Return
to CSHPE ResearchHigher Education Center Leads Through Research + Action
A University of Michigan center long recognized for excellence in academic circles
was recently thrust into
the consciousness of the media, the public, the U.S.
Supreme Court, and national policymakers.
The Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education (CSHPE) has produced influential research and nurtured higher education leaders for nearly five decades. Research by faculty members and students at CSHPE was critical to the University of Michigan’s affirmative action case, recently argued before the Supreme Court. Central to UM’s argument: studies done by CSHPE faculty members Eric Dey and Sylvia Hurtado, who found that diverse environments lead to better education for students.
“Most of us operate on the basis of what we already know, and we need to be placed in an environment that challenges our theories and assumptions in order to learn,” said Eric Dey, CSHPE professor and associate dean for the School of Education. “Diversity is more than just a social or moral good. It has educational value.” Researchers at the University of Michigan began studying the experiences of minorities in higher education as early as the 1970s.
This kind of research has kept CSHPE at the forefront of higher education scholarship. Founded in 1957 with a grant from the Carnegie Foundation, CSHPE is now supported with funding from the School of Education, supplemented by governmental and private sources. The School of Education’s graduate programs in higher education are administered by the Center. Graduates of the program take faculty positions, conduct research on higher education issues, serve as university administrators, and hold key positions in the organizations and agencies that help to shape higher education.
A review of CSHPE’s alumni database on the center’s 40th anniversary in 1997 found that more than 70 CSHPE-associated alumni or post-doctoral scholars were serving as college or university presidents. CSHPE faculty members have frequently held top positions in organizations such as the Society for College and University Planning and the Association for the Study of Higher Education.
“We also probably have more people in faculty positions in higher education programs around the country than any other program,” said Marvin Peterson, CSHPE professor.
“When we talk about leadership here, part of it is about educating students
so they can provide effective leadership through these positions,” said
Patricia
King, director of CSHPE. “As faculty, we aspire to educate not
just leaders, but leaders who make a difference. Similarly, we hope to inspire
our graduates to conduct meaningful research that results in the improvement
of higher education.”
For Antonio Flores, a reputation for excellence, a strong faculty and a willingness to provide support that made it financially possible for him to get his degree made the program a perfect match. Flores, president of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU), received his doctorate in 1990.
“I feel like I just learned so much, not only from the coursework, but from the interaction with peers and the campus environment in general,” he said.
Flores, who was born in Mexico, moved to the United States in 1972. He soon was working with first-generation college students at Hope College in Holland, Michigan. He soon realized that he wanted to help bring about fundamental changes in higher education.
“It dawned on me that to do that, I had to go into the study of higher education in a very systematic way,” he said. Flores considered programs at the University of Pennsylvania, Stanford and the University of California at Los Angeles before deciding on Michigan. At HACU, he heads an organization with 359 member institutions, providing leadership training to college and university administrators and scholarships and internships to students. The organization also advocates with Congress and the federal government for support of the institutions it serves.
The Center’s strong history is what drew Heather Wathington to Michigan
when she decided to get a Ph.D. after earning a master’s degree in educational
policy and administration.
Wathington, who graduated in December, has spent nearly two years as the diversity, equity and global initiatives officer at the American Association of Colleges and Universities. She works with 900 member organizations on issues of diversity, ranging from improving their campus climates to enhancing student access. In January, she will join the Lumina Foundation in Indianapolis, Indiana. As a senior research officer, she will direct studies and manage a grants portfolio. The foundation focuses on broadening access to higher education, improving the success of people once they are in college or graduate school, and responding to the needs of adult learners.
“The research skills I obtained during my years at CSHPE set me up well to be able to work at a national organization.” Wathington said. “The University of Michigan is a place that is committed to understanding higher education.”
