This article presents a sampler of notable developments in the world of higher education. Among them are: (1) At the University of Southern Maine, faculty leaders and President Theo Kalikow are working together to address the challenges that stand in the way of economic sustainability. In the spring, after announcing a plan to fire a dozen tenured…

Community colleges are enjoying a rare moment in the limelight right now. But part of what is being revealed by that light is just how much scrambling two-year institutions must do to keep up with increasing demands and decreasing budgets. With the recession sending many laid-off workers back to school for job retraining, and with President Barack…

This summary documents five conferences, held throughout Massachusetts for leaders in business and education, to increase their awareness of industry-education partnerships and to provide them with information on how to initiate, organize, and sustain partnerships. Section 1 highlights keynote addresses by five educators and five businesspeople…

This document consists largely of descriptions of 15 industry-education partnerships in Massachusetts, selected on the basis of their creativity; the range of partnership organizations and activity they represent; the diversity of students, teachers, businesses, and communities they affect; and their innovative and efficient coordination and…

Impressed with the vital importance of an effective public education system to the future of the Commonwealth, a group of involved business activists formed the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education (MBAE) in 1988. The purpose of the MBAE was to help bring about systematic improvement of Massachusetts' elementary and secondary education…

The Massachusetts Council on Vocational Education surveyed private sector members of the 15 Regional Employment Boards (REBs) or Private Industry Councils regarding involvement in the Job Training Partnership Act. The survey targeted members of business and industry, but not labor representatives. The rate of return was 41 percent; findings were…

The Massachusetts Council on Vocational Education surveyed 500 members of business and industry in 125 program advisory committees regarding involvement in the Job Training Partnership Act. The purpose of the survey was to document private sector perspectives on the content and value of their participation on vocational-technical education…