Assessing the Impact of the Spellings Commission: The Message, the Messenger, and the Dynamics of Change in Higher Education

The tenure and the influence of the Spellings Commission on the Future of Higher Education, and of current Department of Education policy leaders and their educational philosophies, are limited, but the issues raised by the Commission are likely to be of interest for some time. Rutgers University Professor Brent Ruben, executive director of the Center for Organizational Development and Leadership, led a NACUBO-sponsored study team in interviewing leaders from higher education, the Spellings Commission, the Department of Education, and higher education media about their reactions to last year's Commission recommendations. The resulting report, Assessing the Impact of the Spellings Commission: The Message, the Messenger, and the Dynamics of Change in Higher Education, provides a systematic analysis of the impact of the Commission that can contribute to policy formation and communication well into the future.

Among the operational, policy, and scholarly questions that the publication addresses are: How has the Commission's work been perceived by key constituencies within the higher education community and more generally? What is it about the work of the Commission and its Report that has stimulated such vigorous and continuing reaction? Will the work of the Commission, and the reactions and responses to it, result in significant and lasting change? What lessons can be learned from this case about the dynamics of change within higher education?