A thorough review and revision of curriculum at San Jose State University (California) illustrates that the modern university can achieve major internal academic reforms when two important conditions are met: legitimacy and energy. These two concepts are defined and practical illustrations are drawn from the institution's recent experience in…

The University of California San Diego replaced its manual staff merit-increase-recommendation process with an online computer program to reduce workloads and improve the quality of the final recommendations. The highly successful system has been enthusiastically embraced by the campus community and recognized by the National Association of…

Examines case discussion leadership in two English-medium strategic management courses in Hong Kong. Perceptions of case leaders and their students were investigated to better understand the learning situation from their perspectives. Questions and responses were coded and analyzed. Analysis revealed questioning and grouping techniques that group…

Compares two surveys of new community college presidents. Finds that most presidents serve in order to "make a difference," and that 56% of survey participants followed an academic pathway to community college presidency, rather than coming from administrative or student services. (NB)

Identifies 13 administrative issues that arise when teaching distance education courses with students enrolled through other higher education institutions. Highlights include administrative models; academic cultures; academic calendars; registration processes; text books and additional readings; library resources; course materials; copyright…

In 1956-57 John Metcalfe was seconded from the Public Library of New South Wales to the University of Sydney to report on the needs of the University Library. This is a forgotten chapter in that Library's history, and a hitherto unexamined aspect of Metcalfe's career. Metcalfe was apparently manoeuvering to leave the Public Library, and expected…

Recent reports on Indigenous education have revealed that high proportions of students have been placed in special classes for intellectual disability or behaviour disorders. This is not an isolated phenomenon. Indigenous students in Canada and Romani children in Europe are also disproportionately represented in special schooling. This paper asks…

A substantial number of individuals serve as interim chairs each academic year. This chapter addresses their unique needs and provides suggestions on serving in this difficult role.

The implications of the policy choices made in setting up a phased retirement system are demonstrated by its variety of outcomes. (Contains 5 tables.)

The key challenge to academic leadership is to restructure the allocation of academic assets, particularly the organization of the faculty, in ways that better serve emerging societal and scholarly needs.

The authors studied beginning undergraduate actuarial concentrators in a business college. They identified four variables (math Scholastic Aptitude Test [SAT] score, verbal SAT score, percentile rank in high school graduating class, and percentage score on a college mathematics placement exam) that were available for entering college students that…

This study examines performance among public higher education boards, describing the results from a national study. The research questions that framed the study were: What are the elements of high performance/effectiveness in public higher education governing boards? How does performance among public higher education boards compare to the research…

On September 10, 2006, Teachers' Day was marked for the twentieth time in China. On this day, this journal's reporters congratulated teachers and at the same time conducted a number of investigations among teachers nationwide over the Internet, to find out what issues are of the biggest concern to them. The seventy-plus issues listed in this…

Distance education programmes warrant the use of innovative intervention practices to enhance student learning experiences. Academic and social empathy by faculty has been shown to enhance student retention in programmes along with their critical thinking abilities. Using Holmberg's theory of teaching-learning conversations as the guiding…

Using statistical data collected during a 30-year period, the article reports on the significant movement of females into all of the line administrative positions in the largest school districts in the country (by student population) since the passage of Title IX with one notable exception, that of superintendent. The position of superintendent…