Home > Institute Staff > Partners and Collaborators

Achieving the Dream (ATD): Partnered in multiple years by inviting Policy Center staff contributions to the annual ATD Strategies Institute, organized in association with the American Association of Community Colleges.

Alabama Association of Colleges: Co-sponsored a project to use the Policy Center’s
Guidelines for Evaluating the First-Year Experience in Alabama community colleges and sponsored two state-wide meetings to convene participating colleges, 2000. 

American Association of Community Colleges (AACC): Co-sponsored the recruitment of 88 community colleges to participate as reviewers for the development of two-year Foundational Dimensions, 2005.

American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU): Co-sponsored the recruitment of 124 regional, comprehensive public state colleges and universities to participate as reviewers for the development of four-year Foundational Dimensions; subsequently co-sponsored the Four-Year Founding Institutions pilot self study for 12 AASCU institutions; encouraged participation by AASCU members in Foundations of Excellence thereafter; and featured representation of the Policy Center on the agenda of multiple annual meetings for AASCU chief academic officers, 2003-2009.

Arkansas Association for Two-Year Colleges (AATYC): Co-sponsored a project to provide the Foundations of Excellence self study for four Arkansas community colleges, funded by the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation. This included a state-wide “Summit Meeting” to report results to two and four-year Arkansas campuses and a continuing partnership in launching of the Arkansas Student Success Annual Symposium, 2006 - 2009.

Association for Institutional Research (A.I.R.): Partnered to select AIR Fellows for participation in annual Policy Center First-Year Assessment Institutes, 2000-2002.

Campus Compact: Partnered with the Policy Center and Bentley College by designing a shared appointment for a distinguished faculty member, Dr. Edward Zlotkowski, who was an integral part of the development of the Foundational Dimensions and the Foundations evaluation process, 2003-2004.

Community College Baccalaureate Association (CCBA): Requested Policy Center advisory support to CCBA and its president, Dr. Kenneth Walker and delivery of a keynote address by John Gardner to annual CCBA conference, 2009.

Council of Independent Colleges (CIC): Co-sponsored recruitment of 95 private, liberal arts colleges to participate in the Foundations of Excellence Four-Year Founding Institution pilot cohort; subsequent co-sponsorship of the Four-Year Founding Institutions pilot self study process for 12 CIC colleges, 2003-2004.

Educational Benchmarking, Inc (EBI): Collaborated with the Policy Center to develop the “First-Year Initiative” (FYI) instrument, the only nationally available common assessment tool to measure students’ perceptions of first-year seminar effectiveness; partnered with the Policy Center to develop Foundations of Excellence processes and tools including the FoEtec® technology platform and faculty/staff and student surveys, 2002-2009.

Georgia Association of Independent Colleges: Co-sponsored a project to use the Policy Center’s Guidelines for Evaluating the First-Year Experience in member colleges and sponsorship of two state-wide meetings to convene participating colleges, 2000.

Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools: As an outgrowth of the Pew Forum on Undergraduate Education and the original Pew Charitable Trusts grants to both HLC and the Policy Center, the Commission partnered with the Policy Center by executing a memorandum of agreement whereby any of HLC’s approximately 1000 member institutions may, with the approval of HLC staff, take advantage of the Institute’s Foundations of Excellence self study process for voluntary comprehensive assessment and reaffirmation of accreditation. The HLC campus may use either of the Commission’s two approved routes to reaffirmation, the tradition “PEAQ” track or the more recent alternative, AQIP option, the Alternative Quality Improvement Process, 2003-2009.

League for Innovation in Community Colleges: Co-sponsored recruitment of 88 community colleges to participate in Foundations of Excellence Community College Founding Institution cohort, 2005.

Maryland Higher Education Commission: Partnered to co-sponsor Maryland Higher Education Retention Conference with support from USA Funds, 2005.

MELMAC Foundation of Maine: Partnered in the design and execution of two statewide potential grantee conferences, 2004, 2006.

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (MSA): Partnered in dissemination of Foundations of Excellence impact on member institutions in annual meetings, 2008 and 2009.

Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning and Mississippi Association of Colleges: Partnered to co-sponsor the Mississippi Higher Education Retention Conference with support from USA Funds, 2007.

North Carolina Association of Independent Colleges: Co-sponsored a project to use the Policy Center’s Guidelines for Evaluating the First-Year Experience in member colleges and sponsorship of two state-wide meetings to convene participating colleges, 2000.

National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS): Co-developed the Data Analysis Toolkit with the Policy Center. The Toolkit was developed by NCHEMS staff and subsequently co-marketed and distributed by NCHEMS and the National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition at the University of South Carolina, 2001-2002.

Indiana University’s Center for Postsecondary Research: Collaborated in the use of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) in the four-year Foundations of Excellence pilot self study, 2004.

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges (SACS): Partnered in the dissemination of the impact of Foundations of Excellence on member institutions in annual and summer assessment meetings, 2004-2009.

State Council of Higher Education for Virginia: Co-sponsored a project to use the Policy Center’s Guidelines for Evaluating the First-Year Experience in two- and four-year public colleges and universities and sponsorship of two state-wide meetings to convene participating colleges, 2000.

Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board: Partnered on multiple initiatives including two annual conferences on Recruitment and Retention (with support from USA Funds), a Transfer Student Success Summit meeting and a statewide Transfer Success Conference, 2006 - 2009.

The Pennsylvania State University Center for the Study of Higher Education: Collaborated with the Policy Center as co-developer of the Foundations of Excellence four-year Founding Institutions pilot and in the development of Foundational Dimensions, 2003 – 2004.

University of California Los Angeles Higher Education Research Institute (HERI): Co-developed with the Policy Center “Your First College Year” (YFCY), a post-test instrument to the annual CIRP Freshman Survey, 1999-2000.

University System of Georgia (USG): Partnered to co-sponsor a consortium of 16 USG two and four-year colleges to use the Policy Center developed Guidelines for Evaluating the First-Year Experience, 1999-2000.

University of South Carolina’s National Resource Center (NRC) for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition: Partnered in multiple activities that include but are not limited to: 

• Conference administration by the NRC for a number of Policy Center national meetings, including Institutes for Assessment, meetings for Chief Executive and Chief Academic Officers and for Academic Deans and Department Heads. 
• Production of national teleconference on Foundations of Excellence, broadcast to over 400 institutions, 2004. 
• Marketing and distribution of Policy Center produced publications. 

Western Association of Colleges and Schools (WASC): Partnered in the dissemination of Foundations of Excellence impact on member institutions in the annual meeting, 2008.