The University of Missouri-St. Louis has discovered the value of continuous quality improvement methods in upgrading its core student-related administrative processes. As a result, it is increasing efficiency and personalizing a traditionally bureaucratic system of student service. Concurrent goals are to increase retention and decrease time to…

Asserts that the diversity that law schools strive for today must envision much more than a student body that adequately reflects the larger community: the next step must involve the embrace of structural, curricular, and pedagogical innovation. Attention should be focused on the quality of interactions once minority groups are inside the…

Provides an institutional case study of St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia, a church-related college, regarding how post-World War II social trends reconfigured Canadian universities and substantially altered the undergraduate experience. Found that rising enrollments, physical plant expansion, faculty laicization, the campaign for…

Discusses how British students and faculty members from ethnic minority groups are calling on universities to do a better job of including them. (EV)

American Indian Studies programs at over 100 institutions perform the traditional teaching, research, and service functions expected of all departments but also assume atypical roles, such as multicultural education for the whole institution, recruitment and retention of Indian students, linking academic and Indian communities, and advancement of…

Describes the development of an extended freshman orientation course at the University of Central Arkansas. The course, "University Studies," is targeted to the related goals of assisting new university students and increasing retention through increasing student awareness of academic life and development of study skills. (TE)

Among the protective measures against computer viruses that universities should consider are the following: (1) establishment of policies regarding student and faculty conduct; (2) distribution of information; (3) limitations on access to college computers; (4) establishment of operational safeguards; and (5) creation of an emergency action plan.…

Considers the various educational roles that community colleges have played in attempts to be democratizing institutions and their success in fulfilling these roles. Advocates structured, sequential education in college-level courses, and the development of action agendas focusing on college identity, financing, accountability, scholarship, and…

A survey of 300 institutions of higher education found 9 factors associated with alumni giving participation rates. These included library volumes per student; average Scholastic Aptitude Test scores of entering first-year college students; percentage of faculty with doctorates; educational and general budget expenditures per student; endowment…

Suggests eight parameters as criteria for describing and comparing distance education/open learning institutions: target population, dimensions of openness, organizational structure, design and development of learning materials, use of advanced technology, teaching/tutoring system, student support systems, and interinstitutional collaboration. (35…

In a national survey of university colleges, deans report the advantages of providing a common experience to all freshmen and centrally administering programs relevant to the first year such as orientation, advising, learning assistance, retention and honors. University colleges attend to the needs of freshmen, undeclared majors, and adult…

Some colleges have been able to create and maintain campus climates that promote educationally purposeful student behavior. The 14 "involving colleges" identified in a recent study provide unusually rich extra-classroom learning opportunities for undergraduates. Common cultural features of the institutions include strong institutional…

Discussion of the current market-orientation of higher education institutions outlines five ways they can appropriately respond to students and employers: creating a culture focusing on student learning, not teaching; accepting responsibility to teach more than course content; involving students in establishing objectives for learning; making…

Describes psychosocial factors that predicted college adjustment of first-year undergraduate students on the basis of studies conducted in two universities of differing size, focus, and geographic location. Academic self-confidence, positive attitudes toward the university, and faculty and peer support significantly predicted more successful…

University liability is in transition; its role changing from a parental/custodial "in loco parentis" model (and then a bystander role) to a new model of facilitator. The university enjoys a position of authority and respect, while exercising control more subtly than in the mid-1990s. At the same time, universities may be unable to claim the same…