This report provides an account of the activites of Sacramento City College's (SCC's) Assessment Center from November 1, 1982 to March 31, 1983; information regarding the competency levels of the SCC student population; statistical data on research activities; and information on the proposed expansion of assessment/placement services. Following a…

Women's status as students and employees in Alaska's community colleges is greatly influenced by the unique Alaskan environment, where women make up only 47.6% of the population and where the population is on the whole very young. Women comprised 58% of all enrolled students in Alaskan community colleges in fall 1982 and received 56% of the…

The possible use of fiction about colleges as part of the study of higher education is considered, based on analysis of 80 student-centered college novels written by authors who attended the depicted colleges. The novels used colleges as either the subject matter or setting. Three criticisms of the idea of using fiction are discussed, including…

A study examined the relationship between social and material values and attitudes toward television advertising. Using the Rokeach Value Survey Form E, 157 Canadian college students ranked the 18 terminal and 18 instrumental values in order of their importance as guiding principles for life. The values were classified as either material, social,…

Developments in education, employment, and the courts concerning the status of women are covered in two newsletter issues. Topics include the following: the struggle for sex equity in higher education for women faculty; differences in pay for men and women workers; different treatment of men and women students in the classroom; the decline of…

An instrument to help administrators assess the liability resulting from alcohol-related activities on the college campus is presented. The hazards and associated liability of these events can be reduced by developing an aggressive risk management strategy designed to inform, educate, and coordinate the actions of individuals and groups associated…

This study examines the characteristics, needs, and actual experiences of Latino (Mexican American/Chicano and other Hispanic) students enrolled at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB), through identification of Hispanic demographic characteristics from university records, comparison of Student Affirmative Action Outreach Program (SAA)…

An admissions/enrollment model was developed using 5 years of data on undergraduate and graduate enrollment, admissions, budget and tuition revenues, and anticipated tuition costs. The model produced estimates of admissions and enrollment numbers required to meet projected increases in the institutional budget. Using a variation of the Markov…

A formative evaluation was undertaken at an urban community college to determine how an open-admission general studies program should be restructured to better meet student goals and the college's educational objectives. The evaluation process included: interviewing key college representatives to generate hypotheses, and review of the hypotheses…

A study was conducted by Mesa (Arizona) Community College (MCC) to obtain and analyze information from employers of former MCC students regarding the performance, skills, and attitudes of former students; job outlook; assessment of MCC training; and source of hiring. Study findings included the following: (1) employers gave the highest ratings to…

Communication strategies used by German-Swedish bilinguals when they have lexical difficulty are discussed. Findings indicate that in a language test situation, when attention is focused on words rather than topic, face-saving over a lexical gap seems to be of great importance to the speaker. When a communication strategy has led to a noticeable…

In fall 1985, a study was conducted by the Colorado State Board for Community Colleges and Occupational Education to analyze the efficiency and effectiveness of community college assessment programs throughout the state. Each community college in the state randomly selected 100 students whose basic skills had been assessed and who had enrolled in…

A major reason for the paucity of usable data on the contributions and effectiveness of community colleges is that the definitions on which the data are based are imprecise. Colleges' contributions might be better understood if their functions were reconceptualized. The collegiate dimension of community colleges (i.e, that portion of the…

This article describes the placement testing program, the use of microcomputer software for scoring and analyzing test results, and the integration of the computerized test results into a comprehensive microcomputer-based student information system at the University of California, Irvine (UCI). UCI offers placement tests in five academic fields:…

The time to make positive changes in foreign language education programs and instruction has come. The first step in effecting change is to find out about the students' language backgrounds, interests, and intentions for their language skills. Language instruction can take many different emphases: foreign language and international studies,…