The evolution of dental education will not occur until dental schools develop new, creative organizational systems that promote team learning, dialogs, and active faculty leadership, and can document the relevance of institutional mission to taxpayers. Schools that become centers for challenge and discovery will reap the rewards in the current…

Public school decentralization has increased involvement of multiple constituencies in school governance. This study of a private school and a public school illustrates the complexities of leading teachers in the decision-making process. Both principals were transformational leaders, but teachers were not empowered enough to make changes. (34…

Reports initial construct validity and reliability of a new measure of the organizational/supervisory climate of schools. The new measure contained six subscales validated by using three recognized indices of school effectiveness: school productivity, organizational effectiveness, and school holding power. Results support the OSCI's validity and…

While conventional wisdom holds that higher education can learn much from business, the corporate world can also learn about leadership from the academy, including the practices of separation of power between the board chair and chief executive; collegial and less hierarchical organizational culture; performance reviews, common among academic…

Focuses on how a culture that values the work of teaching undergraduates might be fostered, suggesting in particular how the institutional culture, academic program, the core curriculum, and Freshman Seminar at Mount Saint Mary's College (Maryland) supports the teaching of first-year students, making it an enjoyable challenge rather than drudgery.…

A study of 58 doctoral students in four departments notes four general tasks of transition and initial socialization into graduate student life and future career: intellectual mastery; learning realities of graduate student life; learning about the profession; and integrating into the department. Some reasons for leaving a doctoral program are…

The president of one campus of the newly decentralized, multicampus Houston Community College System (Texas) found herself immediately facing many problems of reorganization, including making program decisions, finding necessary resources, and developing essential community support. The role of the president that developed during this process was…

A framework is offered for college presidents to establish new leadership during the first two years of tenure, with time frames and tasks for engaging the community. Postinauguration strategies include addressing a long-standing need decisively, identifying/achieving one success within the new vision, developing a broadly participatory and…

American higher education continues to expect college presidents to take on an extraordinarily broad array of responsibilities, although the complexity of each responsibility has grown considerably. Many institutions give up on their presidents too quickly, never gaining the benefits that accrue from a longer tenure; most presidents serve less…

Examines the decentralized and discipline-specific nature of graduate education and how it creates a unique and diverse climate for graduate students. The current population of graduate students is described, research on graduate students is described, focusing on four factors that influence the student environment and five types of student.…

The campus climate for faculty and staff is one of change and uncertainty. College faculty are varied and bring to their work diverse perspectives. They are challenged to redefine their work, assimilate interdisciplinary and active learning techniques into their repertoires, and deal with a new population of students. Nonteaching staff may find…

Identifies four climate conditions that influenced a rural community college's ability to respond to and recognize information relating to changes in learner needs: (1) organizational structure; (2) empowerment; (3) interdependence/communication; and (4) shared vision. Asserts that these four variables help college leaders initiate organizational…

Discusses the productivity and work days of white collar workers. Topics include productivity improvement; task analysis; the amount of time spent reading, and how to reduce it by improving writing skills; time spent in meetings; empowered time management; and sustaining a climate for change. (LRW)

Describes an interdisciplinary science laboratory course for non-majors that uses the history of science as a curricular guide. Profiles two sample projects that consider the importance of teachers to classroom dynamics and the institutional political context. (Author/WRM)

A survey of 57 dental school deans concerning current and ideal curricular emphases in 33 topic areas identified three that were rated highly as ideals: health promotion/disease prevention; primary care; and effective patient-provider relationships/communication. The most significant barrier to reform was an already crowded curriculum. Deans…