Skip to main content

Ernest L. Boyer:

Hope for Today’s Universities

Todd C. Ream, John M. Braxton (editors)

PublisherAmazon

Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Publish Date: January 2, 2016
Language: English
ISBN-10: 143845564X
ISBN-13: 978-1438455648

Such a marvelous tribute to Ernest Boyer is richly deserved and a long time coming. I can think of no one more instrumental in the advancement of education in our era, and the State University of New York was profoundly shaped by his leadership. This volume and its lessons will go a long way toward guiding and inspiring generations of teachers and administrators.

— Nancy L. Zimpher
Chancellor, The State University of New York

Having served as chancellor of the State University of New York, the United States commissioner of education, and president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Ernest L. Boyer (1928–1995) was one of the most prominent leaders in the history of American higher education. Arguably more aware of the challenges facing colleges and universities than any of his peers, the administrative decisions and the writings he left behind provide a wealth of possibilities for subsequent generations of administrators and faculty members. In this book noted higher education scholars examine some of the most pressing crises in higher education today, pairing their thoughts with relevant selections from Boyer’s important writings—some published here for the first time. The volume provides answers to questions perceived to be plaguing academe, while reintroducing readers to the optimistic and insightful wisdom of Ernest L. Boyer.

Table of Contents

Foreword

Shaping the Debate: A Reflection on Ernest L. Boyer’s Approach to Education Policy
Mary Taylor Huber

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Facing Not So New Realities
Todd C. Ream and John M. Braxton

1. The Financial Crisis
John J. Cheslock
Thinking About the Unthinkable: Tuition and Student Fees in Public Higher Education
Financing Higher Education: Reshaping National Priorities

2. General Education and the Quest for Purpose
Cynthia A. Wells
The Core of Learning
The Core Curriculum: A Critique of Uncriticized Assumptions
General Education: The Integrated Core

3. Leading Academic
David S. Guthrie
Leadership: A Clear and Vital Mission
Academic Leadership: Some Personal Reflections
Reflections on Higher Education in the 1980s
Rebirth of Leadership from the Ashes of Bureaucracy

4. (Re)Defining Scholarship
Claire Howell Major
Naumburg Memorial Lecture
The New American Scholar
Assessing Scholarship

5. Crisis in Student Community
Robert D. Reason, Ezekiel W. Kimball, and Jessica Bennett
Education 2000: New Wine, New Bottles
The Greatness of a University
The Educated Heart: The Social and Moral Imperatives of Education

6. Access to College is About Equality of Opportunity
Vasti Torres
Boyer Calls for Equity in Five-Point Strategy
Higher Education: Access and Excellence
Celebrating Diversity: Building Community
Foreword: History of Empire State College
Excellence and Equity

7. Which Public to Serve
Kelly Ward
Higher Education: Priorities for the Future
The Engaged Scholar

Conclusion: Inspiring Hope
Todd C. Ream and John M. Braxton

Afterword: Education for the Common Good
Marty Kaplan

Bibliography

Contributors

Index