Dear Readers,
A multitude of federal laws were passed pertaining to the development of higher education. The number of public laws regarding higher education is equally overwhelming. Despite the fact that this galaxy relevant documents exists- I have documented some of which I believe to be the most significant. Rather than the acts themselves, I found the common themes of the decades to be more insightful. I also found the reaction to federal laws equally fascinating.
A general trend emerged through examining the relationship between the federal government, state government, and higher education institutions. After Sputnik- the federal government was the driving force behind the development of higher education institutions. Access to higher education was expanded as well by means of federal grants. The Higher Education Act of 1965 exemplifies this type of federal support. However, this resulted in what many consider the over-regulation of institutions. This issue arose most notably in the mid 1970s. Government grants were given to universities but with a flawed administrative system. These universities had lost a great deal of autonomy due to the fact that the funds granted to them by the federal government were geared towards specific programs. A bureaucracy emerged that overpowered the needs of particular universities. A significant shift emerged by 1980 when the state government- particularly the governor- became the central source of authority with respect to the regulation/funding of public universities.
This lack of federal support and bureaucracy increased the power of the university president. For example; Arizona State University President Russell Nelson had to compensate for this lack of federal support by making significant policy changes. A large part of that had to do with his capabilities as a leader. This represents the relationship of philanthropy to higher education in America as a whole. The foundations of public universities were built by private gifts that were either given by a single individual or organization. As the federal government invested itself- a bureaucracy resulted. Economic circumstances (especially in the 1980s) redeemed a more individualistic and local authority and influence.
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Bringing it All Together- Creative Philanthropy
Greetings Readers
Over the past few weeks I've been examining the various sources I've acquired which pertain to philanthropic history of each research university of focus. This has been a bitter-sweet process due to vast range of private funding each university has received. Funding not only goes to the universities themselves, but also towards specific areas of either curriculum or infrastructure. One of the key questions I had at the beginning of the semester was how philanthropy effected each major research university that Biz Ed will focus on. Through examining various private gifts and examining their effect on each university, I've found a multitude of names, organizations, effects, and financial figures. However, certain instances of philanthropic acts stand out as particularly innovative.
The Moorehead Foundation's impact on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill serves as a perfect example of how a moderate gift (monetarily speaking) can make a tremendous impact. John Motley Moorehead III headed the foundation and his primary mission was developing the institution in any way shape or form. Several of his donations lead to the physical growth of the university- including the construction of a planetarium in 1949. However, his most significant contribution was the development of the Moorehead Scholarship Program in 1951, which was the first undergraduate scholarship program (applicable to non-athletes) at a public institution. This program caused the university's enrollment figures to skyrocket, which transformed the campus and student body to an incredible degree.
Arizona State University was the very first public university to develop an honors college of its kind. Barrett College was innovative in that it had its own residence halls (in addition to its independent faculty, administration, and facilities). In essence it was a university within a university. It was founded by the then CEO of Intel Craig Barrett, who firmly believed that honors programs could only develop to their maxim if they had their own distinct cutting edge facilities and technology. A crucial aspect of this was the development of residence halls which exclusively held students that were enrolled in ASU's Barrett College. Barrett felt that having a common living space for the honors students would foster an environment of intellectual interaction. In order to actualize this idea- he engaged in a public-private partnership with the American Campus Communities organization. This was a bold move due to the fact that this 140 million dollar plan was developed in the mid 1980s during an economic recession. Barrett himself donated ten million dollars to the development of the honors college. The Barrett Honors College of Arizona State University was established in 1988 and was the largest and most sophisticated honors college of its time. To this day it remains a national standard.
These two instances epitomize how philanthropy can have a profound effect by creative thinking (rather than simply a certain sum of money). The Barrett College example illustrates a clear and definite sense of adaptability- an enormous sum of money was required to fund such a project and it was a resounding success. America was in the midst of a recession, and reshaping/creating a world renown institution that fosters intellectual progress epitomizes one of the key motives of philanthropy- progressing society.
Over the past few weeks I've been examining the various sources I've acquired which pertain to philanthropic history of each research university of focus. This has been a bitter-sweet process due to vast range of private funding each university has received. Funding not only goes to the universities themselves, but also towards specific areas of either curriculum or infrastructure. One of the key questions I had at the beginning of the semester was how philanthropy effected each major research university that Biz Ed will focus on. Through examining various private gifts and examining their effect on each university, I've found a multitude of names, organizations, effects, and financial figures. However, certain instances of philanthropic acts stand out as particularly innovative.
The Moorehead Foundation's impact on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill serves as a perfect example of how a moderate gift (monetarily speaking) can make a tremendous impact. John Motley Moorehead III headed the foundation and his primary mission was developing the institution in any way shape or form. Several of his donations lead to the physical growth of the university- including the construction of a planetarium in 1949. However, his most significant contribution was the development of the Moorehead Scholarship Program in 1951, which was the first undergraduate scholarship program (applicable to non-athletes) at a public institution. This program caused the university's enrollment figures to skyrocket, which transformed the campus and student body to an incredible degree.
Arizona State University was the very first public university to develop an honors college of its kind. Barrett College was innovative in that it had its own residence halls (in addition to its independent faculty, administration, and facilities). In essence it was a university within a university. It was founded by the then CEO of Intel Craig Barrett, who firmly believed that honors programs could only develop to their maxim if they had their own distinct cutting edge facilities and technology. A crucial aspect of this was the development of residence halls which exclusively held students that were enrolled in ASU's Barrett College. Barrett felt that having a common living space for the honors students would foster an environment of intellectual interaction. In order to actualize this idea- he engaged in a public-private partnership with the American Campus Communities organization. This was a bold move due to the fact that this 140 million dollar plan was developed in the mid 1980s during an economic recession. Barrett himself donated ten million dollars to the development of the honors college. The Barrett Honors College of Arizona State University was established in 1988 and was the largest and most sophisticated honors college of its time. To this day it remains a national standard.
These two instances epitomize how philanthropy can have a profound effect by creative thinking (rather than simply a certain sum of money). The Barrett College example illustrates a clear and definite sense of adaptability- an enormous sum of money was required to fund such a project and it was a resounding success. America was in the midst of a recession, and reshaping/creating a world renown institution that fosters intellectual progress epitomizes one of the key motives of philanthropy- progressing society.
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Dissertation Digging: Bittersweet
Dear Audience
Over the past few weeks I've been examining the footnotes of the various dissertations I've acquired. In doing so I have found a plethora of primary sources. However, accessibility is an issue in most cases because many primary sources are in the archives of each university that Biz Ed focuses on (including personal correspondence letters, administrative plans, autobiographies, etc..). This is rather irritating, but I documented these sources regardless. I also referred to the author's citations to understand what each primary document entails.
On a positive note- I've found a significant amount of secondary source literature through examining these footnotes. Most of these sources were accessible, despite the fact that nearly all of them pertain to the evolution of research universities as a whole. Many other sources pertain to the development of higher education in the United States as a whole.
Friday, March 29, 2013
3/23-3/29
The primary focus of this week was to continue on with the congressional hearings. This week went significantly more smoothly for two reasons; a useful shortcut I found and a nifty new database that I've been using.
I realized that using ProQuest Congressional would be much easier if I looked up a secondary source which discusses the legislative history of the federal government's role in funding higher education and simply enter the bills the source refers to into the ProQuest search engine. Though this seemed to be a good idea because nearly every time congress meets they do so to discuss a bill or amendment. But the database did not cooperate with every bill or amendment I entered into the search bar. However, I was able to refer to the date that the secondary sources noted for each bill/amendment and was able to find some manually by scrolling through the 2,500 hits that "higher education" lead me to after narrowing the search down to hearings. This is a rather inefficient way of searching though (not quite as inefficient as our current congress- but close).
My older brother is a law student and he suggested that I use the database that he uses (as well as other law students across the country). The database is called "WestLaw" and is superb. Not only is the search engine much more cooperative that either Lexus Nexis or ProQuest Congressional, WestLaw was also able to find the bills and amendments that ProQuest seemed to have difficulty with. The only drawback to this is that my brother lives in the suburbs and I live in Chicago. That being said- I was only able to use it once when he happened to be over at my apartment. Despite this inconvenience- both he and I will be back visiting with family over Easter weekend and I'll just have to get the most out of WestLaw as I can over the weekend (which should be a rather significant amount of work).
Overall I would say this week has been a success. I was not only able to adapt to the issues that the databases that Loyola offers- I was able to utilize a highly useful one that Loyola does not offer. I was also satisfied with my ability to think outside the box and use secondary sources to point me in the right direction with hearings. That may sound rather obvious but it as nice to see that it lead to a large amount of solid sources.
I realized that using ProQuest Congressional would be much easier if I looked up a secondary source which discusses the legislative history of the federal government's role in funding higher education and simply enter the bills the source refers to into the ProQuest search engine. Though this seemed to be a good idea because nearly every time congress meets they do so to discuss a bill or amendment. But the database did not cooperate with every bill or amendment I entered into the search bar. However, I was able to refer to the date that the secondary sources noted for each bill/amendment and was able to find some manually by scrolling through the 2,500 hits that "higher education" lead me to after narrowing the search down to hearings. This is a rather inefficient way of searching though (not quite as inefficient as our current congress- but close).
My older brother is a law student and he suggested that I use the database that he uses (as well as other law students across the country). The database is called "WestLaw" and is superb. Not only is the search engine much more cooperative that either Lexus Nexis or ProQuest Congressional, WestLaw was also able to find the bills and amendments that ProQuest seemed to have difficulty with. The only drawback to this is that my brother lives in the suburbs and I live in Chicago. That being said- I was only able to use it once when he happened to be over at my apartment. Despite this inconvenience- both he and I will be back visiting with family over Easter weekend and I'll just have to get the most out of WestLaw as I can over the weekend (which should be a rather significant amount of work).
Overall I would say this week has been a success. I was not only able to adapt to the issues that the databases that Loyola offers- I was able to utilize a highly useful one that Loyola does not offer. I was also satisfied with my ability to think outside the box and use secondary sources to point me in the right direction with hearings. That may sound rather obvious but it as nice to see that it lead to a large amount of solid sources.
Friday, March 22, 2013
Frustration Mixed with a Small Amount of Reward
So the two main objectives for this past week have been to gather more books and congressional hearings which pertain to the development of the research universities in focus and as a whole. The result was a mixed bag of frustration, reward, and undeniable progress (as slight as it may be).
This week started on a solid note- I was at home at my parents house in the suburbs due to a family obligation and decided to check out my local public library to see if they had any books that would fit the bill for my internship. Luckily enough I found four or five (I come from a rather small suburb- hence the word "luckily"). These books were a good foot in the door. I found much more success as Loyola's Lewis Library. I found several books there and I can simply return to that particular section of the library to find a ton of other sources. So far- all of the books I've gathered pertain to higher education as a whole and lack any specific relevance to the five research universities that BizEd will cover. I sense that I'll need a bit more direction in this regard, and plan to bring the issue to the table during my next meeting with Dr. Shermer.
Despite the fact that the books pertain to higher education (and research universities as a whole)- I've examined the footnotes of these books looking for any reference to government documents. This was my starting point for researching congressional hearings and was mildly successful. I was able to find some hearings immediately on ProQuest Congressional or Lexus Nexus and will need some further assistance in locating a few other handy sources I've found.
The frustrating part of this week 100% pertains to finding congressional hearings on my own by the use of the two previously mentioned databases. Not only does it bring back highly frustrating memories from last semester's research pertaining to my Freedom of Information Act term paper- it frustrates me in there here and now as well. The only success I've achieved through using these two databases came from entering a general term into the search bar ("university", "higher education", "postsecondary school"). The search engines for these databases are brutally inefficient and fail to make sense to me on a very basic level. For example, after typing in "Higher Education" and "Aid" in an advanced search, hearings about the AIDS virus came up (which obviously have no use to me because I was hoping to find articles pertaining to federal financial aid). Another good example would be when I typed "higher education" (nice and general) into the search bar and tried to narrow down the search results (which were overwhelming) to the years between 1945 and 1970. ProQuest responded by stating that zero results fit this specification. This is ridiculous because prior to be narrowing down the search in such a way I could clearly see that hearings were found between the years 1945 and 1970. Either I'm being incredibly dense (a possibility I wouldn't necessarily rule out because as well all know research is much harder when one is frustrated) or I'm misusing these databases somehow. I'm voting on the second possibility, and have scheduled another appointment with Jamie (the government documents librarian at the IC) to see if we can get to the bottom of this issue.
Other than the hearings grinding my gears this week has been rather smooth. I have a feeling that things will go much smoother once I find out why I'm having such trouble with these databases.
This week started on a solid note- I was at home at my parents house in the suburbs due to a family obligation and decided to check out my local public library to see if they had any books that would fit the bill for my internship. Luckily enough I found four or five (I come from a rather small suburb- hence the word "luckily"). These books were a good foot in the door. I found much more success as Loyola's Lewis Library. I found several books there and I can simply return to that particular section of the library to find a ton of other sources. So far- all of the books I've gathered pertain to higher education as a whole and lack any specific relevance to the five research universities that BizEd will cover. I sense that I'll need a bit more direction in this regard, and plan to bring the issue to the table during my next meeting with Dr. Shermer.
Despite the fact that the books pertain to higher education (and research universities as a whole)- I've examined the footnotes of these books looking for any reference to government documents. This was my starting point for researching congressional hearings and was mildly successful. I was able to find some hearings immediately on ProQuest Congressional or Lexus Nexus and will need some further assistance in locating a few other handy sources I've found.
The frustrating part of this week 100% pertains to finding congressional hearings on my own by the use of the two previously mentioned databases. Not only does it bring back highly frustrating memories from last semester's research pertaining to my Freedom of Information Act term paper- it frustrates me in there here and now as well. The only success I've achieved through using these two databases came from entering a general term into the search bar ("university", "higher education", "postsecondary school"). The search engines for these databases are brutally inefficient and fail to make sense to me on a very basic level. For example, after typing in "Higher Education" and "Aid" in an advanced search, hearings about the AIDS virus came up (which obviously have no use to me because I was hoping to find articles pertaining to federal financial aid). Another good example would be when I typed "higher education" (nice and general) into the search bar and tried to narrow down the search results (which were overwhelming) to the years between 1945 and 1970. ProQuest responded by stating that zero results fit this specification. This is ridiculous because prior to be narrowing down the search in such a way I could clearly see that hearings were found between the years 1945 and 1970. Either I'm being incredibly dense (a possibility I wouldn't necessarily rule out because as well all know research is much harder when one is frustrated) or I'm misusing these databases somehow. I'm voting on the second possibility, and have scheduled another appointment with Jamie (the government documents librarian at the IC) to see if we can get to the bottom of this issue.
Other than the hearings grinding my gears this week has been rather smooth. I have a feeling that things will go much smoother once I find out why I'm having such trouble with these databases.
Friday, March 15, 2013
3/9 - 3/15
This past week went rather smoothly. I continued to find more useful journal articles and dissertations pertaining to the development of research universities in the United States. Early in the week I felt a significant degree of frustration in regard to finding useful books. However, an important clarification was made after Dr. Shermer and I met on Tuesday afternoon. I had apparently been too specific in my pursuit of books, and my search results in Loyola's Pegasus and Worldcat databases evinced that. Last Tuesday I was advised to acquire books on the development of research universities in the United States rather than simply the development of the five particular universities that Dr. Shermer's book will focus on. This clearly made things significantly easier in regard to finding books.
I was also given a several "buzzwords" to use in order to locate relevant books more efficiently. Key historical figures, terms, authors, and the titles of books themselves were given as a starting point. Subsequently, I was advised to look at the footnotes in various books which I find to lead me to even more sources. By doing this, a seemingly infinite chain of sources will emerge and the amount of sources in the Zotero program will increase drastically. I have already gotten my hands on a few useful books and have begun this process- which I am rather excited about.
My several secondary sources of emphasize the G.I. Bill of Rights (formally known as the Serviceman's Readjustment Act of 1944) with respect to the growth of practically all American colleges and universities. The bill significantly increased the access opportunities of veterans by means of federal grants. These grants only somewhat assisted research universities due to the fact that those who received said grants could simply attend any college of their choice. In this respect, research universities were indirectly helped to a moderate degree.
I also began taking a deeper look into congressional hearings pertaining to the role of government (both on the federal and state level) in the development of research universities in the U.S. I particularly find the response to Sputnik fascinating due to the fact that it ignited federal aid to universities out of the concern that the USSR had superior educational institutions (particularly pertaining to math and science). In this respect- research universities were given special attention and expanded dramatically.
It appears that each week of this internship has become subsequently easier. I do not mean to use the term "easy" in a manner which implies that the research I am responsible for doing is free of frustrations or difficulties. By "easier" I meant clearer objectives, a more definite direction, and overall a greater familiarity with the programs and databases at my disposal. Though frustrations and roadblocks do seem to inevitably emerge- they are always triumphed.
I was also given a several "buzzwords" to use in order to locate relevant books more efficiently. Key historical figures, terms, authors, and the titles of books themselves were given as a starting point. Subsequently, I was advised to look at the footnotes in various books which I find to lead me to even more sources. By doing this, a seemingly infinite chain of sources will emerge and the amount of sources in the Zotero program will increase drastically. I have already gotten my hands on a few useful books and have begun this process- which I am rather excited about.
My several secondary sources of emphasize the G.I. Bill of Rights (formally known as the Serviceman's Readjustment Act of 1944) with respect to the growth of practically all American colleges and universities. The bill significantly increased the access opportunities of veterans by means of federal grants. These grants only somewhat assisted research universities due to the fact that those who received said grants could simply attend any college of their choice. In this respect, research universities were indirectly helped to a moderate degree.
I also began taking a deeper look into congressional hearings pertaining to the role of government (both on the federal and state level) in the development of research universities in the U.S. I particularly find the response to Sputnik fascinating due to the fact that it ignited federal aid to universities out of the concern that the USSR had superior educational institutions (particularly pertaining to math and science). In this respect- research universities were given special attention and expanded dramatically.
It appears that each week of this internship has become subsequently easier. I do not mean to use the term "easy" in a manner which implies that the research I am responsible for doing is free of frustrations or difficulties. By "easier" I meant clearer objectives, a more definite direction, and overall a greater familiarity with the programs and databases at my disposal. Though frustrations and roadblocks do seem to inevitably emerge- they are always triumphed.
Friday, March 8, 2013
3/4 to 3/8
This week was both exciting and frustrating. As with the previous weeks, the objective of this past week was to find more useful sources to categorize and enter into the Zotero program. I managed to find many more useful dissertations- which was actually quite joyful. I've gained a pretty solid familiarity with the Proquest database and I seem to always walk away from Proquest with (at least) a handful of new sources to put into Zotero. The only qualms that I have regarding the dissertations I've acquired is that some of them seem to be either too specific to one particular subject or (to the opposite) rather general. Regardless- I've entered anything that I felt "iffy" about into the program in the event that it does provide some benefit.
This week I also started searching for relevant journal articles. This experience had its ups and downs. Initially- I was having a blast. I was finding a handful of things pertaining to each of the five universities that BizEd focuses on. However, this joy was rather short-lived once I experienced some confusing moments with the America: History and Life database. For example- in the search bar I entered "Arizona State University" (in an advanced search) and entered "funding" into the subsequent search bar so that both terms would be searched simultaneously. This particular combination yielded zero results. This dumbfounded me because I find it hard to believe that zero articles exist pertaining to funding of Arizona State University. Despite these rather odd (and perplexing) roadblocks I encountered, I was eventually able to work with the database in such a way that lead me to some solid sources.
I also found some pretty useful books- which necessitated a trip to Loyola's Lewis Library. There is one book in particular that seems to be absolutely perfect for my field of research. I can't wait to get my hands on it once it comes in via inter-library loan.
When all is said and done- I would consider this week to be a success. It felt great to look up sources other than dissertations and I firmly believe that (like with the Proquest database) I will in time become more efficient with America: History and Life.
This week I also started searching for relevant journal articles. This experience had its ups and downs. Initially- I was having a blast. I was finding a handful of things pertaining to each of the five universities that BizEd focuses on. However, this joy was rather short-lived once I experienced some confusing moments with the America: History and Life database. For example- in the search bar I entered "Arizona State University" (in an advanced search) and entered "funding" into the subsequent search bar so that both terms would be searched simultaneously. This particular combination yielded zero results. This dumbfounded me because I find it hard to believe that zero articles exist pertaining to funding of Arizona State University. Despite these rather odd (and perplexing) roadblocks I encountered, I was eventually able to work with the database in such a way that lead me to some solid sources.
I also found some pretty useful books- which necessitated a trip to Loyola's Lewis Library. There is one book in particular that seems to be absolutely perfect for my field of research. I can't wait to get my hands on it once it comes in via inter-library loan.
When all is said and done- I would consider this week to be a success. It felt great to look up sources other than dissertations and I firmly believe that (like with the Proquest database) I will in time become more efficient with America: History and Life.
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
2/25/13-3/3/13 More Dissertations
Once again, the focus of this week was to keep finding, bookmarking, and plugging relevant dissertations into the Zotero program that Dr. Shermer and myself share the password to. As I said last week, this process keeps getting easier and easier with one exception. There is one university that I continuously have trouble finding solid dissertations about; Michigan State University. I feel like that university in particular requires the most time and attention. There are significantly more articles from the University of Michigan that have subject matters which are more relevant to the purposes of this internship- which is sort of frustrating.
Another thing that arose (which isn't necessarily a problem) is that certain universities seem to have dissertations about one particular topic more than any other topic. For example, I have discovered more dissertations about racial desegregation/ racial integration from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill than any other institution. To name another example- dissertations about infrastructure and administration are abundant with respect to The State University of New York. However, I should note that I have found dissertations under other categories (rather than one category simply dominating the dissertations from one particular university). I'm not sure if this is a "problem" because I think it's only natural that racism is the topic of a university that institutionalized racism for decades prior to the civil rights act (North Carolina at Chapel Hill) or if infrastructure/administration dissertations seem to be prominent about the first university to set up a network such as S.U.N.Y. However it would be nice to have a more well-rounded library and list of categories for each institution.
Another issue that came up during Dr. Shermer and I's meeting during this week was one of time management. She stole the words out of my mouth when expressed her disliking to the majority of my work being completed the day that we are scheduled to meet. I agreed with her on the spot and promised to fix that habit. I have made it a point to get some amount of work done on a daily basis- rather than "binging" with the work (despite the fact that I certainly am getting my hours in) on that particular due date. A part of me also contends that- though I do agree with what Dr. Shermer said for the most part- her statement may be a bit misleading. She grounded that statement on the records from our Zotero program which documents the time and day that each entry is submitted or altered. Just because Zotero shows that I plugged all of the information in to the program on the day that she and I were to meet does not mean that I found the articles and did the research on the day we met. Most of the time I'll look for articles, bookmark them, and then plug them in all at once so that I can sort of stay on a roll while finding things in the Proquest database.
Regardless- I do tend to save the majority of the work for a time that is indeed to close to the day we meet. In this respect she and I have indeed reached a concurrence and I absolutely will change that.
Another thing that was a bit irritating was that my Zotero account had been acting up at the end of last week. I plugged some sources into it and for some reason it wasn't syncing with the internet to upload them. Furthermore- they seemed to either not sync or sync erratically. I spoke to a friend who is a software engineer and he had heard of Zotero- he recommended that I uninstall the program and then reinstall it. This seemed to fix the problem.
Other than the few things that I had mentioned- things are going great! Its becoming clear that dissertations are becoming harder and harder to find- so for the time being I think I'm going to start hunting for books and journal articles (which should be fun).
Another thing that arose (which isn't necessarily a problem) is that certain universities seem to have dissertations about one particular topic more than any other topic. For example, I have discovered more dissertations about racial desegregation/ racial integration from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill than any other institution. To name another example- dissertations about infrastructure and administration are abundant with respect to The State University of New York. However, I should note that I have found dissertations under other categories (rather than one category simply dominating the dissertations from one particular university). I'm not sure if this is a "problem" because I think it's only natural that racism is the topic of a university that institutionalized racism for decades prior to the civil rights act (North Carolina at Chapel Hill) or if infrastructure/administration dissertations seem to be prominent about the first university to set up a network such as S.U.N.Y. However it would be nice to have a more well-rounded library and list of categories for each institution.
Another issue that came up during Dr. Shermer and I's meeting during this week was one of time management. She stole the words out of my mouth when expressed her disliking to the majority of my work being completed the day that we are scheduled to meet. I agreed with her on the spot and promised to fix that habit. I have made it a point to get some amount of work done on a daily basis- rather than "binging" with the work (despite the fact that I certainly am getting my hours in) on that particular due date. A part of me also contends that- though I do agree with what Dr. Shermer said for the most part- her statement may be a bit misleading. She grounded that statement on the records from our Zotero program which documents the time and day that each entry is submitted or altered. Just because Zotero shows that I plugged all of the information in to the program on the day that she and I were to meet does not mean that I found the articles and did the research on the day we met. Most of the time I'll look for articles, bookmark them, and then plug them in all at once so that I can sort of stay on a roll while finding things in the Proquest database.
Regardless- I do tend to save the majority of the work for a time that is indeed to close to the day we meet. In this respect she and I have indeed reached a concurrence and I absolutely will change that.
Another thing that was a bit irritating was that my Zotero account had been acting up at the end of last week. I plugged some sources into it and for some reason it wasn't syncing with the internet to upload them. Furthermore- they seemed to either not sync or sync erratically. I spoke to a friend who is a software engineer and he had heard of Zotero- he recommended that I uninstall the program and then reinstall it. This seemed to fix the problem.
Other than the few things that I had mentioned- things are going great! Its becoming clear that dissertations are becoming harder and harder to find- so for the time being I think I'm going to start hunting for books and journal articles (which should be fun).
Friday, February 22, 2013
The Wheels Are Rolling
This past week has been quite refreshing. I began to take a deeper look into the dissertations that Dr. Shermer had asked me to gather for her new book. Not only has the research began to intensify, but the cataloging process has as well. I gained a large degree of familiarity with the Zotero program- this program allows me to link up with Dr. Shermer to share a working bibliography (we share a username and password so that she can easily refer to the sources that I plug into the system).
I began to plug various sources into Zotero in the manner which I was instructed. As I started to put more and more material into Zotero, the process became significantly easier and more straight forward. Our meeting this week had the primary focus of ensuring that I was cataloging information correctly. After discussing such matters, it became clear that I had made two minor errors in my use of Zotero thus far. One pertained to where I was placing my summary of the source and the other pertaining to how I tagged each source.
I was asked to entail a short 3-4 sentence description of each source as I enter it into Zotero. This description would include the primary argument that the author is making and any necessary details to make the thesis more sensible. The mistake I made with Zotero was fairly simple- I accidentally put the summaries in the wrong spot. Instead of placing them under "notes", I placed them under "abstract". In order to remedy this I simply copy/pasted them into the appropriate place. The summaries themselves were fine.
The other issue (as I noted) pertained to the tagging process. In short, I made the tags too lengthy. If an article pertained to "administration", "finance", and "infrastructure", I tagged it was "administration/finance/infrastructure". By doing this I created a multitude of tags, rather that having several articles tagged under "finance" (for example). Fixing this was also quite quick and painless.
It makes me quite happy that these two small errors were the only issues with my research thus far. I must say that cataloging these sources did take a bit longer than anticipated- but much of that just had to do me gaining a greater sense of familiarity with the database. As I cataloged more and more, this process became much easier. All things considered things have been going quite well.
Saturday, February 9, 2013
A Foot in the Door: Dissertations and An General Narrative
Dear followers,
This past week has been rather productive. My primary mission was to use the Proquest database to find as many useful dissertations as possible. While hunting for these dissertations, I tried to zone in on the titles of which seemed to be most relevant to the topic of Dr. Shermer's book "Biz Ed". I came across roughly 20 or so dissertations that pertained to each of the five universities that the book will be focusing on as well as research universities as a whole. These sources focused on the development of libraries and curriculum, financial flexibility, physical expansion, administration, and student movements.
One thing that I should note is that I did experience a rather large amount of frustration (once again) with ProQuest while searching for relevant dissertations. The most frustrating would be searching for articles relevant to the State University of New York. This frustration eased once I started using the shorthand names for the schools- such as SUNY (State University of New York) and ASU (Arizona State University). This yielded more relevant sources.
Another thing that brought some frustration was the Zotero website of which Dr. Shermer and I will be building the library with. Due to this frustration, I printed out the bibliographic information of the dissertations I found and brought in the hard copy to her office. After a simple walk-through of how to use Zotero, this problem has now been resolved.
I also gained a basic understanding of the origins of philanthropy in regard to its relationship to research universities.
Philanthropy also proved to be instrumental to the development of institutions of higher education during the Early National Period (1776-1865). Certain gifts appear to be rather daring during this time period as well. For example- Oberlin College was given a philanthropic gift directed towards fellowships under the condition that African-Americans and whites were to given equal treatment at the university. This happened in 1837- which is remarkable. It illustrates the influence of philanthropy due to the fact that it defied such a significant social norm of the time. It was also during this time that philanthropic gifts became far more significant (monetarily speaking) because donors began giving upwards to six or seven figures. These enormous gifts were capable of establishing entire institutions from the ground up. In essence- the goal of these donors was to make a difference to society.
The Late National Period (1865-1917) is widely known as "The Progressive Era". The core belief of the time period was that the human condition can be improved and society can be improved through the actions of those with the power to do. This is highly important due to the fact that it ties in with another significant notion of the time, which was that higher education institutions should not only advance knowledge but should also preserve it to the next generation. This era is recognized by historians as the birth of modern American philanthropy due a highly significant development: the involvement of the state with higher education institutions. Research universities were born during the late 1800s both due to the development of science and business in curriculum of universities as well as industrialization.
I also gained a basic understanding of the origins of philanthropy in regard to its relationship to research universities.
Philanthropy also proved to be instrumental to the development of institutions of higher education during the Early National Period (1776-1865). Certain gifts appear to be rather daring during this time period as well. For example- Oberlin College was given a philanthropic gift directed towards fellowships under the condition that African-Americans and whites were to given equal treatment at the university. This happened in 1837- which is remarkable. It illustrates the influence of philanthropy due to the fact that it defied such a significant social norm of the time. It was also during this time that philanthropic gifts became far more significant (monetarily speaking) because donors began giving upwards to six or seven figures. These enormous gifts were capable of establishing entire institutions from the ground up. In essence- the goal of these donors was to make a difference to society.
The Late National Period (1865-1917) is widely known as "The Progressive Era". The core belief of the time period was that the human condition can be improved and society can be improved through the actions of those with the power to do. This is highly important due to the fact that it ties in with another significant notion of the time, which was that higher education institutions should not only advance knowledge but should also preserve it to the next generation. This era is recognized by historians as the birth of modern American philanthropy due a highly significant development: the involvement of the state with higher education institutions. Research universities were born during the late 1800s both due to the development of science and business in curriculum of universities as well as industrialization.
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Week Two
Week Two
The primary focus of this past week has been to familiarize myself with various research databases. Proquest is the database that I will be using to examine and categorize graduate level dissertations. In order to get a hang of how to use Proquest, Dr. Shermer assigned a preliminary exercise that entailed finding one dissertation from each of the five universities that the her upcoming book will focus on. Despite the fact that on paper this process appeared to be rather straightforward, I found myself becoming quite frustrated with ProQuest after my first several attempts. After about an hour of messing with several search options I noticed a few tricks that made the process rather quick and painless. I then received instructions pertaining to how these sources should be categorized in regard to the time period in which they were written as well as which subjects they pertain to.
I also scheduled an appointment with a research librarian so that I may become more familiar with various databases pertaining to government documents (specifically congressional hearings). I was given some pointers on how to use the database Lexis Nexis more efficiently. This was a relieving experience because this database caused a huge degree of frustration last semester because its search engine is brutally inefficient. I was shown a few helpful shortcuts that make using the search engine much easier. I was also informed that there is a research librarian at the library who specializes in government documents. I then set up an appointment with him and met with him today. He then showed me how to use Proquest and the gpo.com website to research government documents online. He provided me with a database that is useful for finding government documents in print.
This week was extremely significant due to the fact that I was taught how to use the various tools of which will be vital for the majority of my duties during this internship. I have learned over the years that research databases can be irritating and sometimes all it takes is a little help from someone who knows how to work around practically any issue I may encounter. Now I feel comfortable and confident that getting the ball rolling with this experience should go smoothly, and its reassuring to clearly see that help is available if it seems to not be going so smoothly.
The primary focus of this past week has been to familiarize myself with various research databases. Proquest is the database that I will be using to examine and categorize graduate level dissertations. In order to get a hang of how to use Proquest, Dr. Shermer assigned a preliminary exercise that entailed finding one dissertation from each of the five universities that the her upcoming book will focus on. Despite the fact that on paper this process appeared to be rather straightforward, I found myself becoming quite frustrated with ProQuest after my first several attempts. After about an hour of messing with several search options I noticed a few tricks that made the process rather quick and painless. I then received instructions pertaining to how these sources should be categorized in regard to the time period in which they were written as well as which subjects they pertain to.
I also scheduled an appointment with a research librarian so that I may become more familiar with various databases pertaining to government documents (specifically congressional hearings). I was given some pointers on how to use the database Lexis Nexis more efficiently. This was a relieving experience because this database caused a huge degree of frustration last semester because its search engine is brutally inefficient. I was shown a few helpful shortcuts that make using the search engine much easier. I was also informed that there is a research librarian at the library who specializes in government documents. I then set up an appointment with him and met with him today. He then showed me how to use Proquest and the gpo.com website to research government documents online. He provided me with a database that is useful for finding government documents in print.
This week was extremely significant due to the fact that I was taught how to use the various tools of which will be vital for the majority of my duties during this internship. I have learned over the years that research databases can be irritating and sometimes all it takes is a little help from someone who knows how to work around practically any issue I may encounter. Now I feel comfortable and confident that getting the ball rolling with this experience should go smoothly, and its reassuring to clearly see that help is available if it seems to not be going so smoothly.
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Introduction and Research Objectives
Hey Guys
My name is Joseph Kalina and am a research assistant for Dr.Shermer of Loyola University Chicago. Much of my internship will consist of secondary source reconnaissance for a new book of Dr.Shermer's. The focus of the book is the influence of private funding and business in public, research-intensive universities. I will be assisting in the construction of bibliographies by locating relevant secondary sources and categorizing their subject matter by the focus of the study focus (integration, expansion, science, etc).
The objective of this internship is to fulfill a dual focus. I will be both aiding Professor Shermer by acquiring and categorizing sources of which she may find useful as well as improving my own abilities in the field of research. The larger picture is that this internship will provide an opportunity for me to gain more hands-on experience in the historical and academic realm which will undoubtedly be useful for my future endeavors.
This internship experience has three overarching objectives. One objective is to familiarize myself with various methods of research to find the sources I am keen to acquire. Secondly, I will summarize and categorize them in alignment with the specifications set by Dr. Shermer. Lastly, I will strive to answer the following questions:
1) How has private funding effected research universities? (while specifically examining the State University of New York, Arizona State University, Michigan State University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and University of California at San Diego).
2) How has the impact and degree of funding from the state/federal level compare to the impact of private funding?
Lets find out.
My name is Joseph Kalina and am a research assistant for Dr.Shermer of Loyola University Chicago. Much of my internship will consist of secondary source reconnaissance for a new book of Dr.Shermer's. The focus of the book is the influence of private funding and business in public, research-intensive universities. I will be assisting in the construction of bibliographies by locating relevant secondary sources and categorizing their subject matter by the focus of the study focus (integration, expansion, science, etc).
The objective of this internship is to fulfill a dual focus. I will be both aiding Professor Shermer by acquiring and categorizing sources of which she may find useful as well as improving my own abilities in the field of research. The larger picture is that this internship will provide an opportunity for me to gain more hands-on experience in the historical and academic realm which will undoubtedly be useful for my future endeavors.
This internship experience has three overarching objectives. One objective is to familiarize myself with various methods of research to find the sources I am keen to acquire. Secondly, I will summarize and categorize them in alignment with the specifications set by Dr. Shermer. Lastly, I will strive to answer the following questions:
1) How has private funding effected research universities? (while specifically examining the State University of New York, Arizona State University, Michigan State University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and University of California at San Diego).
2) How has the impact and degree of funding from the state/federal level compare to the impact of private funding?
Lets find out.
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