The significance of student activities in student development is taken for granted even though activities represent the core of institutional efforts to foster student development. In many ways, student activities may be the most critical link with the educational mission of the institution. Attention must be paid to the quality of opportunities…

Student apathy, alcohol abuse, racial and ethnic divisions, and acts of incivility are weakening the integrity of many higher education institutions and limiting their ability to function as vital communities of learning. A set of agreed-upon standards of campus governance is needed to guide the conduct of all members of the community and give…

The retention of African-American students on college campuses is examined in this study conducted at Oberlin College, Ohio, a school which has been fairly successful in retaining African-American students over the past 20 years. The study addressed the needs of African-American students by looking at the college's institutional symbols. In…

A study investigated the influence of interpersonal variables, such as communicative competence, loneliness, and roommate rapport, upon persistence in college. The study includes self-reports as well as reports of roommates' behaviors. Subjects were 200 freshman students (out of a total of 350) who participated in several sections of a…

This paper addresses the developmental stages and issues faced by lesbian and gay college students between the ages of 18 and 25. Over and above the developmental stages faced by all students, lesbian and gay students frequently struggle with their sexual identity and development and the range of problems and emotions associated with coming to…

Advice for colleges on how to identify, develop, and communicate a positive image for the institution is offered in this handbook. The use of market research techniques to measure image is discussed along with advice on how to improve an image so that it contributes to a unified marketing plan. The first objective is to create and communicate some…

Ways that academic advising can be used to foster cohesion in the college are addressed. Advising is assumed to contribute to the primary mission of the institution, the pursuit of scholarship. The question at issue concerns the types of efforts directed toward differentiation and specialization in contrast to efforts designed to increase…

An explanation of the roots of the current movement to reform undergraduate education is presented. It is suggested that the reform movement is a reaction against the dominance of the research university. Several reports about the state of undergraduate education are cited, including "Involvement in Learning,""To Reclaim a…

A survey was conducted of a college faculty of 253 to assess faculty attitudes toward governance, teaching, curriculum and students. A modified, abbreviated form of the Carnegie Foundation Faculty Survey was developed. The response rate was 67%. Results included the following: (1) 67% indicated that their writing had been published, or their…

The use and abuse of alcohol on college campuses is reviewed briefly and administrative responses are described. Campus initiatives include policy formation and enforcement, treatment programs, and prevention activities. Issues related to institutional liability are outlined, and important factors that bear on policy formation are detailed, such…

The popular model of collaborative learning views classrooms as contexts where nonmembers of "valued" communities become members by mastering accepted knowledge, discourse forms, and methods. Although attractive to educators, this model allows only for changes in individual students, not in "valued" communities. Further, its…

The relationship between strategic planning and environmental determinism was investigated at the University of Minnesota. The central proposition was that for a particular type of institution (a liberal arts college of a large public university), the strategic planning process will not be strategic either in the sense of being environmentally…

A theoretical model is attempted that explains the processes of interaction between the individual and the institution that lead differing individuals to drop out from the institutions. Recent research in the field is also reviewed to gain new insights into the social process of dropping out from higher education. (Author/DEP)

Since its establishment in 1969, Dawson College (Montreal) has emphasized equal faculty and student participation in all facets of college decision making. Student and faculty attitudes, the effects on the college, and the strengths and weaknesses of such an emphasis are described. (DC)

A bibliography on organizational communication and higher education is presented, and conclusions from previous studies in the areas of information, organizational climate, and decision-making are reviewed. Additionally, suggestions for future research directions are offered. Three important communication issues pertaining to the administration of…