Institute of Higher Education
In 1964, the Institute of Higher Education was founded by Georgia higher education officials and policymakers to address the academic and operational challenges facing colleges and universities across the state and region. Today, 50 years later,​ the Institute is nationally and internationally recognized for its enduring commitment to offering advanced education and training, research and professional services for college and university leaders.
PRESIDENT’S LETTER
Jere Morehead I
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am very pleased to extend my congratulations and best wishes to the Institute of Higher Education as it celebrates its 50th Anniversary. Since its founding in 1964, the Institute has served as a catalyst for change in numerous ways, working in collaboration with institutions, agencies, and nonprofit organizations to improve quality, access and affordability in colleges and universities across Georgia and beyond. From its beginning, the Institute has been involved in providing professional development. The Faculty Development in Georgia (FDIG) program, established in 1964, has served more than 240 individuals and continues to help increase the educational level and quality of college-level teachers across the state. Similarly, since its inception in 1995, the Governor’s Teaching Fellows program has provided continuing education for approximately 500 faculty members from 43 institutions of higher learning within the state. One of the Institute’s newest public service and outreach programs, the Georgia College Advising Corps, places talented recent college graduates in high schools serving disadvantaged students with the goal of fostering their interest in college attendance. IHE has also been active in the Complete College Georgia program, which aims to increase the number of young adults in the
state with a postsecondary education certificate or degree while maintaining a commitment to quality. The Institute has educated and trained numerous future leaders through its doctoral and master’s degree programs. Currently, eight graduates serve as college presidents and many more work as vice presidents, deans, directors, and department heads. IHE graduates also conduct management research and policy analyses central to postsecondary education improvement in the U.S. and around the world. Beyond their teaching and service activities, Institute faculty have been leaders in investigating how higher education works, where it’s headed, and what might be done to improve it. Their influential research on higher education policy, organization, finance, and accountability is published in major outlets, and several have been honored with their specialties’ highest research awards. In recent years, Institute faculty have received substantial research funding from such sponsors as the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Institute of Education Sciences, the Spencer Foundation, and the W.T. Grant Foundation. The Institute is a highly accomplished and greatly valued part of the University of Georgia. Congratulations to all who have contributed to its reaching this significant milestone.
JERE MOREHEAD President,The University of Georgia
PROCLAMATION
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50 years The Institute of Higher Education launched its 50th Anniversary year with a Proclamation from Governor Nathan Deal announcing Aug. 27 as “Institute of Higher Education Day� in Georgia. IHE Director Libby Morris visited the Capitol to receive the official document, which will hang in Meigs Hall.
Excellence
Dedicated Leaders
THROU
Thomas G. Dyer Director, 2003-2006
L
ong before his arrival as director of IHE, the late Thomas G. Dyer had already changed the look and feel of the University of Georgia through his holistic approach to improving the undergraduate experience. During his tenure as director, the Institute’s doctoral programs rose in national rankings from twentieth to its present rank of eighth. Over the same period, IHE brought in nearly $3 million in externally funded contracts and grants and acquired more than $1 million in endowments. While serving as vice president for instruction, Dyer was instrumental in moving the Institute of Higher Education from its small quarters in Candler Hall to Meigs Hall in 1999. Upon retirement, he was named Vice President for Instruction and University Professor Emeritus. He was an exceptional scholar, teacher and leader.
Cameron Fincher Director, 1969-1999
A
s the longest serving director of IHE, Cameron Fincher was architect of some of the Institute’s most progressive outreach. He planned and conducted many workshops relating to administrative leadership, working closely
with organizations such as the Southern Regional Education Board, the College Board, Educational Testing Service and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Fincher was a charter member of the Association for Institutional Research and the first member to be awarded both an outstanding service award and distinguished membership. In 1986 the Georgia General Assembly passed a resolution recognizing his “many valuable and important contributions to Higher Education and to the State of Georgia.” Fincher’s passion for books, especially those pertaining to higher education studies, helped build the collection now housed in the library that bears his name in Meigs Hall.
M. Louise McBee Associate Professor of Higher Education, 1981-1988
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ouise McBee held top leadership posts at the University of Georgia during some of its most turbulent times, including integration. She was named Vice President for Academic Affairs Emerita upon her retirement in 1988. Post retirement, McBee served as a representative in the General Assembly of Georgia. In her 14 years as legislator, McBee was an advocate for teachers and served as chair of the Higher Education Committee (2002-2004). She was also a driving force behind the Governor’s
OUGH THE YEARS Teaching Fellows Program, which was launched at IHE in 1995. The Institute established The Louise McBee Lectureship in Higher Education in 1988 in recognition of her outstanding service. To honor McBee, the state legislature provided funds to establish the Louise McBee Professorship in 2004. The current holder of the professorship is Sheila Slaughter.
Zell B. Miller Philip H. Alston Chair and Professor of Higher Education, 1998-2000
Z
ell Miller founded the HOPE scholarship program during his tenure as Governor of Georgia from 1991-1999. After leaving the Governor’s Mansion, Miller accepted adjunct teaching positions at the University of Georgia, Emory University and Young Harris College. Shortly thereafter, Governor Roy Barnes appointed Miller to a U.S. Senate seat following the death of Paul Coverdell in July 2000; he retired from the senate in 2005. Miller worked closely with the Institute’s Faculty Development in Georgia (FDIG) program and the Governor’s Teaching Fellows to help advance the teaching skills of higher education faculty across the state. The Zell Miller Distinguished Professorship was established in 2005 in honor of Miller’s commitment to higher education. The professorship was designed to foster research,
instruction and outreach relating to economic development policy. IHE Director Libby Morris is the current holder of the professorship.
J. Douglas Toma Professor, 2003-2011
D
oug Toma joined IHE in 2003 as an associate professor with an adjunct appointment at the School of Law. He also served as dean of the Franklin Residential College and directed the Postdoctoral Teaching Fellows program for the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. Toma was a nationally recognized scholar whose career was cut short by his untimely death in 2011. Toma helped foster international partnerships for the Institute in China, Uganda, Australia, Croatia, and throughout Europe and the U.K. He served as a strategy and management consultant to more than 25 higher education institutions in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Toma designed and directed the Institute’s Executive Ed.D. in Higher Education Management Program, which was launched in 2007 and continues to attract mid-level administrators seeking a terminal degree in higher education leadership.
5
Looking back at
The Institute opens, July 1, with three main functions: institutional studies for UGA, college preparation, and improvement of state colleges and universities. Galen Drewry (above) hired as first director of the Institute.
Half a
The Doctor of Education degree program is launched with four students.
century
The first three graduates of the Institute, Donald Gehring (pictured on the right with IHE Graduate Coordinator Daniel Sorrells and his wife Eleanor), Patrick Hill and George Moore, receive their degrees.
The inaugural Louise McBee Lecture in Higher Education is presented by Dr. Patricia Albjerg Graham of Harvard University to honor McBee’s long and distinguished career as a university administrator.
June 30 is declared “Institute of Higher Education Day” by Governor Zell Miller, former FDIG participant and future Institute faculty member, as part of the 30th anniversary.
1964 1969 1971 1989 1994
1995 2004 2006 2008 2010 The Governor’s Teaching Fellows program is established in partnership with Office of Instructional Development to improve college teaching in the state. The program is funded by the General Assembly, with strong support from Rep. M. Louise McBee, and signed into law by Governor Zell Miller.
Louise McBee Professorship Endowed. Professor Sheila Slaughter will become first holder the following year.
The Institute begins its Education Policy Seminar (EPS) series, which brings national and international scholars to Meigs Hall to exchange views on key policy issues in higher education.
The Institute’s doctoral program is ranked as one of the 10 best in the nation by U.S. News and World Report, a level it has maintained in the years since.
Maryann Feldman becomes the first Zell Miller Distinguished Professor of Higher Education.
The Georgia College Advising Corps is founded with four advisers. The program now supports 18 advisers - its largest group to date.
The Executive Doctorate in Higher Education Management, coordinated by Douglas Toma, is launched in Atlanta.
HOW IT ALL A
O
JOURNEY
THROUGH
n July 1, 1964, the Institute of Higher Education at the University of Georgia officially opened its doors with the threepronged mission of recruiting and assisting in the preparation of college faculty and staff, conducting institutional research for the university, and working collaboratively with other institutions and agencies to study and improve higher education. The idea for the Institute was seeded in A. J. Brumbaugh’s 1958 university self-study, which highlighted the need for an institutional research office and called on the university to “more fully recognize its responsibility to higher education in the state.” It was encouraged by the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB), which in 1961, called for the creation of one or more higher education research centers in the South. And it was cultivated by Omer Clyde Aderhold, the University of Georgia president who took a personal interest in and responsibility for what he originally termed “The Institute for Higher Education and Research.” Aderhold proposed the institute in fall 1962 and received formal approval from the Regents on Dec. 12 of that year. He solicited advice from the SREB and from other universities, and personally led the lengthy search for an inaugural director whom he believed was
Began
OUR
FIRST
qualified to undertake such a substantial leadership role in the institution and the state. By the time Galen Drewry assumed the directorship, the Institute’s first program, later known as Faculty Development in Georgia (FDIG), was already in place. Launched in 1963, FDIG provided faculty from across the state the funding to pursue full-time doctoral study at the University with the goal of better preparing them for their roles. It epitomized the early focus of the Institute as a unit designed to build capacity for higher education in the state. The other missions were soon addressed as well, and the Institute’s first publication, Drewry’s and Durward Long’s University Assistance to Developing Institutions, was issued in 1965. The report was produced under a grant from the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges and helped inform Title III of the Higher Education Act—which would benefit the Institute’s efforts to collaborate with other colleges in the state and contribute to its longstanding efforts around diversity. Closer to home, Institute staff undertook “Georgia Studies,” including those that helped President Aderhold secure substantial increases in faculty lines for 1967. By the end of the decade, these studies increased
FIFTY
YEARS
in scope and were reorganized by Associate Director Cameron Fincher, who transformed the “Administrative Data Processing Unit” into a more fully functioning institutional research office. The transformation of Institutional Studies was just one of many changes as the 1960s closed and 1970s began. Drewry departed in 1969 to work with the president of the University of Alabama, paving the way for the beginning of Fincher’s 30-year directorship. That year was pivotal for another reason: the beginning of a Doctorate of Education in Higher Education program. With an inaugural class of four students but just a single course offered in the fall term (“The Development and Scope of Higher Education”) the program was designed for the “formal preparation of persons for administrative or other leadership positions.” With the addition of courses on governance and organization, two-year colleges, academic programs, law, research in higher education and other areas, as well as the creation of an internship program that placed students at institutions across the region, the program was soon commended for its comprehensiveness and flexibility. The program was a significant new venture, and one consistent with the Institute’s
founding mission to “assist in the development of faculty, administration and other personnel in higher education.” The following year, the Institutional Studies unit was spun off, removing five staff members and direct responsibility for institutional research. The removal of IR functions freed the Institute and allowed it to reconsider and expand its efforts in other areas. Among these activities was a new conference on law and higher education, coordinated by D. Parker Young and offered in conjunction with the Georgia Center for Continuing Education. Taking place in an era of significant unrest and less than two months after the killing of students at Kent State University and Jackson State University, the conference examined legal issues around student protest and student discipline. Its success led to a conference on the related issues of law, rights and responsibility the following year, and then a continuing annual conference held each year through 2007. Faculty and staff continued their outreach work in the 1970s and 1980s and the Institute became further recognized as a campus resource for addressing programmatic, departmental and college needs, and for interpreting larger state and federal policies and issues for campus constituencies. At the same time, faculty increasingly emphasized publications as a way of disseminating research and applied scholarship while also meeting the norms expected of the profession. While maintaining its core identity and service commitments—and adding significant new elements such as the Louise McBee Lectureship established in 1988—the Institute was evolving in line with the larger field of higher education. More than a decade of planning and effort by Institute faculty and staff culminated in the Board of Regents approving a new Doctor of Philosophy degree in January 1993. The new degree built on expanded course offerings and allowed for increased national recruitment of students, including those interested in pursuing faculty careers in the field of higher education. In the mid-1990s, one study recognized the doctoral program as among the five best in the country and its faculty as the most productive. The Institute
slowly adopted a more international emphasis in the 1990s—hosting visitors, participating in exchanges and beginning partnerships—an emphasis that has significantly increased in the 21st century. But its primary commitments remained to the university, through events such as the Louise McBee Lectures initiated in 1989; to the state, as highlighted by the 1995 launching of the Governor’s Teaching Fellows program; and to the production of research and policy studies. The Institute began the 21st century in an old, yet new, space: the renovated Meigs Hall, the building in which the University of Georgia hosted its first racially integrated classes in 1961. It did so in a period of transition, with the retirement of Fincher and other significant staffing changes. And yet, with those changes, core commitments and programs remained, as did the place of the Institute in the university and in the field. In the past decade and a half, the nationally prominent educational programs have expanded, including the creation of an executive Ed.D. program in higher education management in Atlanta and an on-campus master’s program. The research profile has increased, while maintaining both its multidisciplinary nature and its emphasis on policy and institutional studies. And the outreach mission that was central to Alderhold’s initial concept has remained at the forefront of the Institute’s role and responsibilities. FDIG and GTF remain vital professional developmental activities and have been joined by new ventures, including the Georgia College Advising Corps, a substantial outreach effort to help Georgia’s rural and urban high school students navigate the college admissions process. Across 50 years, the Institute has continued to pursue the title charge of Aderhold’s 1963 proposal for FDIG: “Higher Education and the Best Interests of Georgia.”
- Timothy Cain
This essay is based on annual reports and historical materials located at the Institute of Higher Education and Hargrett Rare Books & Manuscript Library at the University of Georgia. The quotes from Cameron Fincher are from: Cameron Fincher, Interviewed by Delmer D. Dunn, Institute of Higher Education: Oral History (1964-2002). Athens, GA: Institute of Higher Education, 2002.
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Program of Events
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August
4:30 - 6 p.m., Meigs Hall IHE 50th Anniversary Celebration Reception Highlights the work of everyone who makes IHE a success and provides more information about all anniversary events.
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September
1 p.m., Special Collections Library 50th Anniversary Roundtable Distinguished researchers discuss contemporary research in higher education and future trends.
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October
Meigs Hall University of Georgia Teaching Academy 15th Anniversary IHE cofounded these forums which discuss, celebrate and promote teaching excellence.
Sustaining Excellence 50 years December
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11 a.m., UGA Chapel Louise McBee Lecture with Mary Sue Coleman; President Emerita, University of Michigan McBee Lecture highlights current issues in higher education policy, research and culture.
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ustaining Excellenc 50 years Meigs Hall Governor’s Teaching Fellows 20th Anniversary Present and former Governor’s Teaching Fellows will reunite to discuss the program, outcomes, and its connection to IHE.
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March
Georgia Center for Continuing Education 50th Anniversary Conference and Celebration IHE faculty, staff and alumni come together to celebrate the Institute’s successes and to chart a path for the future.
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Education Policy Seminars occur throughout the year based on speaker availability. Please visit ihe.uga.edu for a complete schedule of events.