Albion College to shepherd key college classification system
Albion College will become the operational and administrative home of the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, a move that will place the small mid-Michigan private college at the center of the most important conversations in higher education.
The school announced the move Monday morning.
The Carnegie system — also known as the Basic Classification — has been how higher education recognizes and describes institutions. It was developed in 1970 by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.
The Carnegie commission developed the classification of colleges and universities to support its program of research and policy analysis. The categories include groupings like R1: Doctoral Institutions, which include schools like the University of Michigan where heavy research is the focus. There are a number of other classifications, all designed to group like-minded schools together.
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The stewardship of the program will shift to Albion in spring 2022. The college already is the home for the Carnegie Elective Classification for Community Engagement, which includes schools that focus on working in their communities. The basic classification system has been housed since 2014 at Indiana University.
“Albion College is an ideal example of an institution transforming the educational experience by uncovering opportunities and solutions previously unseen,” said Paul LeMahieu, senior vice president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, in a news release. “Through its focus on community engagement and public serving scholarship, Albion is well-positioned to continue to make an impact on the greater academic landscape. Operational and administrative leadership of the Carnegie Classifications is one excellent example of this.”
When the basic system comes to Albion, it will mean the college will hold the data collected by the system and will also be involved in hosting and putting together conversations about the future of higher education.
Albion President Mathew Johnson said one such conversation he hopes to have is a discussion about how the various classifications are seen. Currently, the R1 designation is seen as the highest level for which all institutions should strive. Instead of being seen as "levels" to obtain, the various classifications should be seen as the groupings of like-minded institutions, he added.
"At Albion, we understand well the responsibilities of institutions of higher education to create thoughtful students who make lasting impacts on society," Johnson said in the release. "With these classifications in place, we are prepared to deliver on that commitment more effectively than ever before."
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Albion College to shepherd key college classification system
