Issues underlying debates over political correctness (PC) in higher education are discussed. Progressives want diversity on campus as a social good and an educational benefit. Although the Right accepts the principle that diversity on campus is desirable, its proponents often speak out against the measures that produce diversity. (SLD)

Examines accelerating trend in colleges and universities toward emphasis on research. Comments that prestige and funding accrue from research, not teaching. Analyzes factors in the decline of communicating knowledge as lighter teaching loads result in cost escalation and fewer course offerings. Argues the balance between scholarship and teaching…

Discusses distance learning, describes the Open University in the United Kingdom, and describes the incorporation of home computing into computer courses at the Open University. Industrial training is discussed, a course using televised classes and one using video and printed materials are described, and future possibilities are suggested. (Three…

Characteristics of the American university are examined as they are relevant to the concerns of Australian higher education. Aspects discussed include diversity of institutions, methods of governance, tenure and academic freedom, external peer review of programs and projects, research funding, and curriculum design and patterns of attendance. (MSE)

Using interview data from 42 working, lower- and underclass African-American female college students, this article challenges the primacy of the cultural argument that educational failure of African-American women is primarily the result of their adherence to oppositional cultural forms and a preindustrial sense of time that inhibits success in…

Refutes the statements that (a) community colleges do not provide an equivalent education to that given students native to a university, and (b) community colleges prevent students from earning a bachelor's degree in a timely fashion. Also asserts that the location where transfer students begin postsecondary education accounts for only 8% of the…

The provost of Towson University, a Maryland state university, analyzes why his institution employs part-time faculty, discusses problems and solutions, and makes recommendations for longer-term policy development to assure quality education. It is argued that part-time faculty are critical to university operations, providing an economic base that…

A study measured the financial, personnel, and academic dimensions of state regulation at 122 public universities, and examined how university and state characteristics affect regulatory climate and administrative flexibility. It also analyzed the dimensions of administrator satisfaction in 12 specific administrative positions in relation to…

Discusses the results of an interview survey of 21 students enrolled in an Open University (Great Britain) course with a resource-based structure. The study examined use of CD-ROM materials, use of computer-mediated-communication as an information source, use of the Internet, and attitudes toward resource-based learning. (PEN)

Metropolitan universities are in the forefront of developing new administrative approaches to support and expand minority opportunities in higher education. Three design principles are at the heart of successful efforts to institutionalize diversity: strategic planning; the learning model; and integration across goals and functions. The experience…

Examines relationship between admission criteria and academic performance among 654 master's in social-work (MSW) students in one state university, 1985-1992. Test scores on a pre-graduation comprehensive exam measured academic achievement. Results indicate two admissions criteria, undergraduate grade point average and Graduate Record Examination…

Salary and turnover data from the College and University Personnel Association's administrator-compensation survey are presented for ten information-technology positions at doctoral, comprehensive, four-year, and two-year institutions. Four-year trends in turnover reflect changes in technology and its growing cost and importance to schools;…

A survey of 117 freshman and 113 junior women investigated their perceptions of the personal adjustment issues they faced and the solutions they arrived at during their experience at a university. Four areas of adjustment are discussed: underestimation of financial expenses; unfamiliar teaching techniques; large classes; and disillusionment with…

Development of community outreach partnership centers (COPCs) requires adaptations in the university environment. Institutions must reexamine and reinterpret the roles and responsibilities of faculty, design of the undergraduate curriculum, structures of the university that create the capacity to support and sustain different working relationships…

Describes a two-year urban school-university collaboration on improving writing instruction for fifth graders. The project, named Rethink/Rewrite, focuses on students reexamining information from their social studies textbooks after studying alternative materials about the same historical periods by African Americans and native peoples. (MMU)