WHAT WORKS

In the two years since the publication of their acclaimed book, THE GREAT UPHEAVAL (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2021), Arthur Levine and Scott Van Pelt have visited more than 60 colleges, state systems, accrediting association meetings, conferences of for-profit companies, and foundation convenings. These meetings occurred from coast to coast, Florida to Washington and Maine to Texas, nationally and internationally. They met with faculty, staff, trustees, students, accreditors, government officials, professional associations, media, and foundation leaders. Based on these encounters, WHAT WORKS describes what they saw and what they learned about how institutions are responding to the Great Upheavaltheir concerns, their errors, and their successes. It also augments the findings of "The Great Upheaval," discussing issues that have gained prominence in the years since its publication such as AI, DEI, censorship, affirmative action, declining enrollments and public confidence in higher education.

WHAT WORKS grows out of Levine and Van Pelt's article published in Inside Higher Ed in June entitled "5 C's to Navigate Higher Ed's Great Upheaval" which could only briefly touch upon their findings. This brilliant follow up to THE GREAT UPHEAVAL will be especially relevant to higher education leaders, trustees, faculty, and practitioners across the United States as well as internationally, though its subject matter and style are also likely to be of interest to more general audiences that are connected to higher education (e.g., students, policy makers, Foundations, associations, media, etc.) Arthur Levine is a distinguished scholar of higher education at New York University's Steinhardt Institute for Higher Education Policy; a senior fellow and president emeritus of the Institute on Citizens and Scholars; and president emeritus of Columbia University's Teachers College. He is the author or coauthor of many books, including Generation on a Tightrope: A Portrait of Today's College Students. Scott Van Pelt is the associate director of the Wharton Graduate Communication Program at the University of Pennsylvania, where he is also a lecturer.