The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal has published its eleventh paper in the “Blueprint for Reform” series, “Blueprint for Reform: Academic Transparency.” Academic transparency is necessary for students to make informed decisions and for the public to understand how taxpayer funded universities actually advance students—or hold them back—academically. This new paper recommends steps that policymakers can take to improve academic transparency and defend against lackluster coursework.
Jenna A Robinson, president of the Martin Center, said, “academic transparency is essential to student learning and to restoring public confidence in higher education.” She added, “at universities that adopt the recommendations in this Blueprint, students will be able to make informed decisions about the classes they take and the information they learn.”
The paper provides specific policy guidelines for legislators, university board members, faculty governing committees, and other higher education decision makers. Model university practices are cited from the University of North Carolina at Asheville and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. The document also links to several model legislations and resources for further reading.
New policy reform recommendations on different topics will be released by the Martin Center regularly.