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Accomplishments & Media
Grants
- The Christian A. Johnson Endeavor Foundation: March 2005, June 2006, June 2007, April 2008
- The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation: September 2006
- The Spencer Foundation: June 2006, September 2006
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Research
- EC conducted pivotal research regarding the impact of college admission processes on student attitudes and behaviors: "College Admissions: What are Students Learning?"
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Sponsored Events
- Convened meetings of college counselors for the Beyond Ranking Project on March 31, 2008 at St. Mary's College of California and on April 14, 2008 at Harvard University.
- Sponsored "Beyond Ranking: Responding to the Call for Useful Information," an invitational conference attended by more than one hundred education officials and experts. Hosted by Yale University, September 25, 2007.
- Sponsored a research Planning meeting Oct. 13, 2006 at Drew University and a preliminary work meeting September 26, 2005 in D.C.
- Sponsored College Admissions in the Public Interest, a meeting of college presidents, foundation leaders, and academics, June 15 & 16, 2006. Several president-directed projects emerged from this meeting and are being orchestrated by the EC's director.
- Hosted "Summit on Admissions," a three-day work meeting attended by 30 senior college admission deans, vice-presidents, and college counselors June 15-17, 2005.
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Speeches / Presentations
- The EC's director has delivered more than 100 speeches, including eight regional NACAC keynote addresses, presentations to organizations of college trustees, presidents, admission deans, high school admission directors, counselors, and groups of students and parents.
- "The Roles of College Rankings" panel presentation at the annual conference of the Association of Governing Boards of Colleges and Universities, April 15, 2008.
- "A College Admission Workshop" held at Guilford College April 7, 2008. Sponsored by Greensboro Day School, American Hebrew Academy, New Garden Friends School and Guilford College.
- "The Rankings Challege" panel session at the annual conference of American Council on Education, February 11, 2008.
- "Leadership Beyond Rankings: Value-Driven Admission Opportunities" panel presentation at the Council for Independent Colleges (CIC) Presidential Leadership Conference, January 6, 2008.
- "Prospective Students: Who Are They? What Do They Expect From Us? Are We Ready to Serve Them Well?" panel workshop at the Council for Independent Colleges (CIC) Presidential Leadership Conference, January 5, 2008.
- "College Admissions: What are Students Learning?" research presentation at the 2007 National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) annual meeting, September 29, 2007.
- "School Heads' Role in Admission Reform" presentation for the National Association of Independent Schools' 2007 Institute for Experienced Heads, July 25, 2007.
- "College Admissions in the Public Interest" presentation for the 2007 Harvard Summer Institute on College Admissions, Harvard University, June 24, 2007.
- "Doing Well By Doing Good: The New Frontier of Law School Admissions" plenary speech for the 2007 Law School Admission Council annual meeting, June 1, 2007.
- "The Admissions Frenzy: Does Where You Go Affect Your Future?" presentation for Asking the Right Questions, Dispelling the Myths, the 2007 Education Writers Association annual meeting, May 5, 2007.
- "College Admissions: Out of Alignment?" panel session for The Future of Undergraduate Education: Who Goes? Who Pays? And What Should Students Learn? conference, Columbia University, April 13, 2007.
- "An Invitation to Think" feature presentation and workshops for college counselors and high school administrators at St. Joseph's College, March 21, 2007.
- "Mission-Driven Admissions: Doing Well By Doing Good" presentation at the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities Annual Meeting, February 4, 2007.
- "Ranksteering: Driving Under the Influence" panel presentation at the Council of Independent Colleges Presidents Institute, January 6, 2007
- College Admissions in the Public Trust: presentation at a meeting of the Consortium on Financing Higher Education (COFHE) deans, June 12 & 13, 2006.
- Enrollment Management in the Public Interest: keynote address at the Southwestern Ohio Council for Higher Education enrollment management conference, April 4 & 5, 2006.
- Professional Imperatives...Doing Well By Doing Good: speech delivered at the Council for Independent Colleges Presidential Leadership Conference, January 5 & 6, 2006.
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Media
- Articles about the Education Conservancy (EC) have appeared in The New York Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe, Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Education, San Francisco Chronicle, Seattle Times, Chicago Sun-Times, London Times, Oregonian, Philadelphia Inquirer, USA Today, Money Magazine and Seventeen. Links to several of these articles are listed below.
May 25, 2008 - "The College Visit: Does it Do Any Good?" In The San Francisco Chronicle
April 17, 2008 - "U.S. News Solicits Input on Rankings" in Yale Daily News
April 9, 2008 - "'U.S. News' Adds Surveys That Could Alter Methodology" in Inside Higher Ed
February 11, 2008 - "Congress to Explore Rising University Endowments" in The GW Hatchet
February 4, 2008 - "Ethics and Private Admissions Counseling" in Inside Higher Ed
January 17, 2008 - "Potemkin Rankings" in Inside Higher Ed
December 27, 2007 - "The College Tour Goes Online" in The Christian Science Monitor
December 17, 2007 - "Notoriously Selective Stanford Considers Accepting More Students" in The San Francisco Chronicle
December 7, 2007 - "Harvard May Endorse Alternate Rankings" in Harvard Crimson
December 5, 2007 - "University Donates to Alternative Ranking System" in Yale Daily News
December 3, 2007 - "Education Conservancy Reels In Donations for Beyond Ranking Website" in The Chronicle of Higher Education
September 30, 2007 - "Head of the Class: Questions For Lloyd Thacker" in The New York Times Magazine
September 28, 2007 - "Study: Admissions Process Undermines Values, Goals" in The Daily Texan Online
September 26, 2007 - "Accountability and the Applicant" in Inside Higher Ed
September 26, 2007 - "Meeting Looks Past Rankings: Administrators, Experts Discuss Alternatives to U.S. News 'Best Colleges'" in Yale Daily News
September 26, 2007 - "Information, Please: As One Consumer Database Debuts, Higher-Education Leaders Ponder Another" in The Chronicle of Higher Education
September 24, 2007 - "How Applying to College Shapes Students" in The Chronicle of Higher Education
September 24, 2007 - "Lessons in cynicism and sales" in Inside Higher Ed
September 10, 2007 - "Colleges Build Web Sites to Enable Campus Comparisons, Sans Ranks" in Education Week
September 10, 2007 - "Watered Down Call For Rankings Reform" in Inside Higher Ed
September 10, 2007 - "Presidents of 19 Top-Ranked Liberal-Arts Colleges Warn of 'Inevitable Biases' in Rankings" in The Chronicle of Higher Education
August 20, 2007 - "U.S. News College Rankings Debated" on PBS's Newshour
August 17, 2007 - "College Rankings From 'U.S. News' Change Little, but Response Rate to Reputational Survey Drops" in Chronicle of Higher Education
August 17, 2007 - "Refusing to Rank" in Inside Higher Ed
August 17, 2007 - "College Ratings Race Roars On Despite Concerns" in The New York Times
July 23, 2007 - "Williams, Amherst Won't Fight Top U.S. News Ratings" on Bloomberg.com
July 18, 2007 - "Provocative Theory on Merit" in Inside Higher Ed
July 16, 2007 - "The College-Rankings Game" in Hispanic Outlook
July 11, 2007 - "New View of Admissions" in Inside Higher Ed
July 10, 2007 - "Rankings Don't Gauge a College's True Worth" in The Plain Dealer
July 1, 2007 - "Students Learn the Secrets For Getting Accepted" in North Jersey Record
June 28, 2007 - "Are U.S. News' Rankings Inherently Biased Against Black Colleges?" on DiverseEducation.com
June 27, 2007 - "The Rankings Rebel" in Business Week
June 20, 2007 - "Reaming College Rankings" on HuffingtonPost.com
June 20, 2007 - "Some Colleges May Opt Out of Rankings" in USA Today
June 20, 2007 - "A Better Way to Rank Colleges?" in Time
June 20, 2007 - "Many American Colleges Balk at U.S. News Rankings" on CNN.com
June 20, 2007 - "More Momentum Against 'U.S. News'" in Inside Higher Ed
June 20, 2007 - "Liberal-Arts College Group Plans to Help Develop Alternative to Commercial Rankings" in The Chronicle of Higher Education
June 19, 2007 - "Some Colleges to Drop Out of U.S. News Rankings" in The New York Times
May 18, 2007 - "Growing Challenge to 'U.S. News'" in Inside Higher Ed
May 14, 2007 - "College Rankings Don't Offer 'Alpha' For Parents" on Bloomberg.com
May 7, 2007 - "The College Rankings Revolt Heats Up" in BusinessWeek
May 7, 2007 - "Battle Lines Over 'U.S. News'" in Inside Higher Ed
April 30, 2007 - "Balancing Fundamental Tensions" in Inside Higher Ed
April 27, 2007 - "10 Admissions Deans who are changing their field" in The Chronicle of Higher Education
April 20, 2007 - "Anti-Rankings Campaign Stirs New Criticisms of 'U.S. News' Guides" in The Chronicle of Higher Education
April 12, 2007 - "College Presidents Plan 'U.S. News' Rankings Boycott" in The Christian Science Monitor
April 9, 2007 - "Why Doesn't Harvard Love Me?" in Los Angeles Times
April 9, 2007 - "Letter Circulating among college presidents asks them not to participate in rankings survey" in The Chronicle of Higher Ed
April 5, 2007 - "Rankings face backlash from college presidents" in USA Today
April 4, 2007 - "The College Rankings Revolt" in TIME Magazine
March 19, 2007 - "Ending the Admissions Frenzy" in The Dallas Morning News
March 19, 2007 - "Should U.S. News Make Presidents Rich?" in Inside Higher Ed
March 12, 2007 - "Would US News Make Up Fake Data?" in Inside Higher Ed
March 12, 2007 - "The Measure of Learning" in US News and World Report
February 22, 2007 - "Colleges want to cool admission frenzy" on NPR
January 4, 2007 - "College Admission: Is There Hope For the Future?" by Joan Bress in Worchester Magazine
December 18, 2006 - "Deciding to decide" in The Orange County Register
December 17, 2006 - "Mailboxes, inboxes burst with college brochures, prompting worries of overkill" in USA Today
December 16, 2006 - "From a School Known For Stress, a Dean Takes Aim at Admissions Anxiety" in The LaCrosse Tribune
December 8, 2006 - "College admissions in crisis: a process out of control" in Fairfield Minuteman
November 16, 2006 - "Early Admissions Still Thriving at U Penn" in The Phoenix
November 14, 2006 - "Angst Over Admissions" in Inside Higher Ed
November 5, 2006 - "Ratio, Schmatio" in The New York Times
October 25, 2006 - "Flag is Raised on Admissions" in USA Today
October 15, 2006 - "Advanced Placement Tests Gain in Popularity" in The North Jersey Record
October 12, 2006 - "Where is the Faculty in the Admissions Debates?" by Andrew Delbanco, Columbia University, in Inside Higher Ed
August 20, 2006 - "Ivy League or Bust", in The San Francisco Chronicle
June 14, 2006 - "Admissions Revolution" in Inside Higher Education
May 16, 2006 - Interview with Leonard Lopate on NPR affiliate WNYC
September 25, 2005 - "The Admissions Obsession", in The Seattle Times.
September 13, 2005 - "A Crusade to Save College Admissions", in The Washington Post Online.
July 1, 2005 - "Brainstorming a Better Admissions System", in The Chronicle of Higher Education.
May 30, 2005 - Interview with Michael Krasny on KQED
March 5, 2005 - "Despite New Version, SAT Still Faces Questions of Survival" in USA Today
January 30, 2005 - "Another Way In", in The Boston Globe.
November 19, 2004 - "The Education of Lloyd Thacker", in The Chronicle of Higher Education.
September 27, 2004 - New Book Delivers Antidote To Commercialism's Stranglehold On College Admissions
- On September 12, 2006 Harvard University announced its decision to eliminate Early Application Programs. The news was first released in The New York Times and Boston Globe, both of which sought comment from the EC director. Subsequently, the director has given interviews to a variety of news outlets, including:
September 12, 2006 - "Harvard Ends Early Admission" in The New York Times
September 12, 2006 - "Harvard to End Early Admission" in Boston Globe
September 12, 2006 - "Harvard Ends Early Admission" in USA Today
September 12, 2006 - "Harvard to Discontinue Early-Admissions Process" Interview on NPR's All Things Considered with Tovia Smith
September 12, 2006 - "Harvard To End Early Admissions" Interview on CBS Evening News with Elliot Kirschner (video)
September 13, 2006 - "Harvard Drops Early Admissions -- Experts Hail New Policy as Fairer" in The San Francisco Chronicle
September 13, 2006 - "Harvard Flunks its Early Admission Program" in US News and World Report
September 14, 2006 - "Is Early Admission Unfair?" in Christian Science Monitor
September 17, 2006 - "Harvard Rejects its Early Admit Program" in US News and World Report
September 19, 2006 - "Princeton Stops its Early Admissions, Joining Movement to Make Process Fairer" in The New York Times
September 19, 2006 - "Princeton Ends Early Decision" in Inside Higher Ed
- The EC's director is helping produce a series on college admissions for CBS News and 60 Minutes.
- The EC's director appeared on CNN August 26 & 27, 2006.
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Publications
- "Ranksteering: Driving Under the Influence of College Rankings." The New England Journal of Higher Education, Winter 2008: 15-17.
- "Confronting the Commercialization of College Admissions Leadership Opportunities." Key Issues in New Student Enrollment: New Directions for Student Services. Ed. Thomas Crady and James Sumner. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2007: 70-74.
- The EC's director contracted to write articles for The Chronicle of Higher Education, The London Times, and Trusteeship
September 15, 2006 - "A Question For...Lloyd Thacker" (pdf) in Trusteeship
February 25, 2005 - "Confronting the Commercialization of Admissions", in The Chronicle of Higher Education.
- College Unranked has been republished by Harvard University Press, and has sold nearly 10,000 copies since its original publication in September, 2004; a second book is being discussed. College Unranked is being translated into Korean.
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Organizational Growth
- The EC gained an administrative coordinator/project assistant in August 2006. Promising meetings with several foundations bode well for planned infrastructure growth and development.
- Received donations from more than fifty colleges and universities. High schools, school districts, and individuals are also supporting the EC.
- More than 250 colleges and high schools have linked to the EC website.
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