Australian higher education institutions must recognize the areas in which responsibility for decision making rests with collegiality and where it rests with faculty unions. Both have valid roles within the university community, but they should not overlap. Salary decisions should also be decentralized to preserve institutional autonomy and…

Student activities programing, viewed as essential to the college experience, is defended by outlining some of the values and growth opportunities it provides for students. Several specific programing strategies useful as catalysts in values development are described, including values clarification exercises, multicultural programing, and…

As the community's richest information and learning resource center, the public library is an essential partner of parents and schools in achieving the national education goals. The public library could help reinforce teaching and assist parents in preparing young children for school. Adequate funding is necessary for public libraries' continued…

The American Dental Association has a role to play in the increasing computerization of dental practices, including involvement in electronic media claims for insurance processing, information dissemination, and development of guidelines for electronic patient records. (DB)

This discussion of faculty senates examines roles senates are presumed to and actually play in college governance within four organizational models: bureaucratic, collegial, political, or symbolic. It is concluded that any changes must be undertaken carefully so as not to disturb either manifest or latent organizational functions. (MSE)

Explains the role and functions of England's Audit Commission, established in 1983 to promote proper stewardship of public finances and help public servants achieve economy, efficiency, and effectiveness. The commission's influence stems from its ability to link with other government initiatives, use of rigorous investigative methodology, and a…

Foundations affiliated with public higher education institutions can avoid having to open records for public scrutiny, by having independent boards of directors, occupying leased office space or paying market value for university space, using only foundation personnel, retaining legal counsel, being forthcoming with information and use of public…

Employee assistance programs (EAPs) are emerging as an efficient way to address employee rights, particularly in light of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act. Well-managed EAPs help maintain a healthy, motivated, productive workforce, show effort to provide reasonable accommodation of employee needs, and may…

Children in out-of-home care risk losing contact with parents and others despite emphasis of the Children Act 1989. Contact is lower for children in foster care and as family support diminishes. Contact after adoption increases as methods of indirect contact developed by adoption agencies are implemented; lost contact for all children can be…

Describes U.S. Department of Agriculture programs and services authorized by Title VII (Rural Development) of the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996. Four agencies within the Rural Development Mission Area provide funding, technical assistance, and training to rural communities to develop utilities, housing, businesses, new…

Although both the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) and the Teacher Education Accreditation Council (TEAC) accredit teacher education, the public's confidence in higher education has suffered from reports of supposedly good schools graduating poorly qualified teachers, prompting this reevaluation of how these agencies…

Discusses the role and position of an educational buffer agency, as exemplified by the Swedish National Agency for Higher Education, with references to: (1) accreditation; (2) quality audit; (3) support of academic leadership; and (4) internal quality enhancement. Concludes that change is best accomplished by emphasizing support in the early…

A study of 42 persons involved in providing early intervention services investigated perspectives on reporting abuse and neglect of children with disabilities. Participants described relatively few strengths within current reporting systems and several challenges affecting decisions to report abuse or neglect. Recommendations for reducing these…

This paper considers the development of intermediary, or buffer, bodies dealing with quality assurance in higher education in Central and Eastern Europe over the past 10 years. It relates these developments to the context of communist-era centralisation and control, and to more recent interventions by international aid agencies. The lessons that…

In this article I use the concept of "re-agenting" to explore and explain the role of non-state agencies, principally private companies and business entrepreneurs, as key instruments in the government's transformation of the school system in England. Their role takes both for-profit and not-for-profit forms. The outsourcing to private…