This monograph is an idea book for two-year institutions thinking of adding an honors program to their list of academic offerings, and as such aspires to provide a useful description of the many options available to honors education for the several audiences who, as a matter of course, may become stakeholders in the operation of a two-year college honors program. Beyond their need for initial suggestions about starting a successful honors program at their home institutions, readers may consider the author's full and various descriptions as an invitation to lift their eyes toward the horizon, to envision a full program that will truly serve the needs of the institution. This work also acquaints the audience with a selection of key examples that will aid an embryonic program in the sometimes onerous birthing process. The handbook includes several appendices that list some useful research about honors, including a sample honors retreat and model honors contracts. The following are appended: (1) Basic Characteristics of a Fully Developed Honors Program; (2) Basic Characteristics of a Fully Developed Honors College; (3) NCHC Publications, Monographs, and Resources; (4) Sample Honors Retreat by Eddie Weller, San Jacinto College, South Campus; (5) Sample Contracts (excerpted from "A 'Sampler' of Honors Contracts," edited by Roy Colquitt for the Two-Year College Committee, 1999); and (6) Bibliography.

Everything an honors administrator needs to know, including a description of some models of honors administration.

Praise for the Previous Edition of The American Community College "Projecting the future for the community colleges of the early twenty-first century involves projecting the future for the nation in general: its demographics, economy, and public attitudes.... At heart is a discourse on how the institutions may adapt historical structures and practices to a changing world, and how those changes may ultimately affect students, the community, and society at large." —from the Conclusion, "Toward the Future" "Since 1982, The American Community College by Cohen and Brawer has been the authoritative book on community colleges. Anyone who wants to understand these complex and dynamic institutions—how they are evolving, the contributions they make, the challenges they face, the students they serve, and the faculty and leaders who deliver the services and the curricula—will find The American Community College both essential reading and an important reference book." —George R. Boggs, former president and CEO, American Association of Community Colleges "I have been a community college president for over forty-one years and a graduate professor for three decades. This book has been an inspiration to generations of students, faculty members, and administrators. It has become the classic of the field because it has great 'take-home' value to us all." —Joseph N. Hankin, president, Westchester Community College "Cohen and Brawer's classic work is the touchstone for a comprehensive overview of the American community college. This is a seminal book for graduate students as well as seasoned professionals for understanding this uniquely American institution." —Charles R. Dassance, former president, Central Florida Community College

Online education continues to permeate mainstream teaching techniques in higher education settings. Teaching upper-level classes in an online setting is having a major impact on education as a whole and is fundamentally altering global learning. Cases on Critical and Qualitative Perspectives in Online Higher Education offers a collection of informal, personalized articles that identify, describe, and examine actual experiential domains of online program and course production. Administrators, developers, instructors, staff, technical support, and students in the field of online higher education will benefit from these case studies to reinforce and enhance their work.

This monograph presents in some detail the ways in which Faculty Institutes--professional development opportunities where instructors immerse themselves in site-specific learning activities exactly as students would, though only for several days--allow participants to acquire the skill to design such adventures elsewhere for their own students. Participants undergo the stress that students feel in radically unfamiliar territory, but equally they experience the exhilaration students exhibit when they see patterns emerge from a dizzying array of fresh stimuli. Integrative thinking and connected knowing are energizing and provocative. Following the Acknowledgments, a Foreword by Bernice Braid, Semesters Institute Facilitators, 2007-2008 Honors Semester Committee Members, and Introduction: (1) Introduction to City as Text" and Overview of Contents; and (2) You're not Typical Professors, Are You? (Joy Ochs), the following chapters and papers are included: Chapter 1: Campus as Text: (3) Place as Text: Town and Gown (Anita R. Guynn); (4) From Cigarette Butts to the "Stacks" and Beyond (Mary Lou Pfeiffer); and (5) Campus as Text: a Faculty Workshop (Joy Ochs). Chapter 2: Local Neighborhoods: (6) The Lower Ninth Ward: First Impressions, Final Realizations, Future Plans (Janice Allen); and (7) Little Haiti as Text (Peter A. Machonis). Chapter 3: Travel Courses: (8) Adapting an Honors Pedagogy to a General Studies Travel Course (Joy Ochs); and (9) The Adopt-a-Village Project (Rick Ostrander). Chapter 4: Science Related Applications: (10) Turning Over a New Leaf (Devon L. Graham); and (11) Gourmet to Galapagos: Experiential Learning in the Sciences (Kevin E. Bonine). Chapter 5: "Mythos, Logos, Ethos" Writing Exercise: (12) Crete Faculty Institute: A Change in Pedagogical Style (Kathy A. Lyon); (13) Crossroads and Beyond (John Kandl); and (14) Do You Get the Blues? (Stephen J. Nichols). Chapter 6: Philosophical and Practical Considerations: (15) Platonic Thoughts on the Frustrations of Experiential Learning and Teaching: Reflections after the New Orleans Discovery and Recovery Institute (Alen W. Grose); and (16) Experiential Learning and City as Text": Reflections on Kolb and Kolb (Robert Strikwerda). The following are appended: (1) NCHC Faculty Institutes from 1998 to 2007; (2) Template for Institute Design; (3) How to Organize City as Text"; (4) City as Text" Strategies: Mapping, Observing, Listening, Reflecting; and (5) Written Assignments. An about the authors section is included. (Individual papers contains references.) [For the companion piece, "Place as Text: Approaches to Active Learning. 2nd Edition. National Collegiate Honors Council Monograph Series," see ED566722.].