Developing students' practical skills in strategic staffing and selection within the classroom can be challenging. This article describes a staffing system simulation designed to engage students and develop applied skills in strategic recruiting, assessment, and evaluation of job applicants. Instructors looking for a multifaceted team project…

Today's higher education IT organization needs a "lean and mean" cadre of staff who possess skills that are both deep and broad. Recruiting and developing the right team is an endeavor requiring much time, effort, and resources. How then do you make the most of this investment and retain the individuals who provide so much value to the…

The appropriate relationship and interaction between technical staff, specifically scientists and engineers in research and development, and the administrative support staff, both generally and in key support units, are discussed. Suggestions for time saving include dealing directly with purchasing, facilities, employee relations, office support,…

Suggestions from a personnel director of a large university include weekly meeting with section heads, route callers to staff specialists, personnel form review for time-saving improvements, updated procedures manuals, etc. (MLW)

College administrators must understand staff development as an integral part of the total process of organizational or institutional development. A six-stage paradigm is suggested as one conceptual framework within which a college may identify and act upon its staff development needs. (Editor/LBH)

A study to determine any change in direction of the personnel function in higher education during the 1980s is described. Personnel professionals, it is suggested, will spend less time on employment and employee benefits and more time on human resource planning, training, development, labor relations, and compliance with government regulations.…

A variety of measurement, modeling, and forecasting methodologies can be adapted to academic staffing based on the unique role and function of faculty as human resources and the distinctive organizational characteristics of colleges and universities. (Author/MSE)

Ways in which the resources and technology available to an organization can be organized and structured to accomplish program goals are described. A systems model is offered whereby emphasis upon self-control, communication, and feedback is applied to agency performance rather than effort. (Author/LBH)

A survey of 14 major colleges assessed the size, composition, and function of the personnel office (e.g. ratio of central personnel employees to full-time faculty and staff). Data is presented with the conclusion that size varies within and between institutions, the variance being a function of service performed and procedures utilized. (JT)

A survey of 44 institutions of higher education with full-time faculty and staff between 800 and 5,500 were surveyed for information about personnel office staffing patterns, workload, benefits program participation, record-keeping, coverage by union contracts, and provision of personnel services. Results are summarized, and institutions are…

College and university personnel managers are urged to pay more attention to employees who operate behind the scenes by: finding a champion among them; linking work with institutional mission; hiring the best; encouraging customer service; soliciting ideas; fostering trust; enlarging responsibility; not upstaging; providing the best equipment; and…

Institutions of higher education have become involved in contracting out staff services to affect budget reductions or to improve quality of service. The experiences of Portland State University in contracting out all custodial services are reported, including a checklist for contracting out analysis. (MLW)

Observing that conventional approaches to institutional solvency through staff reductions or alterations have not been very effective, the author advocates an organizational development approach to the student-faculty ratio dilemma. A systematic staff analysis plan is outlined and its advantages and disadvantages compared to the conventional…

This book presents 13 papers which address theoretical and practical issues concerning support staff at British institutions of higher education. The papers are: (1) "Induction and Appraisal: Vital or Simply a Burden?" (Bob Hardwick); (2) "Quality Assurance and Service Delivery" (Celia Whitchurch); (3) "Teams, Team Working…

Overload pay gives the recipient the prospect of remaining afloat in educational cutbacks. College professionals who assume an overload contribute to lowering the standards of higher education. Ways in which deans or department heads justify these faculty 'ghosts' are outlined. (MLW)