Self-advocacy and self-determination include the abilities to select personal goals, plan steps toward goals, assess one's progress, make choices, and self-monitor and self-evaluate one's behaviors. These are important skills in both current and future environments. Unfortunately, youth with significant intellectual and developmental disabilities…

A three-day program at the College of the Holy Cross (Massachusetts) was developed to address low retention rates for African-American students meeting the usual predictive criteria for academic success. It familiarized students with the college, allowed them to meet significant college community members, and assisted in adapting to academic…

Bowling Green's four-week summer preregistration program providing students with opportunities for individualized academic counseling and computerized preregistration is described, along with a fall follow-up for additional advising and suggestions for handling computerized registration. (MSE)

Based on the idea that clear communication between researchers and research administrators can help minimize problems in research project administration, Texas A&M University designed an orientation program to establish early communication and positive working relationships. A survey of 42 research administrators indicates a growing trend…

Selected materials from two projects designed to engage college faculty and administrators in examining and addressing problems of gender bias in curricula and scholarship are presented. Following a description of the Women in the Curriculum Project (WIC) and the Leadership in Educational Equity Project (LEEP), this document presents a brief…

The University of Illinois at Chicago's Neighborhoods Initiative is used as an example of how planning occurs in a situation of shared power, the relationship between participants' goals and what actually gets done, and the role of planners in linking knowledge and action. The collaborative planning model is characterized by incrementalism;…

The goal of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) Program is to prevent drug abuse among school children, by targeting children at an age (K-6) when they are most receptive to drug prevention education and before they are likely to have been led by their peers to experiment with tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs. Project DARE seeks to prevent…

The University of Pennsylvania's major gift officers have specific goals for interaction with donor prospects, including proportions of time spent in cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship. Guidelines are based on staff experience, nature of the prospect pool, faculty support, campaign stage, volunteer management, administrative support,…

A telephone registration system for first year students implemented at Alma College (Michigan), involves having freshmen confer with advisors during orientation week, then having the registrar's office contact the advisors. Despite limitations, the low-tech solution works well at extremely low cost. (MSE)

A Brigham Young University program using students to provide individual advising and orientation assistance to entering students, an effort to reduce the problem of students accepting admission and not showing up, is described and discussed. (MSE)

Kennesaw State College (Georgia) has developed initiatives to enhance leadership and team-building skills of classified employees. The programs include a staff leadership training course, open to 20-24 employees annually, and the Staff Training and Orientation Program (STOP) to provide new employees with information about the institution in an…

The Entry Year Assistance Program of Educational Service Unit #11 in Nebraska is a staff development project to train mentor teachers, entry-year teachers, and school administrators in small, rural school districts. Schools that participate in the program select a team consisting of a mentor teacher, an administrator, and an entry-year teacher.…

Educators should recognize both the special needs of single-parent students and their parents and be aware of child custody laws and the school's responsibility for a child's safety when parents divorce. Such measures as extended care programs and informal discussion between school staff and parents help ensure equal treatment in the education…

The 115 African-American and other nontraditional medical students attending a summer program in study skills and academic preparation to promote achievement and retention were compared with 82 nonattendees on demographic and academic measures. Little difference was found in the groups, except that attendees felt the program helped them adjust to…

Orientation for first-year college students is important for students, parents, and the institution. It should fit institutional traditions, values, and culture, involve parents, be staffed by well-trained current students, and be carefully evaluated for improvement. Mississippi State University's program focuses on retention and is festive,…