Pathways to Reform: Credits and Conflict at The City University of New York

The William G. Bowen Series

by Alexandra W. Logue

A personal account of the implementation of a controversial credit transfer program at the nation's third-largest university

Change is notoriously difficult in any large organization. Institutions of higher education are no exception. From 2010 to 2013, Alexandra Logue, then chief academic officer of The City University of New York, led a controversial reform initiative known as Pathways. The program aimed to facilitate the transfer of credits among the university’s nineteen constituent colleges in order to improve graduation rates—a long-recognized problem for public universities such as CUNY. Hotly debated, Pathways met with vociferous resistance from many faculty members, drew the attention of local and national media, and resulted in lengthy legal action. In Pathways to Reform, Logue, the figure at the center of the maelstrom, blends vivid personal narrative with an objective perspective to tell how this hard-fought plan was successfully implemented at the third-largest university in the United States.

Logue vividly illustrates why change does or does not take place in higher education, and the professional and personal tolls exacted. Looking through the lens of the Pathways program and factoring in key players, she analyzes how governance structures and conflicting interests, along with other institutional factors, impede change—which, Logue shows, is all too rare, slow, and costly. In this environment, she argues, it is shared governance, combined with a strong, central decision-making authority, that best facilitates necessary reform. Logue presents a compelling investigation of not only transfer policy but also power dynamics and university leadership.

Shedding light on the inner workings of one of the most important public institutions in the nation, Pathways to Reform provides the first full account of how, despite opposition, a complex higher education initiative was realized.

All net royalties received by the author from sales of this book will be donated to The City University of New York to support undergraduate student financial aid.

456 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 8, 2017

Reviews

[David Ernst · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came to this book as a new professional working in transfer admission for a four-year school in New York City, so there were obvious many reasons for this topic and tome to pique my interest. I had heard whispers of the Pathways controversy through the higher ed airwaves and i was excited to learn the WHOLE story.
This book begins with a good disclaimer and an important one to keep in mind because the overall tone and arc is an epic hero's journey, but in this case it is written by the "hero." So, while comprehensive, this book cannot be viewed as un-biased. Throughout my reading, i consistently forced myself to put down the book, and think critically about if the conclusions, the reasoning, and the explanations ACTUALLY made sense, or if it was an effect of immersing in one character's POV. It is very easy to lock into a Lexa=Good, Sandi=Evil mindset because while the author consistently states minor positive anecdotes or a professional level of respect, the UFS and Sandi in particular have been relegated to a "Big Bad" trope.
One of the best things about this book is how comprehensive it truly is. There is not a constituency or reasoning that isn't covered as it relates to the transfer process and organizational change in higher education. There also doesn't seem to be large portions of the timeline missing. It is clear Dr. Logue believes in her plan and she gives plenty supporting reasons. In addition, she appears to be fastidious in stating the ideas and reasonings of her opponents. My challenge in the way these reasonings were presented was Dr. Logue never gave the reasoning of her opponents without including her criticism in the same breath. This was obviously important to show that all ideas were considered, but as a reader I didnt have the time to think "Hmm, is this idea of the UFS good?" before I was smacked in the face with why it is a terrible idea. This was so consistently the style that it started to feel like some brain-washing tactic where the author was afraid to let the opposition's ideas sit in the brain un-challenged for a second lest the reader start to leave the pro-Pathways camp.
With the exception of the legal chapter, very few others felt like they were meant to be stand-alone, and yet there were many concepts, terms, and processes that were re-introduced and explained several times. If the expectation was that this was meant to be read as reference, this is understandable; if Dr. Logue expected people to binge this entire book in a week like a Netflix series (like I did) it seems repetitive. The audience of this book definitely needs to be defined. The majority of the book is a play-by-play that higher education professionals will pore over voraciously, but the end appears to try to take the lessons to a broad market appeal. It comes across a little conflicted, but not enough to temper my feelings towards this piece as a whole.
Ending on a positive note: It is very seldom that someone is able to so comprehensively document a piece of action over many years from the inside in the higher education field. The number of very powerful constituents with motives of secrecy often dissuade the publishing of such a work. For this reason and many others this book will be a cherished part of my professional library

[Erika Dreifus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although I witnessed the events described in this book (and you'll find my name in the index), I learned even more about what happened as the Pathways project unfolded. Informative and necessary not only for those with direct connections to CUNY, but for anyone interested in how to effect change in higher education--and what can get in the way.