All Top Administrators, Other Administrators, and Faculty at Central Florida Community College (n=101) were surveyed in order to ascertain their perceptions of the college's existing governance characteristics. Response rates from each of the three groups differed but were at least 70%. Results of the survey showed that the traditional…

Details the steps and some of the rubrics involved in teaching skills for performance appraisal interviewing through classroom simulations. Describes an effective method that maintains interest and enthusiasm among students while exposing them to communication behaviors that are essential for a successful appraisal interview. (NKA)

Communication with the entire educational team and school community about the benefits to expect if a school library media specialist has the opportunity to fulfill his or her professional responsibility is critical. The school library media specialist can then develop objectives based on school needs and be evaluated on the outcomes. (EM)

Analyzes the five factors in combination that appear to account for the mind-set in which the decision to launch the Challenger was made: (1) perceived pressure, (2) rigid conformity to perceived role requirements, (3) questionable reasoning, (4) ambiguous use of language, and (5) failure to ask important relevant questions. (NKA)

Writing in the workplace is among the understudied business topics in the field of HRD. Yet, the impacts of writing in today's workplace are significant, and organizations making it a priority benefit from it. Furthermore, writing is related to the issue of workplace literacy which is the umbrella term for basic communication skills. This…

A study assessed the teaching/learning environment of one professional development school in a variety of ways that included a combination of quantitative and qualitative measures. Results were analyzed using the eight scales of the "School Level Environment Questionnaire" (SLEQ) as categories: Student Support, Affiliation, Professional…

Mission statements can provide a useful vehicle to communicate the purposes, goals, and objectives for functional units within organizations. This paper studied the extent to which institutional research offices utilize mission statements to communicate office functions. These functions were identified through content analysis, using nine specific…

The traditional concept of evaluating college teaching involves evaluation of each autonomous instructor in each classroom on campus. This paper addresses a competing concept--the need for evaluating the contribution each instructor makes to the maintenance and improvement of all instructional programs in the department--holding that both…

Supervision by circular letters is essential in most counties. The size of the territory to be covered makes frequent visits on the part of the county superintendent an impossibility. Many superintendents have no supervisors or field deputies and have only occasional office help. In such cases circular letters are the most valuable means of…

A new model for college fact books is proposed, to create a new generation of institutional research reports that offer more comparative and unit- or topic-specific information, with illustrations, that would be useful for current decision-making needs. (MSE)

Automation of many college human resources management activities can lead to changes in office strategies, resource deployment, development needs, and career planning. The World Wide Web and local area networking have a variety of applications in this area, including tracking of transactions and forms. Careful planning and an understanding of the…

At Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, sexual harassment policy includes comprehensive education for administrators, faculty, and other staff, and communication of policy through school publications. As a result, more communication has occurred, harassment behaviors are less severe, complaints are handled earlier and at a lower…

The process of reengineering the administrative information system at the University of Idaho required careful planning, development of a set of philosophies, and several strategies for ensuring success. The latter included a humorous symbol (a jitter bug) to express concern, improved institutional communications, and a focus on logistical issues.…

A discussion of the response of George Mason University (Virginia) to economic decline in 1989-92 looks at four stages in the downturn and examines a variety of planning and policy issues, including management of both unplanned and planned reductions, continued uncertainty, politics of decline, organizational communication and morale,…

To provide better access to information, the University of Arizona information technology center has designed a data warehouse accessible from the desktop computer. A team approach has proved successful in introducing and demonstrating a prototype to the campus community. (Author/MSE)