In an attempt to contribute to the advancement of Africana Studies as a discipline, it is vital that scholars of the field continue to assess the effectiveness of the various departments under the umbrella of Africana Studies. This research explores and assesses the departmental activities of two Africana Studies departments within the California…

A new integrated model is offered for the preparation of future faculty that addresses the transformation of institutions of higher education into supportive environments for the next generation of engaged scholars. Drawing on the knowledge bases of the scholarship of engagement, institutional change, preparing future faculty, the role of…

This paper provides a review of the practices and tensions informing approaches to professional development for early career academic geographers who are teaching in higher education. We offer examples from Britain, Canada, Nigeria and the USA. The tensions include: institutional and departmental cultures; models that offer generic and…

The article addresses the effective use of full-time and part-time faculty in transforming an institutionalized marginalized professional studies unit into an academic unit with greater academic credibility, as perceived by traditional colleagues and accreditors. Recommendations are supported by a case study narrative from the experiences of the…

Academic service-learning is based on the value of university-community partnerships. But what about campus partnerships? Who on campus best understands and most effectively administers academic service-learning programs? Locating service-learning programs solely in academic affairs or student affairs departments certainly simplifies the process.…

The Biglan model, a theoretical framework for empirically examining the differences among subject areas, classifies according to three dimensions: adherence to common set of paradigms (hard or soft), application orientation (pure or applied), and emphasis on living systems (life or nonlife). Tests of the model are reviewed, and a further test is…

The Biglan model and its tests are reviewed. While the model has attractive features and may even reinforce popular opinion about differences among departments or subject areas, further investigations are necessary before broad propositions or generalizations can be advanced. (MLW)

Notes that many scholars see Gerald Graff as a revolutionary critic who provides a model for making fundamental changes within the discipline of English. Focuses on the historical marginalization of the fields of composition and rhetoric studies not addressed by Graff in his book "Professing Literature." (RS)

Relationships between ideologies and organizational effectiveness indicators are examined for a sample of 35 university departments. Most differences in research and teaching effectiveness across different fields can be attributed to dissimilar ideologies. (Author/MLW)

Four models of possible predictors are advanced and tested using data collected from 1,164 faculty in 80 university departments and from published sources. Results indicated that there is no single set of factors that can reliably predict improvement or decline in prestige across all disciplines. (Author/LBH)

The validity of the Biglan clusters, guides in classifying or categorizing academic departments among a wide range of colleges and universities, is discussed. Evidence supports the validity by showing how faculty salaries and instructional staffing patterns differ among departments along the dimensions described by Biglan. (Author/MLW)

The concept of paradigm development, it is suggested, can explain differences in organizational contexts of university departments. Departments from high-paradigm fields are embedded in a context with clearly identifiable and distinguishable dimensions. (Author/MLW)

Examines the scope of African American studies, its origins, and its development and autonomy as an academic discipline. The meaning of Afrocentrism, the concept of centrism that lies at the core of the discipline of African American studies, the Africalogical method of criticism, and what constitutes the mission of Africalogy are discussed. (GR)

Anthony Biglan (1973) proposed a typology of academic disciplines that identified three dimensions of academics' perceptions of the similarity of fields of scholarship: (1) "hard-soft", (2) "pure-applied", and (3) "life-non-life". Derek Price (1965) suggested that bibliographic data could be used to provide an…

Three models to describe university salary structure were assessed. Attention was focused on full-time, permanent faculty in ranks of instructor through full professor. Model I postulated that the internal labor market is uninfluenced by the external academic market. The results of model I were compared to the results of a model that adjusted for…