Steve Ehrmann- Authentic and Sustainable Opportunities

Office Hours with John Gardner

Dr. Stephen C. Ehrmann has dedicated over fifty years to supporting innovation in higher education through his roles as a researcher, grant-maker, consultant, and academic leader. He is currently exploring how institutions can simultaneously enhance the authenticity of learning, equity of access to degrees, and affordability. Throughout his career, Dr. Ehrmann has worked hundreds of institutions in the US and abroad, keynoted conferences, and authored three books and over one hundred articles. He holds a Ph.D. in Management and Higher Education from MIT.

Dr. Ehrmann began his career at The Evergreen State College, where he evaluated the development of the institution. He also worked with administrators and faculty to help them get answers to their most important questions by doing research together. Today that practice is called the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.

For the next 18 years, he served as a program officer, initially with the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) and later with the Annenberg/CPB Project. During this period, he supported pioneering projects including early online degree programs, innovative faculty development approaches, novel program evaluation methods, multimedia databases for research and teaching, and a consortium for quality in non-traditional education.

Dr. Ehrmann then became the founding Vice President of the non-profit Teaching, Learning, and Technology Group (TLT Group), where he led the Flashlight Program. Flashlight provided innovative tools and methods for evaluating educational innovations, particularly in the use of technology. The Flashlight Program received the 1998 award for Best Contribution to Distance Learning Research from the United States Distance Learning Association and the 2001 Award for Outstanding Innovation in Distance Learning from the Instructional Technology Council.

As Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning at The George Washington University, Dr. Ehrmann established the university’s teaching center and directed its faculty development efforts. He led a cross-silo effort to make valuable and visible improvements in undergraduate research. Steve also created the GW Coalition for Teaching Support, uniting leaders from nearly 40 units and committees responsible for teaching support. During his tenure, he collaborated with leaders of new online degree programs to identify features that enhanced both recruitment and educational effectiveness.

At the Kirwan Center for Academic Innovation, Dr. Ehrmann evaluated the University System of Maryland’s eight-year course redesign program. The redesigned courses typically had lower DFW rates and higher grades while saving faculty time. Undergraduate learning assistants were often a key factor in the success of large, redesigned courses.

Dr. Ehrmann’s influential publications include "Implementing the Seven Principles: Technology as Lever" (co-authored with Arthur Chickering), "Asking the Right Questions: What Research Tells Us About Technology and Higher Learning," and "The Future of the Learning Space" (co-authored with Phil Long). His latest book, Pursuing Quality, Access, and Affordability: A Field Guide to Improving Higher Education, has been called “one of the most important books on higher education in decades.”