TransferBOOST (Bachelor's Opportunity Options that are Straightforward and Transparent) is a multi-year state-level initiative developed to provide students with affordable, quality, well-supported two- to four-year pathways. For every 100 students who enroll in community colleges, 31 students transfer to a four-year institution. Of those, only 15…

Open Access (OA) to research publications has received increased attention from the academic community, scientific publishers, research funding agencies and governments. This movement has been growing exponentially in recent years, both in terms of the increasing number of Open Access journals and the proliferation of policies on this topic. The…

The Commissioner's annual report provides the Governor and Legislature with information reported by school districts concerning incidents of serious student misconduct grouped into the following five major reporting categories: violence; vandalism; harassment, intimidation and bullying (HIB); weapons; and substance abuse. An analysis of trends…

Earthquakes are low-probability, high-consequence events. Though they may occur only once in the life of a school, they can have devastating, irreversible consequences. Moderate earthquakes can cause serious damage to building contents and non-structural building systems, serious injury to students and staff, and disruption of building operations.…

Includes three brief essays that offer practical pointers for managers who handle training for their organizations. Highlights include a training function checklist for executives; questions executives should ask about training; and the cost of unstructured, informal on-the-job training. (LRW)

In marketing one's library wares, an effective publicity strategy is to use promotional giveaway materials, mainly personalized items that promote one's resources and services. As with any marketing effort, it is important to be clear about the promotional initiative and whom librarians are attempting to reach. This author emphasizes that…

Describes the steps involved in writing a successful proposal, including management, costs, style, and audience considerations; and identifies the essential elements for a useful needs assessment and provides criteria for helping develop and use one. (Author/LRW)

Based on Penn State's popular "Innovation Insights" series, this book brings together in one handy reference nearly a decade of tried and true insights into continuous quality improvements in higher education. Their five-step model for integrating planning, assessment, and improvement moves plans off the shelf and into the weekly and daily…

What does the future hold for educators and facilities professionals when it comes to planning, building, funding, and operating school facilities? No one can absolutely know beforehand. However, there are many, many indicators of where public education in the United States may well be destined. These indicators take the form of already occurring…

Discusses the use of satellite-mediated distance learning. Highlights include costs; implementation; interactive distance learning (IDL); instructional design; a case study of a training course designed for IDL that used satellite technology; and a checklist for planning satellite-mediated IDL. (LRW)

In this article, the authors address the importance of taking a proactive approach to securing a school's network. To do this, it is first required to know the system's specific vulnerabilities and what steps to take to reduce them. The formal process for doing this is known as an information security risk assessment, or a security audit. What…

Briefly describes available expert system shells and identifies evaluation criteria relevant to the use of a shell by libraries. Areas discussed include ease of use by system developers and end users, detachability of finished systems, and costs. A glossary is provided. (10 references) (CLB)

The Commissioner's annual report provides the Legislature with information reported by school districts concerning incidents of serious student misconduct grouped into the following four major reporting categories: violence, vandalism, weapons, and substance abuse. An analysis of trends yields indications of progress and of ongoing concern, and…

Arapahoe Community College's choice of a person-to-person phone-in registration system over touch-tone phone-in registration allows for individualized assistance to students in addition to the phone's efficiency and convenience. (MSE)

The "Commissioner of Education's Report on Violence, Vandalism and Substance Abuse in New Jersey Public Schools", submitted annually to the education committees of the Senate and Assembly, provides the Legislature with data in four broad incident categories: violence, vandalism, weapons, and substance abuse. This year's report highlights…