Attention to the origins, history, and evolution of the First-Year Experience (FYE) movement in American higher education can inform institutional practices aimed at enhancing transition experiences of students.

This chapter discusses how Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC) has used data from the National Community College Benchmark Project. Analysis of project benchmark data led to a review of high course-withdrawal rates and CPCC withdrawal policies as well as their effects on student program completion and within-term retention. As a result, the…

A new library in San Jose opened on August 1, 2003. This library is the result of a unique collaboration between San Jose State University Library and the San Jose Public Library. The planning for this new library highlighted merging several key areas of operation, including Government Publications. Several years before the two libraries merged,…

This essay explores the themes of curriculum and pedagogy, as outlined by the editors of this special edition, in the context of Portland State University's institutional transformation. We elucidate select mechanisms that support curricular-community interactions, known at PSU as "community-based learning." In doing so we discuss how…

Following a library-wide brainstorming session and retreat, the Dean of the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library tasked an ad-hoc committee to discuss implications for the library and its users if certain processes were implemented or eliminated in order to streamline the processing of serials. As the library's collection continues to shift from…

The Mass-Observation Archive contains a large amount of evidence, stretching back to the 1930s, of the British public's daily lives and its attitudes to local, national, and international issues and events. The archive's data-collection method takes the form of essay-style contributions submitted from anonymous volunteer correspondents who write…

This article reports on a study investigating the relationship between the introduction of new management practices and the training provided by Australian enterprises for their employees. The new management practices investigated include teamworking, total quality management, lean production, business process re-engineering and the learning…

Following a national trend of "getting tough" on juvenile crime, the Florida legislature eliminated one of the State's primary community service-oriented juvenile diversion programs, the Juvenile Alternative Services Program (JASP). JASP was subsequently replaced with four other diversion programs, two of which (the Walker Plan and an…

Principals are always looking for effective ways to enhance the learning environment. The Balanced School Day (BSD) schedule, an alternative to the traditional schedule, reframes the school day by eliminating recess and lunch breaks and providing two scheduled nutrition breaks. Advantages and disadvantages to the schedule have been anecdotally…

An e-Learning team within an insurance corporation established a research partnership with three researchers to inform the renewal and innovation of their e-Learning solution. The research focused on management's perceptions on the future of e-Learning, learners' perceptions of their use of the e-Learning system, and administrators' perceptions of…

In this paper, we critique the study of school leadership for its normative, singular, and evolutionary tendencies. Through an empirical study of leadership we offer an approach that suggests new possibilities for the field. Through the use of a qualitative, grounded theory methodology, we developed profiles of principals that illustrate a variety…

Globalization, new technology, and the knowledge economy are transforming the role of community colleges in learning. In an increasingly competitive and global education market community colleges in Canada and the USA are responding by changing their missions, culture, curricula, program delivery models, and organizational structures. This…

High school yearbook students from five schools in a large suburban school system were surveyed and interviewed to investigate what was meaningful and memorable to them throughout their high school experience. The yearbooks they produced were analyzed to confirm their responses and gain more information about their interests and priorities.…

In the rapidly changing information environment, libraries have to demonstrate that their services have relevance, value, and impact for stakeholders and customers. To deliver effective and high quality services, libraries have to assess their performance from the customer point of view. Moving to an assessment framework will be more successful if…

This paper presents a comparative case study of diverse approaches to deinstitutionalization of developmental disabilities residential services in two Midwestern states. During the 1970s and 1980s, the convergence of leadership by advocates, legislators, and bureaucrats led to Michigan's rapid transformation from an institutional to a…