In an approach to balancing work and personal life that benefits organizations and individual employees, managers are guided by three principles: (1) clarify what is important; (2) support employees as whole people; and (3) experiment with how work is done to enhance the organization's performance while creating time and energy for employees'…

The Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award (MBNQA) framework for defining organizational quality is widely accepted in for-profit organizations. A study examined the validity of the proposed relationships among MBNQA dimensions using data from higher education. The empirical results help identify a modified model that has implications for…

The ideal college president does not exist, and our mythic thinking obscures a serious consideration of how we can create the conditions for more successful college and university leadership. Success is correlated with support, but not all support is equal; longevity is not a measure of success; and an administrator's success should not be…

A discussion of the relationship between college teaching and faculty research looks at different forms the link between the two might take, how policy might reflect the relationship, emerging trends, and mechanisms for encouraging joint development of teaching and research. (MSE)

Two essays examine aspects of higher education in the United States at the end of a period of expansion. "Behind the Curtain" looks at the current economics of higher education and effects on institutional role and purpose and academic standards. "The Feudal Culture of the Postmodern University" focuses on issues concerning faculty governance,…

A new elementary school in New Hampshire uses innovative European ventilation technology to ensure excellent air quality. Combined with high-efficiency lighting, the system should reduce energy consumption by 10 to 20%, compared with a traditional facility. (MLF)

The commonly cited prescription for improving higher education, increasing the time faculty spends teaching, could lead to an impoverished learning environment because it ignores the rich learning opportunities afforded by the full complement of faculty life, which integrates teaching, research, and service. The traditional approach reflects…

A study tested a model of intraorganizational power in the libraries of 256 liberal arts colleges, focusing on power variables, environmental variables, technology level, and bases of power variables. Results indicate that technology has a direct, yet slight, influence on the bases of power. However, the overall model was not statistically…

In leadership academy for community college employees, teams used problem-based learning to build leadership skills while addressing community college problems. The program's success was attributed to proactiveness, responsiveness, constituent buy-in, and use of authentic problems and evaluation methods. (Contains 47 references.) (SK)

If conditions conducive to successful college planning are not present in the institution at the outset of the planning process, little can be done to compensate for the weaknesses. Conditions for successful strategic planning include: creation of consensus for change; focus on institutional needs; a planning strategy that fits with the…

A survey of 330 higher education schools of business examined effects of organizational culture type and managerial strategy on schools' organizational effectiveness. Schools with "clan" culture (compared to "market" and "hierarchy" cultures) were more effective on two of seven dimensions of effectiveness. An active…

In recent months, police on a number of college and university campuses have investigated hate crimes that made headlines, only to discover that the crimes had been made up. While some feel the hoaxes are by individual students during difficult times in their lives, others feel leftists may be faking the crimes to influence the campus movement…

Based on experience in two different university-based social research centers (SRCs), the author discusses factors influencing support for university-based SRCs, the difficulty of transferring research findings from the SRC to the outside world, and how the social context influences the role research administrators play in this type of research…

Plantwatch is an international program in which observers note the spring flowering times of key indicator plants and report them on the Internet. Steps are outlined for teachers who wish to involve their classes in Plantwatch. Tips are offered for teaching younger and older students about phenology (the study of periodic biological events related…

Discusses public confusion about the science related to climate change and public apathy towards related issues. This confusion can be related to a combination of factors, including ineffective communication. (Contains 39 references.) (DDR)