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The Review of Higher Education 27.4 (2004) 593-594



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William B. Allen and Carol M. Allen. Habits of Mind: Fostering Access and Excellence in Higher Education. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 2003. 249 pp. Cloth: $34.95. ISBN 0-7658-0189-1.

Over the past several decades, a number of issues have remained at the forefront of the discussion among higher education professionals. At the center of the discussion about the preparation of students are the juxtaposed issues of access or excellence. Should education provide job training for students or preparation for life's decisions and a humane life? Primary faculty functions are dichotomized as either excellence in teaching or as research, while administrators frequently address issues of affordability, accountability, and the measurement of quality.

These debates emerged concurrently with the efflorescence of the university, the growth of increasingly racially and ethnically diverse student populations, and the numbers of women increasing to more than half of the studentbody. These issues are particularly important, given the increasing necessity of the baccalaureate degree for minimum level entry to the job market in our knowledge-driven society.

In Habits of Mind: Fostering Access and Excellence in Higher Education, William B. Allen and Carol M. Allen draw on an extensive review of the literature along with their experiences working on higher education reform and policy development in Virginia to analyze trends contributing to how higher education is failing its students and the general public. To move state higher education systems from their present lost sense of self to prescriptive reform, they suggest a return to "the kind of 'habits of mind' conveyed by an expectation of excellence and an assumption of dutifulness" (p. 152).

They challenge myths surrounding the six competing trends that contribute to this loss and urge higher education professionals to reexamine the arguments by viewing many goals as complementary rather than competing. They further challenge professionals to rethink educational policies to obtain these ends. Accordingly, the authors propose to move beyond prescriptions toward contexts and visions which will advance reform.

The book unfolds in three parts—contexts, visions, and finally prescriptions—to bring about the desired Jeffersonian commitment to higher education for all and the commitment to the public support of education. These Jeffersonian ideals ultimately produced institutional growth with continuing support from both public and private sectors in Virginia. That Virginia ranks sixth in the nation in attracting private support for public college and universities is central in the Allens' prescriptions because it is through seeing accountability and quality assessment as a friend that colleges and universities in Virginia have been able to demonstrate their expectation of excellence and dutifulness to strengthening the economy in the state.

In the first two chapters, the Allens describe six trends that contributed to the current state of higher education: (a) emphasis on college as preparation for careers, (b) relying heavily on technology to enhance institutional desirability and facilitate student learning, (c) equating greater access with the lowering of academic standards, (d) measuring quality as numeric growth rather than by qualitative indicators, (e) an incoherent general education curricula, and (f) emphasis on diversity and multicultural experiences in all aspects of college.

The authors reinforce what has become evident to educators and the public: The baccalaureate degree has replaced the high school diploma as a minimum requirement for gainful employment. This finding should come as no surprise. However, what is much less evident and certainly disturbing is their attempt to discredit the contemporary focus on diversity and multiculturalism. Their presentation of both concepts as perverse and inconsistent with habits of mind is ineffective.

Next they emphasize that the intellectual work to reform higher education "rests on the shoulders of academic leaders and hones in on the chief attribute needed in these leaders—excellence in judgment" (p. 7). They further demonstrate the essential role of general education in fostering habits of mind. Using writing styles that shift from cumbersome to fluid, Chapters 3-6 skillfully progress from visions through prescriptions. The Allens support their visions for [End Page 593] realizing...

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