This study examines Thai students' perceptions regarding the quality of the Australian university system. Research findings reveal that (a) it is very important to maintain and safeguard the university's superior reputation, as it is the most important factor influencing Thais to choose one university over other institutions; (b) information on…

Institutional accountability for performance and quality is an evolving topic with immeasurable appeal. Data and sources are abundant, but validated measures and meaningful information are scarce. While pursuing an approach centered on construct validity, this study transforms complex data into useful information. Correlation analysis reveals…

The objective of this report is to answer the big questions about whether in the foreseeable future most school overcrowding in New York City will be eliminated and all city children will have class sizes and access to school libraries, science labs, art/music rooms, and physical fitness activities that are the norm for students in the rest of the…

The heads of the education divisions of 245 colleges and universities were surveyed regarding their opinions about faculty evaluation and reward procedures. Findings indicated that tenure received significantly more attention from decision-making bodies in the colleges than merit pay. Tenure was also viewed as having a greater effect on faculty…

Cognitive imaging was investigated as one factor associated with the development of the University of New Mexico from an undergraduate teaching institution toward becoming a nationally-ranked graduate research university. A longitudinal, ethnohistorical study was undertaken for the 1967-1978 period. The qualitative research methodology involved an…

A reanalysis was conducted of Saunier's research (1985) on sources of variation in the National Research Council (NRC) reputational ratings of university faculty. Saunier conducted a stepwise regression analysis using 12 predictor variables. Due to problems with multicollinearity and because of the atheoretical nature of stepwise regression,…

Domains of faculty research development are considered, with attention to various scholarly activities such as publishing in journals, editing books/monographs, publishing book reviews, and delivering papers at professional meetings. A cognitive map of faculty development is presented that incorporates findings from the literature on the sociology…

Planning issues for colleges seeking to maintain quality in institutional programs in the face of retrenchment are analyzed, based on a literature review. An extensive bibliography on the following topics is provided: quality (ratings, rankings, reform, institutional goals, and educational outcomes); retrenchment (enrollment decline, faculty,…

It is commonly thought that teacher educators enjoy mixed, if not poor, reputations among those with whom they interact in the course of their work. To assess this assumption, samples of teacher education preservice candidates, educational foundations faculty, liberal arts and sciences faculty and school teachers were asked to complete a survey…

Early psychological studies of "genius" are examined, and reasons why European studies of eminent people never developed into true academic quality rankings are considered. In Europe, and especially England, France, and Germany, the ecological origins of eminent men and women were assessed: where they grew up, where they attended school,…

While it is a land-grant university with ambitious plans, the University of the District of Columbia faces the problems posed by its urban context, expectations, small endowment, administrative turnover, and administrative scandals. (MSE)

Although competition at top colleges may be stiff, there are ways to improve the chances of admission, including: careful high school course and extracurricular activity selection to highlight academic, creative, leadership, initiative, and maturity characteristics; application and interview approaches; college choice; and timing. (MSE)

The University of Redlands responded successfully to financial and administrative crisis by tapping institutional and community pride in the institution's stature, affirming a dual commitment to liberal education and career training, developing a new governance system, and reorganizing financial and program priorities. (MSE)

Concerned about shrinking state support, University of Michigan officials undertook a program in 1978 to increase public and legislative awareness of higher education problems and stop the appropriations decline. Person-to-person contact, group interaction, specialized communication through publications, and mass media communication were used.…

Factor analysis of 127 private and public universities found that graduate and undergraduate academic reputations are largely explained by the same two factors, size and selectivity. Institutional research activity was the most essential component of the size factor. Findings suggest that reputation strongly influences college attendance choices,…