At their best, common reading (CR) programs are a high-impact educational practice. By bringing the campus community together to read and discuss the same book as a common intellectual experience, CR programs create the sense of belonging and thirst for learning that position students for success at their new university. Discussions and…

Study in language, literature, and culture has long been a defining feature of education in the liberal arts. Speaking, reading, and writing have traditionally stood at the heart of education because the arts of language and the tools of literacy are key qualifications for full participation in social, political, economic, and cultural life. Today…

Describes the structure and major accomplishments of the Language Mission Project, a cooperative initiative of the Association of American Colleges and Universities and the National Foreign Language Center at Johns Hopkins University (Maryland) to help 14 selected colleges and universities rethink and develop their foreign language programs.…

The Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges' initiative to recruit more black faculty is described, its accomplishments are outlined, and lessons learned are noted, based on the experiences of participants in a visiting scholars program. (MSE)

Academic careers are becoming an individual and institutional problem. The dimensions of the problem are outlined, a limited set of frameworks for addressing it through career change are provided, and an individual and institutional program to assist faculty in career change is recommended. (MSE)

The University of Toledo's Adult Liberal Studies program is described. Some steps to consider before implementing a new program include clearly establishing a need for the program, determining where power lies, formulating objectives, and making students aware of the experimental nature of the program. (MLW)

The development and structure of a computer literacy course, developed at Hunter College (New York) in 1991 and targeting women and minorities, are described. The course has been extremely successful and well received and has resulted in the opening of additional computer laboratories and scheduling of many new sections. (MSE)

Future Directions for a Learning Society is a program being conducted by the College Board with funds from the Exxon Corporation to study, plan, demonstrate, and develop new services in the area of adult, lifelong, recurrent, and continuing education. The initiatives and strategic actions of the program are outlined. (JMF)

The history of Arizona International College, a four-year public institution with a multicultural and global emphasis, is chronicled. The college evolved as an alternative to Arizona's existing public institutions, with a curriculum emphasizing communication skills, problem solving, quantitative and qualitative analysis, technical literacy, moral…

The Jacksonville University (Alabama) experience with reforming its mathematics major is described. The process, designed to meet student career needs while maintaining academic integrity, involved realignment of program objectives with student goals, which often did not include immediate graduate study. Other considerations included…

GENTRAIN is a modular program for interdisciplinary humanities instruction. The authors recount the development of the program from creating their own textbooks, arranging teaching teams, organizing the vast amount of available material, deciding on class format, to discovering a group of enthusiastic supporters among the community's senior…