Issues concerning the increasing use of part-time and adjunct faculty in higher education that must be addressed include the need for research on faculty work, jobs, and careers, and on the institutional setting for part-time employment; faculty career patterns, incentives and disincentives; role of this group in the academic community; and…

Discusses the portfolio method of student assessment in the Educational Leadership program at Auburn University Montgomery (Alabama). Highlights include the procedures, format, components, and assessment practices utilized; perceptions of university faculty, students, and prospective employers; and the future of leadership portfolio assessment.…

Describes the pros and cons of Alaska's unique Family Partnership Charter School, which oversees distribution of public funding to home-schooling families, offers support to help home-schooling parents meet district standards on their own terms, and monitors required purchase of teacher time and expenditures. A sidebar describes an Alaskan…

Describes the four modules of a project for enhancing the knowledge and skills of educators to better serve children with attention deficits, and the inservice personnel-preparation program based on these modules. Modules focus on characteristics and identification, model school programs, effective classroom interventions, and policy and…

Most higher-education institutions cannot compete with business/industry for information-technology (IT) workers, but can level the playing field by capitalizing on workers' desire for professional-development opportunities. Strategies include using the appeal of the institution's mission and as a training ground for future IT workers; redesigning…

Examined the relation of school leadership changes to school configuration (climate, structure, and student population characteristics), based on survey data from 122 elementary schools. Schools having changes in principals had greater use, more new and minority students, slightly lower scores on criterion-referenced tests, and less discipline.…

President Molly Corbett Broad of the University of North Carolina system addresses questions about her vision for higher education in the information age, financing investments in technology, changing student needs, improving higher education's productivity, the value of technology in student learning, key technology-policy issues, student and…

Examines the changing environment for serving adult learners, with special attention to new modes of delivering instruction: distance education; use of information technology; emphasis on convenience; focus on special markets; and emergence of large-scale, profit-driven enterprises. Argues that, to develop an effective response, universities must…

Describes a visit to the Harvard University (Massachusetts) business school to examine how its curriculum and instruction have responded to economic, social, and technological changes in the business world. Focus is on the use of the case method and classroom discussion as central teaching techniques and the value of program participation to…

Focuses on effective data gathering in school libraries. Discusses the connection between program goals and statistical information; budget data; using spreadsheets to track and compare costs; circulation data and trends; copyright assessment of materials; material-quality evaluation; lab usage data; computer information; data on services and…

Describes and evaluates eight elements of a comprehensive market-research program for commuter colleges: secondary research with formal environmental scanning, local business community-needs assessment; adult community-member telephone survey, classroom survey, new student survey, focus groups, brainstorming sessions, and survey of college…

The University of Technology, Sydney (Australia) graduate certificate program in local government management grew from a desire for program flexibility and relevance and resulted in a partnership with local government. The one-year program has a variety of delivery modes, with both delivery and content negotiated by participants, employers, and…

Reports results of a nationwide survey of the United Kingdom public's citizenship information needs (in relation to national and local government issues and for survival information). A second survey examined further the concept of the "well-informed" and active citizen, and attitudes toward the uptake and use of information and…

Examination of recent cases highlights major provisions and judicial treatment of higher education institutions under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Discusses: covered entity, disability, qualified individuals, reasonable accommodation, scope of protection, testing under the legislation, medical testing, drug/alcohol use.…

Examines court cases involving financial exigency as a cause for terminating college faculty appointments, confirming the role of institutional data on judges' and juries' decisions. Institutions are encouraged to have some type of retrenchment policy in place, be prepared to supply analysis relevant to the specifics of the policy, and to provide…