NERCHE stands for New England Resource Center for Higher Education
NERCHE stands for New England Resource Center for Higher Education. It was from the period of 1988-2016, that NERCHE operated within the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Boston, Massachusetts.
The New England Resource Center for higher education defined its mission as ‘being committed to collaborative change processes in higher education in order to address social justice in a diverse democracy.
Being a center for research and policy, you will see that NERCHE supported the administrator, faculty and staff across the region where it came to being more effective practitioners and leaders, through the process of navigating the complexities of institutional innovation and change.
In essence, you will find that NERCHE focused on higher education institutions as complex workplaces.
In fact, it provided innovative resources for practitioners who were looking for innovative ways to shape higher education as well as created opportunities for learning, and also where it came to applying their collective knowledge and experience.
You will find that NERCHE focused on higher education institutions as complex workplaces.
Where it came to Nerche’s research projects and activities, you will see that they drew upon the perspective of the practitioner in lieu of improving practice, as well as informing and improving policy, moving from the local to the regional as well as the national levels.
The work of Nerche was really informed by a grassroots approach where it came to developing collaborative leadership, one that was oriented towards building oriental and diverse communities. It was highly committed to the responsibility of higher education to the realm of the public. Furthermore, it strongly valued the principle of equal respect for the wisdom and respect of everyone that was involved in the process of discovering new knowledge, improving practice and providing leadership for institutional change.
In a nutshell, you will find NERCHE strove for the widest possible inclusion of diverse voices that include underrepresented individuals, across role and position, and across institutional types, in order to foster authentic learning.
It was highly committed to the responsibility of higher education to the realm of the public.
It was in three areas that NERCHE concentrated its efforts.
- The reflective inquiry into practice
- The scholarship of engagement
- The transitions to and through higher education.
It was the process of creating structured space for ‘reflective inquiry into practice’, that took the form of Nerche’s signature programs, its think tanks. What Nerche’s think tanks did, really, was serve to exemplify a community of practice where it came to fostering learning and developing competencies.
The second area of focus, which was the ‘scholarship of engagement’, served to address Nerche’s commitment to ‘higher education’s responsibility to the public realm’.
The focus on Nerche’s work here was in the Ernest A. Lynton Award that was a National Faculty Award for ‘Professional Service and Academic Outreach’.
In the year 2006 Nerche formed a partnership with the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities that both supported and hosted the presentation of the award at its national conference.
The third area of Nerche’s focus, served to address the transitions to and through higher education.
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