Description
The book, "The Changing Catholic College," by Andrew M. Greeley, discusses the history and current state of Catholic higher education in the United States. Greeley uses a sample of Catholic colleges and universities to explore the effects of leadership, quality of faculty, and student body on academic success. He finds that quality of administrative leadership is the most important factor in academic success.
Almost all of America's private colleges and universities started out as denominational schools, but connections with sponsoring churches gradually attenuated over the last century. Only fundamentalist Protestant denominations and the Roman Catholic Church still maintain colleges and universities closely tied to the spirit of their denominations. Catholic higher education is the largest of these systems, producing a significant proportion of America's college graduates, trained professionals, and doctorates. Andrew M. Greeley argues that Catholic schools are no better and no worse than the vast majority of American higher educational institutions. He chooses a sample of schools varying in the degree to which changes are evident, without revealing this key to his investigator team. Greeley and his field team then visit the schools, interviewing significant segments of each, and characterize each in terms of recent growth and elements which are critical in fostering and supporting such changes. Greeley briefly summarizes information on the history of Catholic higher education. He then furnishes descriptions of three rapid-improvement, three medium-improvement, and three low-improvement schools. In a summary, he provides evidence that the quality of administrative leadership predicts academic improvement in a Catholic college or university. In the final sections, Greeley reviews the administrations, faculties, and student bodies at Catholic colleges and universities, and offers general observations about the outlook for Catholic higher education in the United States. Review: -In this stimulating book, Father Greeley carries on his interest developed previously in articles. . . . The Changing Catholic College reports an interview study of recent changes in Roman Catholic colleges and universities.... The Changing Catholic College is a good book; it can be read with profit--and pleasure--by any sociologist of education whether or not he is interested in Roman Catholic education.- --Reece McGee, American Sociological Review -This is a study of -growth toward excellence- in a sample of Catholic colleges.- --Karl H. Hertz, Review of Religious Research
Related Products
