The portrait of the American college senior is a mix of economic pressures and shifting choices. Understanding that the senior year represents another critical transition point for college students, many U.S. colleges and universities are taking intentional steps to help students bring closure to their collegiate experience and accomplish the…

College graduates and employers alike have expressed dissatisfaction with the tack of job competencies of new graduates. Both groups suggest that institutions of higher education must do a better job of preparing their students to meet workplace challenges. The author describes the problem and presents a model that is delivered via distance…

Twenty-one fourth-year college students of Mexican-American ancestry attending the University of Arizona were interviewed to determine the unique qualities contributing to the students' persistence. The study used empowerment as its organizing model and identified institutional factors contributing to student success and persistence. Institutional…

A library instruction program has been instituted in civil engineering at the Queensland University of Technology (Australia) in an effort to improve the research skills of fourth year students working on research projects. Students with extended library instruction were found to have better information-seeking behavior than others. (Author/MSE)

This study was conducted to investigate the pay expectations of graduating seniors, and specifically, the relationship between gender and pay expectations for one's self and others. The main purpose of the study was to determine if women and men differed in their initial pay expectations. Surveys were received from 447 college seniors, including…

A survey of 791 university seniors investigated the relationship of their parents' educational background and gender to their own plans for postgraduation study. Field of study was also considered. A strong effect of same-sex parent educational level on educational aspiration was noted. (MSE)

Describes a Niagara University (New York) senior seminar designed to teach research, writing, and analytical skills by using a major research essay. Utilizes family history to understand the nature and methods of historical research. Includes a reading list and an outline for a class project of a comprehensive family research project. (NL)

The founder of "Teach for America," a nonprofit organization to recruit capable but undirected college seniors for a two-year commitment to teaching, has successfully brought in a corps of graduates with a high level of commitment, academic excellence, varied skills, and a better minority representation to teach in difficult-to-staff…

This report presents the findings of the application of the Differential Coursework Patterns (DCP) cluster analytic model to the tests and transcripts of a combined sample of 1987-88 and 1988-89 graduating seniors at Evergreen State College (Washington). The project found that enrollment in different patterns of programs was consistently…

Information on the senior year at Northwestern University, Illinois, and suggestions for providing focus to the last year of undergraduate study are presented, based on a needs assessment conducted by the Curricular Policies Committee of the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS). Department heads and other staff were contacted to obtain a profile of…

A chronic problem in public relations education is the fragmentation of coursework, particularly as this fragmentation impacts on the application of communication theory. Public relations textbooks presentation of theory is often fragmented and segregated in to "theoretical" chapters and "applied" chapters with little integration between the two.…

A 1985 study of students at Ferris State University (Michigan) found that the majority of freshmen improve their writing abilities from their beginning English course to the end of their freshman year, with ability levels changing little after that. In the current study, graduating seniors were studied to evaluate growth in writing throughout the…

Student development along three cognitive and three psychosocial dimensions was studied at the University of Iowa. Six instruments were administered to students during their freshman and senior years. Attention was directed to moral development, ego development, and conceptual level, as well as freeing interpersonal relationships, establishing…

This study investigated the extent to which preservice teachers could differentiate developmentally appropriate from inappropriate practices in the education of young children. Responses to 2 teaching scenarios were collected from 158 junior and/or senior early childhood teacher education majors from a university in the mid-South. Results…

Two freshman classes and two senior classes at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill were surveyed with the College Student Experiences Questionnaire (CSEQ). The data showed that high levels of student/faculty contact coincided with high student scores on quality of effort measures. It is noted that this may be due to the contact,…