School-based development and self-evaluation were introduced at 16 Scottish schools. After 15 months, 5 schools had made substantial progress toward their chosen priorities, whereas 2 had hardly begun. Conflicts were evident between the collegiate style of self-evaluation and the hierarchical power structure in most schools. (SV)

Presents direct and indirect causes of erosion in developing countries. Identifies soil conservation developments ranging from major international policy reforms to small-scale, local farming programs. Suggests that strategies at all levels, and the political will to implement them, are needed if erosion is to be reduced to a sustainable rate. (23…

This paper examines the background and implementation of the recent Australian decision to move from a binary to a unitary system of higher education based upon the universities and how the federal government's economic and efficiency goals for higher education greatly accelerated the demise of the dual structure. (GLR)

There are many excellent scientists in the natural and human sciences in Canada's small universities. If the institutions implement internal procedures to encourage and foster a research climate and if research councils consider alternative strategies for research funding, research productivity could expand greatly in quality and scope. (MSE)

Colleges have two different cultures, the corporate community that views the institution as a business organization, and the traditional community of scholars. Coexistence affects planning, assessment, and institutional change. Collaboration requires understanding of the history and nature of the university and a special kind of leadership. (MSE)

Donations to education rose considerably higher than inflation last year, unlike giving in most other areas. Factors fueling a slowdown in giving include recession, a sluggish stock market, a slowed rate of increase in the population of Americans aged 35 to 64, and a declining rate in personal income growth. (MSE)

Drawing from interviews conducted with 10 successful community college presidents, discusses the leadership qualities needed by future presidents, focusing on institutional vision and revitalization, ethical leadership, institutional empowerment and transformation, political leadership, and institutional conceptualization and survival. (DMM)

Sally Helgesen's book, "The Female Advantage: Women's Ways of Leadership," is reviewed. The book was based on a survey of women concerning leadership and addresses gender differences in management and leadership styles; management as a circular process; group communication; and leader roles. (MSE)

Fourteen principles for successful operation of a small collegiate alumni program are presented. They address such issues as planning, setting priorities, making decisions, routinizing procedures, using technology, creating a climate for cooperation and productivity, getting volunteers, keeping staff longer, and maintaining a balance between…

A survey of 1,321 administrators, 927 trustees, and 1,158 department heads in 332 4-year colleges and universities examined the independent and conditional effects of organizational culture type and level of consensus about mission on the institutions' organizational effectiveness. Implications of results for enhancing effectiveness are discussed.…

Because colleges and universities have adopted new information technology idiosyncratically, formal structures to manage and govern its use have not evolved at the same pace. In creating such structures, issues to be considered include centralization vs. decentralization, attitudes toward change, institutional diversity, entrepreneurial spirit,…

A study of the processes of curriculum and instructional development in the first-year public administration program at Melchester Polytechnic (England) drew on interviews with faculty. It is concluded that curricular and instructional change is intensely political and dependent on the organizational climate for change. (Author/MSE)

An overview of recent history of Nigerian higher education chronicles periods of phenomenal expansion, economic downturn and retrenchment, monitoring of efficiency and academic standards, continued uncontrolled expansion in the absence of basic facilities, recently improved fiscal management, revival of student aid, and proposals for the opening…

When students and professors share their work, viewing each other as scholars capable of pursuing edifying research and teachers interested in invigorating classrooms, a vital intellectual community is formed. Small liberal arts colleges must refrain from forcing a generation of teacher-scholars to choose between these two identities. (MSE)

Sick building syndrome (SBS) is a situation in which at lease 15-20 percent of a building's occupants exhibit physical symptoms in a pattern that is linked to the building in which they work. Describes health effect, factors and causes of SBS, implications for risk management, and precautions school officials should take. (MLF)