Discusses what the college language department needs to communicate to the dean about what it does, including the substance of language, literature, and culture and the disparate teaching demands they create. Focus is on how realistic current staffing patterns are and how they may have to change for language departments to be allocated adequate…

Describes three rhetorical strategies used by postmodern corporations to construct social realities and obscure individual causation and control: decentering, deindividuation, and distanciation. Shows that the postmodern corporation mediates and controls the reality of individuals; therefore it, and not its members, should be viewed as morally…

Examines the perspectives of both employees and senior managers in one organization, finding a shared agreement among the majority of participants that communication between advisory panels representing diverse groups of employees and senior managers resulted in a shared understanding and commitment to diversity. Identifies positive effects of the…

Suggests two avenues of guidance for organizations adopting a multicultural approach: (1) businesses can profit from experiences in academia, where researchers have outlined areas of difficulty (for example, sharing power and valuing difference); and (2) industries' own team management theory (which dismantles hierarchical structures in favor of…

Examines undergraduate students' assessments of social-sexual messages in a fictitious newsletter that used suggestive remarks. Indicates: messages conveying sexual interest explicitly were perceived as more harassing than those conveying interest implicitly; explicit sexual messages were rated more harassing when initiated by supervisors or when…

Describes and discusses the collaborative research relationship of three college faculty members, identifying factors that contributed to the team's success and looking at what the literature on collaborative teams offers to such an endeavor. Issues discussed include the quality and quantity of communication among members, group dynamics, and…

Promotional marketing can deliver significant benefits to colleges and universities willing to modify traditional practices to build awareness and recruit students. Emerging college marketing practices focus on service, rely on friends to disseminate information, maximize technology, simplify the message, and are based on knowledge of the…

Surveys of Montana parents, teachers, and school administrators found agreement that parent involvement is important for school effectiveness and student success. Actions are recommended by which educators can overtly welcome families, support a range of parent involvement activities, break down existing barriers, and educate parents and community…

Applications of World Wide Web-style institutional intranets and browsers to provide and manage information in college personnel administration are examined. The intranet can facilitate use of more complex data structures, protect data security, allow tracking of information and forms, eliminate hard-copy manuals, maintain up-to-date schedules,…

Describes how decision makers utilize information, and synthesizes models of organizational information and communication between science and government. Usage is affected by interrelationships of several variables: decision makers' environments; organizational and individual characteristics; and character of the information. Variations in usage…

Offers supervisors a standard procedure for managing an employee's unsatisfactory job performance that gives the employee a second chance, yet protects the organization in the event of a termination. Discusses notifying the employee through a meeting and follow-up letter; performance improvement reviews; and employee, supervisor, and company…

After a college or university has received the large gift it has solicited, there are still a variety of follow-through tasks to attend to, including considering an appropriate sign of appreciation, notifying campus officials and encouraging them to send thank-you notes, creating a payment schedule, keeping the donor apprised of progress toward…

Examines the practical aspects of publishing a newsletter as a communication tool for libraries. Both internal and external newsletters are discussed, along with ones concerned with fundraising or ones in electronic format. Other topics include editorship, staffing, content decisions, production techniques, distribution, and organizational…

A game-theory approach to illustrating elements of organizational culture can help to achieve desirable information exchange by aligning individual and organizational goals. The game approach should involve the values of permanence, trust, teamwork, and credibility and should be combined with appropriate reward systems and parity in…

The first critical step in creating a synergistic relationship between student affairs and institutional advancement is to establish a dialog between the two units regarding educational fundraising activities. Systems theory, which emphasizes horizontal linkages within the university, sets the stage for beginning a dialog with the development…