Departures of child care staff often create an emotional climate that affects everyone. This article advises directors on communication strategies to inform parents of staff departures, including a case study on the well-handled departure of a staff worker who resigned without notice. A sample letter to parents is also provided. (EV)

Experience in the corporate sector suggests that human resources practices that promote success in an environment of rapid change, complexity, and unpredictability support at least three values: flexibility; access to information by people at all levels; and risk-taking. While academic tenure is not necessarily inconsistent with these practices,…

Revamps the principles of a public relations course, the first professional course in the public relations sequence, by integrating a leadership process and a service-learning component. Finds that more students are reflecting the interpersonal and team skills desired in the 1998 national study on public relations. (SG)

Discusses difficulties technical writers and readers have concerning proposals that define problems and suggest innovation. Suggests that when writers recognize both their own and readers' assumptions about such problems, they can adopt techniques to gain reader concurrence. (KEH)

Describes the basic or first course in organizational communication as it is taught in colleges and universities in the United States. Presents a content analysis of several of the most frequently adopted textbooks. Finds that the introductory course consists primarily of theory and is taught using lecture-discussion methods. (RS)

Recounts how the author and 25 colleagues worked on a massive, long-term consulting project with a branch of the United States military to revise an extensive technical manual. Describes stressors of the project intrinsic to the job, the workers' roles in the organization, organizational structure, career development, and work relationships. (SR)

Examines the steady extension of the issue purview in the corporate world from micro (company specific) to macro issues. Discusses the Allstate Insurance Company's Forum on Public Issues, established in 1987, which has involved governmental and corporate leaders in dealing with two major issues: AIDS and public education. (KEH)

Tests a model of the factors that influence groups to follow various paths as they make decisions. Uses three panels of contingency variables to predict properties of the group's developmental path. Finds that group decision paths and their properties can be predicted as a function of task and relational contingencies. (MS)

Presents directors of day care facilities with suggestions about ways to help staff members make the transition from one school year to another. (BB)

The benefits to camps of connecting to the Internet include reaching a new market, providing interactive opportunities for campers, providing up-to-date information for parents, having an up-to-date brochure available, easily taking care of billing and other camp business, recruiting staff members, and participating in discussions with other camp…

The University of Chicago's trustees, most prominent businessmen, found the institution's fund accounting system outmoded and incomprehensible and revised the financial reporting procedures. The new system gives a better picture of the size of the university, its activities, and its general financial health to use in decision making. (MSE)

Some colleges and universities have found that alumni prefer to have ownership of their alumni association, and such a membership program can raise revenues for the institution while providing a valuable communication tool. A strong dues program can work well with an annual giving campaign. A variety of membership structures is possible. Details…

Tips are offered to college alumni directors and campus computer experts for communicating with each other regarding the institution's World Wide Web page. They concern making needs and capabilities clear and understanding the role of the other professional. (MSE)

Finds that corporate public relations practitioners felt they were able, using online database and information services, to intercept issues earlier in the "issue cycle" and thus enable their organizations to develop more "proactionary" or "catalytic" issues management repose strategies. (SR)

Discusses use of a mail survey to study the extent to which the hospitality industry employs various information technologies, including computer-mediated communication systems. Finds that hotel/motel size and chain affiliation are related to information system complexity, and that chain-affiliated hotels provide less computer and…