To understand the experiences of leaders in student affairs in higher education and to document the strategies they used to cut budgets and the results of these actions, the authors conducted a qualitative research study using public institutions as case studies. Data were gathered in 2005 through phone interviews with senior student affairs…

In an attempt to explain first language attrition in emigrant populations, this paper investigates the explanatory power of a framework that has--until now--received little attention: the regression hypothesis (Jakobson, 1941). This hypothesis predicts that the order of attrition is the reverse of the order of acquisition. The regression…

Today's undergraduates approach research with needs and expectations that challenge traditional library services. The foundation for leading an effective response is the ability to assess undergraduate needs and translate these needs into tangible strategic initiatives that contribute to student academic success. This paper describes the…

The challenge of producing the systemic changes that are needed to boost educational attainment and economic competitiveness across the country falls heavily on entities that coordinate public postsecondary institutions. Coordination of postsecondary education, whether of a single system of institutions or across an entire state, requires…

This paper presents a new laboratory-based module for embedded systems teaching, which addresses the current lack of consideration for the link between hardware development, software implementation, course content and student evaluation in a laboratory environment. The course introduces second year undergraduate students to the interface between…

Adults today have been submerged in a consumer society from a very young age and face decisions as consumers on a daily basis. Realizing and understanding the impact of these decisions are vital to functioning in a consumer society in order to achieve the greatest benefit for one's family, the environment, and society as a whole. Given that the…

It is not enough for students to acquire knowledge about how food is produced and processed; they must also come to understand the biological and environmental contexts in which food production, processing, and transportation take place. Through diagramming, students begin to understand that our food system has a series of interacting parts and…

In an effort to be comprehensive, schools often outline sweeping plans for improvement in multiple goal areas. Although well-intended, the efforts may be either too diffuse to have much impact, or so overwhelming that staff become immobilized. A school that chooses to proceed in too limited a manner, on the other hand, may run the risk of…

Evaluators are often faced with many challenges in the design and implementation of a program's evaluation. Because programs are entangled in complex networks of structures and stakeholders, they can be challenging to understand, and they often pose issues of competing and conflicting goals. However, by using a systems mapping approach to…

Changes to research methodology motivated by the adoption of a complexity theory perspective on language development are considered. The dynamic, nonlinear, and open nature of complex systems, together with their tendency toward self-organization and interaction across levels and timescales, requires changes in traditional views of the functions…

This article maintains that effective communications strategy derives from a complex understanding of frame coherence. In particular, this understanding calls for a closer examination of the ways in which the "pictures in people's heads" are activated by exposure to a key arena of frame contestation: the issue domain. Drawing from FrameWorks'…

Professors in management and business are encouraged to incorporate critical thinking as an objective in their courses. "The Lobster Tale" provides an opportunity to engage students in various levels of critical thinking, ranging from a relatively superficial reading to an examination of the deeper, often hidden issues. Using the foundations of…

This article reflects on the conceptualization and treatment strategies associated with a systems perspective of the somatic couple. It is suggested that resistance to change, nurturance of the somatic patient by his or her partner, and rigid role taking serve to promote relationship stability and individual pseudopower at the cost of patient…

Purpose: As a highly heterogeneous group, seniors live in complex environments influenced by multiple physical and social structures that affect their safety. Until now, the major approach to falls research has been person centered. However, in industrial settings, the individuals involved in an accident are seen as the inheritors of system…

No Child Left Behind has increased data collection and reporting, the development of data systems, and interest in using data for decision-making in schools and classrooms. Ends-driven decision making has become common educational practice, where the ends justify the means at all costs, and short-term results trump longer-term outcomes and the…