Jeffrey Parker & Jon Rivenburg
Course Information
As its title suggests, this seminar will focus on the economic environment of Reed College and how Reed operates in that environment. We will read extensively in the literature on the economics of higher education, focusing on those aspects that are most relevant to Reed and other liberal-arts colleges. Among the topics we shall examine are the demand for Reed (admissions and financial aid issues, including in particular issues of ethnic diversity), acquiring and managing an endowment, the market for faculty and staff, internal allocation of resources, and, if we have time, some residence life and student services issues. When we look at each topic, we shall first read existing literature covering theories and evidence from national studies, then examine quantitative data for Reed and often discuss the issues with relevant members of Reed's administrative staff.
We will meet twice per week. The Wednesday evening session will focus on detailed discussion of the readings. This class session will often be divided into two parts with different activities. The Thursday noon session will be activity oriented and will often involve visiting speakers. Students will often be assigned to make or discuss presentations of selected papers. The class will be conducted as a conference. Dr. Jon Rivenburg, Director of Institutional Research, will participate in the class and provide detailed information about Reed.
The basic prerequisite is sufficient background in economics to understand the readings and assignments. Economics 201 provides the basic background, but additional coursework in economics would also be useful.
Professor Parker will hold office hours on Mondays and Wednesdays from 1:30 to 3:00 in Vollum 229. If these times are not convenient, you may contact Professor Parker via email or at extension 7308 to arrange an appointment. You may make an appointment to consult Dr. Rivenburg via email or at extension 7501.
There will be short written assignments or projects due approximately once per week during the first part of the semester. These will relate either to analysis of data for Reed and comparable institutions or to specific assigned readings. Most of the assignments will be short essays.
In addition, each students will
be assigned to present or discuss several papers during the semester. On these
occasions, one student will present the main points of the paper, then two others
will present comments on the paper, which may include agreement or disagreement
with the presenter about aspects of the paper or amplification of other points
that the discussant thought were important. When reading and preparing to present
papers, you may want to emphasize the elements suggested in this guide
to reading economics papers.
A final project will be assigned during
the latter part of the semester. In this project, students will work in small
groups on a specific Reed policy scenario (e. g., enrollment shortfall, loss of
endowment value, potential expansion of the target student body size, change in
student/faculty ratio, building additional dorms). Each group must prepare a strategy
proposal and budget for their scenario and present their proposal to a "Board
of Trustees" consisting of the instructors and perhaps other members of the
Reed community during final exam week.
There will be a take-home mid-term
exam and there may be a final exam of some kind in addition to the final project.
Grades will be based on all evidence available to the instructors about each student's understanding of economics. This information may come from written assignments, exams, the final project, class participation, and individual conversations.
Readings will be taken from economics journals, materials written for professionals in educational administration, books, and other sources. Most readings are available through online sources and have links from the reading list. Books and papers that are not available electronically will be available on reserve in the Reed Library.
Most class sessions will be true conferences, not the "interruptible lecture" format that is common in some economics classes. This format presupposes that all students have read the required materials and are prepared to participate in the discussion. A considerable part of your course grade will be based on the effectiveness of your contributions to class discussions.
To facilitate class discussion, each student should come to each class session with a list of approximately five points, questions, or quotations from the readings that he or she believes are important. During conferences, individual students may be asked for points from their lists to lead the discussion forward.