Trends in academic staffing in British higher education, especially in universities and polytechnics, are examined, along with major staffing issues facing employing authorities and academic staff in the short term. Implications for employee relations in a period of institutional change and resources constraint are considered. (MSE)

Converting research facility costs from indirect to direct costs is used as an illustrative example of the problems of making changes in research program costing policy. (MSE)

Adapted from a speech given at the 1985 conference of the National Association for the Education of Young Children, this discussion addresses issues concerning the formation of a national child care policy and describes factors contributing to "child carelessness" in the conception and delivery of child care services. (KS)

A regional library model policy statement on circulation of potentially controversial materials to school districts is presented. The procedure utilized to make service areas aware of these materials and to facilitate communication between principals and the regional library on how these materials will be dispensed to teachers is also presented.…

The education evaluation efforts of the federal government are discussed, focusing on the question of their effectiveness in informing the policymaking process. Successful evaluation criteria are outlined. An evaluation must provide useful information to policymakers to be a success. (DWH)

Staff nurses' perceptions of the formation of hospital policy and their role in policy formation are examined, with the assumption that knowledge about and involvement in the policy-making process are indicative of staff nurse authority and influence. (Author/MLW)

The process of developing policy for the recent comprehensive retrenchment in the Dutch university system is analyzed from a theoretical perspective on decision making. Focus is on the rationalist view of collective decision making that links social communication and unanimous selection of optimal policy. (Author/MSE)

Italy's approach to political decision making, increasingly a process of trying to reach collective agreement without changing anything, has paralyzed higher education and is moving it out of the mainstream of European higher education. (MSE)

The director of Youth Training for Britain's Manpower Services Commission (MSC) traces the evolution in youth training policy during the last decade. MSC chair Bryan Nicholson explains the thinking behind the new scheme. (Author/CT)

An analysis of problems relating to university patents today is presented, and a policy for the institution which addresses the issues that these problems present is suggested. Patenting the results of university research would not delay the publication of research and would provide a needed source of funding. (Author/MLW)

Future studies can provide a variety of useful techniques for teachers of public administration. Three futures methods that relate to public administration are group exercises (e.g., brainstorming and a variation of the Delphi technique), classroom simulation (e.g., role playing and gaming simulation), and scenarios. (Author/CS)

Speculates on the contributions social science research can make to the field of domestic policy. Defines three approaches to applied social science: analysis, evaluation, and demonstrations. Recommends that present day social scientists give more attention to institutions and especially to the links between institutional and behavioral change.…

The chairman of the newly-formed Commission on College Retirement outlines the group's objectives, approaches, and anticipated projects and encourages and provides an address for correspondence. A list of commission members and their affiliations is also included. (MSE)

Summarizes the research on school effectiveness and identifies state policy implications followed by a discussion of current state education policies and their relationship to school effectiveness research. (MLF)

Effective inservice programs are necessary to ensure that current reforms in education are properly implemented. Inservice programs must meet the needs of both the educational system and educators. Six basic policy assumptions dealing with what is needed in inservice education are discussed. (DF)