Stephen C. Ehrmann

I've been working at helping higher ed improve itself for many years and in many ways. My doctoral dissertation analyzed the recent history of the undergrad program of the MIT Department of CIvil Engineering - how and why had it changed over the decades. At The Evergreen State College (1975-78), I helped faculty and administrators engage in what today is called the scholarship of teaching and learning; I also analyzed the college's history - how and why had it been changing. I then began almost 20 years as a program officer, funding innovative improvements in higher education. That part of my career began at the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) (1978-85); I helped fund a variety of technology-enabled changes in teaching and learning. 

That led to me to look a new position at a funding source supporting only educational applications of technology. That turned out to be the Annenberg/CPB Project, also in DC. (1985-96); some of the technology projects I aided are still going strong today, a rarity in the grant-making business. After that, I joined the staff of the American Association for Higher Education (AAHE) to join my friend Steve Gilbert. He and I created a non-profit spinoff, The Teaching Learning and Technology Group (TLT Group)(1996-2010).

In 2013 I became Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning at George Washington University. Perhaps our most lasting contribution was to create infrastructure to support a more sizable role for undergraduate research. My final full-time position was with the University System of Maryland; I evaluated ten years of System funding for course redesign projects at System campuses. Most surprising finding was the invaluable role played by undergraduate learning assistants.

I retired after that and started my present career studying how some institutions have been successfully improving their quality of learning, equitable access, and affordability for students and other stakeholders. In 2021, my book was published, summarizing the research and making recommendations for institutions and for national level reforms.