Education Policy Seminars bring noted scholars from across the country to Meigs Hall, where they share the latest research, policy and ideas in higher education with IHE faculty and students. Seminar participants include faculty, graduate students, administrators, and policy experts who come from a variety of disciplines and backgrounds. Speakers come from colleges and universities across the country as well as research and policy centers and government agencies connected to education policy issues at all levels. IHE welcomed the following speakers during 2013-2014: EDUARDO ALI “How do Universities from Developing Countries Contend with Externalities Informing Transformational Change?” May 15, 2014 Ali is program manager for institutional effectiveness in the Office of the Campus Principal at The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, where he coordinates the campus’ quality management system, manages the Service Excellence Framework, coordinates continuous quality improvement, and facilitates the campus’ accreditation system. Ali also facilitates many other regional initiatives as chairman and president of the Caribbean Agency for Higher Education Development, former vice-president of the Caribbean Area Network for Quality Assurance in Tertiary Education and president of the University of Sheffield Caribbean Alumni, Research and Education Network. Ali discussed challenging issues surrounding higher education and globalization by using the concept of World Class Universities and the emergence of “enterprise universities.” He related this to the policies and strategies of higher education institutional/program accreditation and their impact on transformational changes within the Caribbean region. WILL DOYLE “Does Losing Need-Based Financial Aid Cause College Students to Drop Out? An Application of the Regression-Discontinuity Design” Nov. 22, 2013 Doyle is associate professor of higher education and public policy coordinator of the Higher Education Leadership Program in the Department of Leadership, Policy, and Organizations at Peabody College of Vanderbilt University. He holds a doctorate in higher education from Stanford University. Prior to coming to Vanderbilt, he held the position of senior policy analyst at the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. Doyle’s work investigates the antecedents and outcomes of higher education policy at the state and federal level, and uses theoretical and methodological insights from political science to better understand both higher education politics and policy. His recent work includes an event history analysis of the adoption of merit aid programs in the American states and a study on the political economy of state appropriations to higher education. JANE WELLMAN "The Broken Cost Model’ in Higher Education: What that Means, What Might be Done About It" Jan. 16, 2014 Wellman is an independent policy analyst specializing in public policy and postsecondary education in the United States. She is an expert in state and federal policy for higher education, with particular expertise in changing finances, cost analysis and cost management, institutional governance and change management. She currently directs the work of the Association of Governing Board’s National Commission on Higher Education Governance, is a senior regional advisor for the Western States (California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington) for the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, and consults with the National Association of System Heads (NASH), an organization focused on the unique challenges and opportunities facing public multi-campus systems. Wellman received Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees from the University of California at Berkeley, and resides in the Washington, D.C. area. MEIHUA ZHAI “From Data to BI: Will Numbers Become Problems When we Use Them for Decision-making Support?” March 21, 2014 Zhai serves as the director of Institutional Research at the University of Georgia. Prior to joining UGA, she served as the director of Data Resources and Institutional Research for the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA). In this role, she assisted in the design and development of the country’s first data warehouse regarding public affairs education which provides useful information for potential public policy and administration students, employers, policymakers, and graduate schools. Zhai has also served as the director of Research & Policy Analysis at the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA). Type of News/Audience: 2014 IHE Report
