K A Wallace

Current Reports and Research

Five 3-credit (3x5) or Four 4-credit (4x4) Courses per Semester?

I chaired a Task Force (2007-2008) to examine the feasibility of converting from a 3-credit to a 4-credit course based curriculum.

A full student course load may be defined as five 3-credit ("3x5") or four 4-credit ("4x4") courses per semester. While the majority of institutions of higher education in the United States have a 3-credit based curriculum, some colleges and universities have had 4x4 curricula for some time and others have recently converted to a 4x4 curricular model.

Three rationales have been repeatedly offered by faculty and administrators at a variety of four year colleges and universities in support of 4x4 (better student learning, improved graduation rates, and favorable impact on resources and faculty load). But surprisingly little research has been done on the validity of these rationales.

I designed and ran studies of curriculum and graduation rates at other institutions, analyzed both substantive and quantitative consequences of conversion to 4x4 on curriculum, on student course load and performance and on faculty load, set up and ran focus groups, designed student and faculty surveys, developed models for assessing cost, and so on.

Consulting

I am available on a consulting basis to institutions that are considering a conversion to a 4x4 curriculum. I can conduct workshops or seminars for faculty and administrators, work with Institutional Research staff to develop assessment models, and can act as a facilitator at institutions working through internal conflicts in developing and implementing this type of change. For more information contact me (see Contact).

Joint Appointment Report: Summary of Issues and Practices Download PDF

PDF is one file that includes report (17 pages) and two appendices (Appendix I: Institutional Policies; Appendix II: comments (anonymized) from individuals surveyed.

This report is an analysis of, with recommendations for, how to set up faculty joint appointments, that is, appointments in more than one academic unit or department. Research for the report involved examining joint appointment policies at fourteen different universities and interviewing sixteen individuals from a wide range of academic institutions (from small colleges to large research universities) with different kinds of experience with joint appointments (as joint appointees, department chairpersons, Deans, single appointee faculty).

Values and Public Policy

In progress: working to develop an interdisciplinary Center for Values and Public Policy

Previous Administrative and Institutional Experience