California's Employment Training Panel was created in 1982 to work in partnership with the state's businesses, labor unions, and government to provide training funds to California businesses. In 1995, the Employment Training Panel's administrative practices, strategic planning efforts, and contracting policies and practices/procedures were…

Arguments for and against formal alumni chapters are outlined. Pros include increased membership, better leadership, and strengthened development potential; cost effectiveness is possible. Cons include direct and indirect costs; informal alumni structures are seen as equally effective. (MSE)

The financing of guarantee agencies under the U.S. Department of Education's Guaranteed Student Loan Program was reviewed to determine whether, in the aggregate, the agencies are accumulating, retaining, and using reserve funds in accordance with legislative requirements and federal regulations. It was found that reserves exceed the risks…

Discusses issues in institution-wide information networking, focusing on two major forces in research and education institutions: the network as an information and technology platform, and as organizational structure. Looks at how the organization uses information and coordinates activities and allocates resources so information use creates value…

A review was conducted of methods used by the U.S. Department of Education and by state or private nonprofit loan guarantee agencies to protect the federal government's interest when collecting defaulted student loans under the Guaranteed Student Loan Program. Questionnaires were sent to 58 guarantee agencies that administer the program to…

Concerns have been raised about the Department of Education's (Education) role in overseeing the lenders and schools that participate in the largest of the federal government's student loan programs, the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP). GAO was asked to analyze Education's use of its oversight, guidance, and enforcement authorities…

A formal review was conducted to assess the efforts made by federal agencies to implement the 1983 Emergency Jobs Appropriations Act (EJAA). (The EJAA provided emergency supplemental appropriations to provide productive employment for jobless Americans, to hasten or initiate federal projects and construction of lasting value to the nation, and to…

Organizational features (physical characteristics, academic organization, involvement, organization, and staff attitudes to distance education) are compared in six Australian and New Zealand universities. The variation among institutions argues for the use of an international agency to validate courses for transfer of credit. (MSE)

Eight recommendations for the Alabama Commission on Higher Education are offered based on an evaluation of both the commission's effectiveness and on economic, social, and political conditions in Alabama during 1981-1985. The evaluation, which was conducted by the Fourth Quadrennial Evaluation Committee, begins with an assessment of findings…

Department of Education regulations and initiatives designed to address problems of fraud, abuse, and loan default in federal student aid programs are examined. The scope and intrusiveness of some recent regulations are criticized, and unintended effects are noted, including increased administrative burdens on all institutions. (Author/MSE)

A study examined the role of the U.S. Department of Labor in implementing the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA). Staff from the General Accounting Office (GAO) interviewed officials from the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) and Office of Inspector General (OIG); ETA regional officials in four cities; state JTPA officials in five…

The Florida State Advisory Council on Vocational Education funded a study to determine the extent to which programs involved in vocational training represent a consistent, integrated, and coordinated approach to meeting vocational education, employment, and training needs of Florida, and to determine present and emerging patterns of governance of…