Dr. William Akey, Interim Director Email: wakey@memphis.edu 302 Browning Hall The University of Memphis Memphis, TN 38152 Phone: (901) 678-2775 Fax: (901) 678-4291

The purpose of the Center for the Study of Higher Education is to study, promote and support life-long learning. This interest extends to both formal and informal post-secondary learning opportunities, to both institutional and individual efforts, and to both developmental needs and organizational needs. One of the primary areas on which the Center focuses is leadership development. The Center’s definition of leadership, written by our distinguished former Director, Patricia H. Murrell, is as follows:

Leadership is the capacity to discern and develop one’s resources, whether human or material. It further involves marshaling those resources in resolving a problem, realizing a vision, or achieving a goal. It starts with who we are and then moves to what we do. Education is the most powerful tool in the leader’s repertoire.

This purpose affirms the Center’s role in fulfilling the mission of The University of Memphis to be a major metropolitan research university and the academic center of the Mid-South region. As the University develops its own role as a major metropolitan research institution and shapes its purpose as the academic hub of the Mid-South region, the Center for the Study of Higher Education will remain a vital component in the activities of the College of Education, Health and Human Sciences. It will provide support for graduate and professional education in a growing field of study serving the region, the field of higher and adult education, and integrate its efforts with those of the University as a whole in fostering inter-institutional collaborations and shared projects and programs that benefit the area that The University of Memphis serves.

Specifically, the Center joins the University in its commitment to providing excellent undergraduate, graduate, and professional education; in discovering and disseminating knowledge; in serving the metropolitan community, state and nation; in preparing students for successful careers and meaningful participation in a global society; in educating a diverse student body; and in promoting access without regard to race, gender, religion, national origin, age, disability, or veteran status.

The Center features the Community College Student Experiences Questionnaire (CCSEQ). This instrument is used by community college leaders to examine student "quality of effort" regarding curricular and extra-curricular activities. CCSEQ data is commonly used to assess institutional effectiveness for program planning and accreditation information. Additionally, many doctoral students have used the questionnaire for their dissertation research.

• Community College Student Experiences Questionnaire