Advice is offered for making college alumni reunions successful fund-raising events, illustrated with ideas used by several institutions. Suggestions include long-range planning, leadership by complementary cochairmen, recruitment of committed volunteers, flexible structuring of class committees, continual coaching of volunteers, and establishing…

Factors in organizational climate and structure that enhance innovation include need to respond to emerging market trends and discomfort with the status quo. Inhibitors include negative language used regarding new ideas and lack of strategic organizational direction. As in industry, higher education can use these to involve employees in change:…

Discusses the idea of a national electronic library as a possible solution to current economic trends in the information industry. Topics addressed include commercial entertainment ventures; the decreasing buying power of library acquisition budgets; the need for free access; government's role; cooperation; serials publications; licensing…

The two major cultures existing on a college campus, collegial/scholarly and administrative/corporate, can operate counterproductively. Campus human resource professionals have a role in reconciling the two cultures through orientation programs for new faculty and staff, promoting social and intellectual interaction of personnel, and communication…

Based on a survey of five similar institutions, Pennsylvania State University identified four principles of model information technology (IT) practice: use of policy, budget, and strategy measures to maximize IT benefits; early IT implementation; emphasis on customer service to integrate IT into institutional culture; and use of standards,…

Examines the historical context of the current Latin American educational crisis from the colonial era to the 1980s, comparing it to the educational investment undertaken by the Republic of Korea in a similar crisis. Calls for reform in state institutions, including a commitment to education, change in the economic model, and recognition of global…

An examination of the relationship of higher education and employment in Spain looks at: issues in the internal debate over the relationship; the evolution of the job market within the Spanish economy; existing analyses of employment trends and labor needs; and the response of Spanish universities to graduate employment problems and the…

A survey of 160 colleges and universities at various stages of total quality management implementation found 5 key challenges to successful implementation: changes in organizational culture, obtaining senior leadership commitment, gaining faculty support, finding implementation time in already busy schedules, and cost and time required for staff…

The principles of supplementary instruction (SI), a college-level student academic assistance program that increases academic performance and retention in traditionally difficult courses, are examined. Several aspects are discussed, including the role of proactive assistance, staffing, institutional awareness and support, and traditional and…

This article argues that college and university personnel in technical positions may be a good source of potential managers, provided the institution creates opportunities and development processes to support the transition. Crucial factors include employee career motivations, institutional support, and existence of and training in management…

A survey of 78 faculty at the University of Tasmania (Australia) investigated perceptions of the actual and the ideal university and identified discrepancies that are causes for concern about the institution's future. Two issues stood out as concerns: institutional autonomy and democracy within the institution. (MSE)

Several ways of exploring the subject of global warming within the context of a conventional physics syllabus are suggested. The physics underlying greenhouse phenomena, the process of modelling (especially computers), possible future climatic scenarios, and the differing nature of the uncertainties associated with the many fields of study that…

Strategies for recruiting and keeping alumni for college volunteer programs address specific issues: demands on personal time; length of assignment; accommodating spouses and divorced alumni; generation gaps; advancing technology; economic climate; occupational and geographic mobility; and competition with other organizations for volunteers' time.…

Conditions have changed dramatically for higher education in recent years. Each sector faces necessary change. Faculty must better balance demands of research and teaching. Students must take more personal responsibility for learning. Administrators need to lead in development of innovative approaches to teaching/learning and to improved cost…

Describes how, when a vehicle maintenance unit of a public transit agency underwent extensive demographic diversification of its workforce, original workers escalated shop talk and horse play as vehicles of internal power struggles, leading to dysfunction and even violence. Argues that management failed to provide for the need for newly diverse…