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Becoming Great Universities: Small Steps for Sustained Excellence
How campus communities of every kind can transform themselves from good to great
Becoming Great Universities highlights ten core challenges that all colleges and universities face and offers practical steps that everyone on campus―from presidents to first-year undergraduates―can take to enhance student life and learning.
This incisive book, written in a friendly and engaging style, draws on conversations with presidents, deans, and staff at hundreds of campuses across the country as well as scores of in-depth interviews with students and faculty. Providing suggestions that all members of a campus community can implement, Richard Light and Allison Jegla cover topics such as how to build a culture of innovation on campus, how to improve learning outcomes through experimentation, how to help students from under-resourced high schools succeed in college, and how to attract students from rural areas who may not be considering colleges far from their communities. They offer concrete ways to facilitate constructive interactions among students from different backgrounds, create opportunities for lifelong learning and engagement, and inspire students to think globally. And most of the ideas presented in this book can be implemented at little to no cost.
Featuring a wealth of evidence-based examples, Becoming Great Universities offers actionable suggestions for everyone to have a positive impact on college life regardless of whether their campus is urban or rural, private or public, large or small, wealthy or not.
Becoming Great Universities highlights ten core challenges that all colleges and universities face and offers practical steps that everyone on campus―from presidents to first-year undergraduates―can take to enhance student life and learning.
This incisive book, written in a friendly and engaging style, draws on conversations with presidents, deans, and staff at hundreds of campuses across the country as well as scores of in-depth interviews with students and faculty. Providing suggestions that all members of a campus community can implement, Richard Light and Allison Jegla cover topics such as how to build a culture of innovation on campus, how to improve learning outcomes through experimentation, how to help students from under-resourced high schools succeed in college, and how to attract students from rural areas who may not be considering colleges far from their communities. They offer concrete ways to facilitate constructive interactions among students from different backgrounds, create opportunities for lifelong learning and engagement, and inspire students to think globally. And most of the ideas presented in this book can be implemented at little to no cost.
Featuring a wealth of evidence-based examples, Becoming Great Universities offers actionable suggestions for everyone to have a positive impact on college life regardless of whether their campus is urban or rural, private or public, large or small, wealthy or not.
256 pages, Hardcover
Published May 3, 2022
9 people are currently reading
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 19, 2025
it's all right for what it is.
July 31, 2023
Practical, interesting ideas. The book lives up to its subtitle, "Small steps for sustained excellence." I appreciated its emphasis on the centrality of the liberal arts and its effort to promote global thinking, especially highlighting the importance of foreign language requirements and study abroad opportunities.
April 6, 2023
There are some decent, low-cost ideas that can improve retention and innovation in this book.
May 21, 2023
Great ideas for higher education institutions!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews