The culture of an organization helps to determine the degree to which a new way of working is adopted and used. Team-based decision making in colleges and universities, as in other institutions, is more likely to be successful if organizational beliefs support the idea that change strengthens organizational goals. (Author/MSE)

Community colleges across the country are experimenting with strategies to raise faculty and staff awareness of the need for change and to engage them in the redesign process. This article describes the major forces driving the need for transformation, the organizational stress that sometimes results, and successful strategies for bridging the old…

The most critical challenge for higher education institutions in the near future will be to develop capacity for change, remove constraints to rapid response, remove unnecessary processes and administrative structures, question existing premises and arrangements, and challenge, excite, and empower all members of the academic community. (MSE)

Describes the changes Miami-Dade Community College implemented in order to cope with decreases in funding. Explains how the college was able to preserve many of its programs through increased operating efficiency. (JDI)

With each merger or corporate restructuring comes the possibility that corporate giving to higher education will suffer. A combination of patience, understanding of the processes at work in corporate change, and regular contact with affected companies can help position the college or university to make the most of any outcome. (MSE)

Explores the growth of literature proposing corporate spirituality as a means of motivating employees. Suggests that critical analysis articulates and advocates two entrepreneurial views of subjecthood that obscure contemporary corporate power by centering the individual as an autonomous agent. Concludes that these discourses reinforce social…

Examines implementers' use of channels to disseminate information to and solicit input from staff members during planned change. Assesses how communication was differently directed to paid and volunteer staff and the degree to which channel use is predictive of implementers' assessments of success of change efforts. Discusses potential…

A self-evaluation of one small but innovative agency providing supported living and other community supports to individuals with developmental disabilities is presented. Key elements that appear to perpetuate a culture of commitment among direct support and supervisory staff are described, including naturalness, individualization, introspection,…

The key features of continuous lifelong learning are open access, recognition of learning wherever it takes place, and new learning networks and partnerships. Lifelong learning is at the heart of the development of the virtual university, which must be a real university offering opportunities otherwise unavailable. (SK)

Examines some of the directions that modernization of teacher unionism has taken in the 1990s, explaining that the 1990s has been the decade of the Australian Education Union (AEU). The paper describes the AEU and looks at organizational changes within the AEU, industrial roles, and political roles that affect today's teacher unions in Australia.…

Ohio University's experience with assessment has had two phases: the first was devoted to providing university-wide assessment information to faculty and staff; the second to supporting individual academic units' needs for assessment information. While assessment is a tool used by the university to refocus its publicly perceived primary mission of…

This interview with Walt Crawford, a senior analyst for the Research Libraries Group, discusses his objections to the term and concept "digital library," the persistence of print versus the prospect of all-digital libraries, the economic and ecological disadvantages of all-digital libraries, expanding traditional library and university…

Pessimists say the proposed merger of the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) will create a union that will be more combative with superintendents and school boards. Optimists envision a more focused union positioned to work together with boards and administrators on school reform. (MLF)

Identifies major trends that are affecting the field of workforce learning and performance improvement: the effort given to managing knowledge, the integration of learning and communication, a resurgence of interest in leadership development and executive coaching, and the requirement by employees that career development become an integral part of…

Presents three views of community: a panoramic vista of common images, the landscape of community in higher education, and the concept of community in professors' and UCEA members' lives. Distinguishes between incidental and intentional communities and asserts the primacy of diversity, mutual respect, integrity, honesty, listening, and caring. (10…