Preface xiii About the Authors xvii Acknowledgements xxi Chapter One: The Time Is Now: A Call for Student-Ready Colleges 3 The Quest for College-Ready Students and Redefining Readiness 10 A Profile of Twenty-First-Century Students 16 The Science of Student Readiness 22 The Value of Student-Ready Colleges and the Emerging School-to-Work Economy 25 The Path Forward: Taking Steps to Transformation 29 Chapter Two: Leadership Values and Organizational Culture 33 New Perspectives on Leadership 37 Values and the Student-Ready College 39 Does Collaboration Serve a Greater Good or Is It an End in Itself? 41 Leadership for Grassroots Empowerment 43 Changing Perspective on Educators 47 Exemplary Practice: The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater 47 Positive Vision of Educators 54 Inclusive Professional Development for Everyone Who Teaches 57 Student-Ready Practice of Governance 62 Building Out the Change Effort 64 Exemplary Practice: Alverno College 65 A Pragmatic Approach to Shared Governance 69 A Vision of a Place Ready for Students 72 Conclusion: A Vision to Guide Collaboration 76 Chapter Three: Intentionality by Design to Support Student Success 79 Intentionality by Design: Centering Equity, Diversity, and Belonging 83 Removing Systemic Barriers and Challenges for Students 85 A Caring Educator 87 Embracing a Paradigm Shift 90 A Culture of Belonging 95 Defining Student Success as Learning 97 Promoting Excellence in Student Engagement 99 Charting Your Course of Action 102 Conclusion 103 Chapter Four: Leveraging Ecosystem Partnerships in Support of Student Readiness 107 Engaging the Ecosystem 111 A Critical Survival Instinct: The Opportunistic Self-Awareness of Student-Ready Colleges 115 Three Levers for Establishing and Aligning Impactful Ecosystem Partnerships 120 Student-Centered Symbiosis in Support of Today's College Students 130 Questions to Consider in Establishing and Aligning Ecosystem Partnerships 133 Conclusion 139 Chapter Five: Educating the Whole Student 143 Whole-Person Leadership and Learning 146 Belief in Student Capacity to Learn as a Genuine and Public Commitment 150 Challenges to Belief in Student Capacity to Learn 154 Addressing Deficit-Mindedness 157 Sites for Action 165 The Wealth That Students Bring 167 Institutional Long Views 168 Leadership Responsive to the Ecosystem 172 Conclusion 178 Conclusion 179 References 187 Index 209.