How Universities Work: Reading

How Universities Work
Fall 2018
UMass Amherst

Reading List by Week and Topic

This is an eclectic selected reading list. Items appear here because they are of interest to our understanding of issues associated with the how universities work. Inclusion, however, does not necessarily imply endorsement of perspectives or accuracy. Some items are included to illustrate approaches or analyses that seem flawed or misguided. Others are included because they appear wise, well documented, and helpful. The list also illustrates the recurrence of similar topics over time and the repetition of topics by different publications. Items included here often illustrate the changing fashions, opinions, and concerns of everyone interested in colleges and universities. This list does not include books, although there are many good books on higher education topics. Most are not available online to university students without charge.

There is a lot of information here covering mostly items from 2000 onward although a number of earlier items appears to illustrating continuing themes. Most people will not read all of this, but the range of interests reflected in these readings highlights the importance of American higher education to a very wide range of people and its anticipated relevance to many national and international issues.

Many items in this list are available only to students, faculty, and staff of universities that have subscriptions to the journals or other services that supply material. Other items are in the public domain. The class password is unique to this class and changes each semester to limit access to subscription materials to those appropriately enrolled or part of the university community. Items appear in this list, organized by the large topics of the course, and then within subsections by year, with the oldest first. All links have been checked (8/2018), but as some may change without notice, please advise us of any links that do not appear to work.

Week	Topic
Week 1	Introduction to the Course: The University General Mission Statements
Week 2	The University and Its Critics General
Week 3	Types and Characteristics of Universities General University Characteristics Associations University Ranking
Week 4	Teaching General The Curriculum College and University Examples Distance Education Benefit of a College Education
Week 5	Research General Science and Engineering Publication Humanities Libraries Science and Engineering Publication Humanities Libraries
Week 6	Faculty Careers General Gender Issues Promotion and Tenure Faculty Handbooks Part Time Faculty
Week 7	Financial Structure of Universities Tuition, Fees, Student Charges Revenue, Expenses, Funding Issues Institutions in Trouble University Examples
Week 8	Budget Systems General Responsibilility Centered Management Performance Budget Management
Week 9	Measurement Institutional Unit Students
Week 10	Measuring Quality General Teaching Student Life
Week 11	Improvement General
Week 12	Support Services and Special Units Land Grant Medicine Sports Fundraising
Week 13	Competition, Regulation, and Governance General Research Competition Regulation Accreditation Student Competition Governance