The Vermont college has radically revamped its class structure to better prepare students for life beyond the lecture halls. The collegewide program, "Education in 3 Dimensions," centers on three main parts: life-skills workshops, an interdisciplinary core curriculum, and professional courses. Required courses make up all three…

In the five years that Boston University (Massachusetts) has administered the Chelsea School System, many positive changes have occurred. The university sees the program as a model for revitalizing deteriorating urban schools and calls on faculty and students from most divisions to help. Critics feel the effort is insufficient. (MSE)

The Council for Advancement and Support of Education has adopted standards to guide colleges and universities in defining the purpose and length of fund-raising campaigns and in counting gifts. Debate over the standards has focused on the reporting of deferred gifts, government money, bequests, and other specific types of gifts. (MSE)

An unprecedented wave of private donations was pledged to college and universities in fiscal 1998; the total amount of gifts is up 15%. Donations to public master's universities and private liberal arts colleges have increased the most. Nothing in the performance of either group foreshadowed the growth in donations. (MSE)