Lois Trautvetter, Director of the Master of Science in Higher Education Administration and Policy (MSHE) program, was on WTTW’s “Chicago Tonight” recently, commenting on controversies at the University of Illinois. These include U of I being named the top party school in the nation by the Princeton Review and the withdrawal of a faculty job offer.

Trautvetter was invited to the show due, in part, to her analysis of the methodology used by Princeton Review rankings. In an interview after the show, Trautvetter said, “Research has shown that drinking is actually going down on college campuses. Only one-third of incoming first-year students nationally report that they engaged in high-risk or binge drinking. Hearing that their school is known as a party school, however, can have a negative effect on students. These rankings not only glorify drinking; they can cause a lot of damage by influencing students to drink when they otherwise might not have made that choice.”

Trautvetter says that University of Illinois administrators are not alone in facing challenges and changes as leaders in higher education. That is one of the reasons the MSHE curriculum has the depth and breadth that it does. 

“We teach our students to handle difficult issues by empowering them with knowledge about crisis management and mental health, budget and finance, student development theories, and learning and teaching, as well,” Trautvetter says. “We aren’t focused on particular silos within higher education, but rather help to prepare reflective and dynamic leaders for positions of influence in any administrative area of an institution.”