved in negotiating a practicum experience.