IHEP

Experts

On its staff, IHEP has a number of experts who are knowledgeable about a variety of higher education policy related issues. These experts have spent many years in their respective fields, and are the principle professional and acaemic arms of IHEP.

Thomas D. Parker, Ed.D., Interim President and Senior Associate

  • Higher education access, especially as it relates to financing options
  • Domestic and international higher education trends
  • History of higher education
  • Statewide governance
  • Distance learning and technology

Clifford Adelman, Ph.D., Senior Associate

  • Higher education access and success
  • Degree completion rates
  • Standardized testing and assessment
  • Student mobility and transfer patterns
  • The role of community colleges
  • Secondary/postsecondary transitions and curricular alignment
  • International issues on participation, attainment, and degree qualifications
  • Course-taking, curriculum, and majors

Alisa Federico Cunningham, Vice President of Research and Programs

  • Benefits of higher education
  • Private financing, including loans and scholarships
  • Trends in higher education
  • Tuition and financial aid issues
  • Financing higher education, especially relating to historically disadvantaged groups
  • Tribal Colleges and Universities, including investing in Native Americans
  • Using higher education data (i.e., national databases) in policymaking
  • Prices and net prices and trends

Wendy Erisman, Ph.D., Director of Research and Evaluation

  • Evaluation of college access, financial aid access, and scholarship programs
  • Higher education access for specific groups, including prisoners and immigrants
  • Community colleges and accountability

Lacey H. Leegwater, Director of Programs and Planning

  • Student engagement in learning
  • Campus practices and procedures
  • Data-informed decision-making and institutional change
  • Intra- and inter-campus collaboration and solution management

Renee Y. L. Minor, Program Director

  • Postsecondary education prep
  • Middle and high school curriculum
  • Middle and high school student engagement
  • K–12 community support and development

Patti McGill Peterson, Ph.D., Senior Associate

  • International higher education
  • Internationalization of U.S. higher education
  • College and university administration
  • Governance
  • Academic program development

Ronald A. Phipps, Ed.D., Senior Associate

  • Higher education financing options
  • Statewide governance
  • Distance learning and technology

Thomas R. Wolanin, Ph.D., Senior Associate

  • Federal higher education policy, with a focus on student financial aid programs and accountability systems
  • Higher education equity issues among historically disadvantaged students, such as low-income, disabled, and foster youth
  • Higher education policies in post-Soviet countries including Kyrgyzstan, Georgia and Poland
  • Higher education policies in South Africa, Tanzania and Mozambique

© Institute for Higher Education Policy 1993-2008