Current working conditions of postsecondary faculty in the People's Republic of China are described, with a focus on what has changed since 1976 and the end of the Cultural Revolution. Based on field work in China and on personal correspondence with Chinese faculty members between 1984 and 1989, a broad overview is presented of college and…

The progress of the indicators project of the U.S. Department of Education is reported as a follow-up to a 1985 Department of Education publication, "Indicators of Education Status and Trends," which attempted to identify those items that could be considered as significant indices of the health of education in the United States. In…

Student perceptions of residence hall environment were studied at Saint Mary's College (Indiana) with a 50% sample of freshmen and sophomores, a one-third sample of juniors, and a one-fifth sample of seniors. Consideration was given to the effects of the type of room (single, double, triple, quad, quint) and choice of residence (first, second,…

In November 1984, all administrators, classified staff, and faculty at Napa Valley College (NVC) were surveyed concerning a wide range of topics related to working at the institution. The survey, which was completed by 17 administrators (71%), 60 classified staff members (42%), 71 full-time faculty members (63%), and 79 part-time faculty members…

This book is intended to point out the extent of sexual discrimination and bias that occurs in Canadian universities; to reveal the anti-woman ambience that presently exists in academia, undermining the confidence and self-respect of women scholars; and to offer recommendations for action that would greatly ameliorate the situation of university…

A 3-year project at Dominican College of San Rafael (California) supported by a grant from the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), is summarized. The project developed comprehensive integrated student development plan with four perspectives: (skills, stages, tasks, and styles) designed as a cornerstone of all academic and…

A pilot study of retention at a large, residential, Ph.D.-granting institution employed causal modeling (LISREL) to examine the effects of institutional variables (academic and social climate) on student retention within the causal structure specified by the Tinto model. Scales constructed from Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) and…

The American Council on Education's (ACE) continuing project to monitor and report on changing practices in higher education, is reported in this fifth issue of "Campus Trends." The survey was conducted by ACE's Higher Education Panel, with questionnaires completed by senior administrators at 367 colleges and universities. Special…

University climate differences were examined across paired samples of 32 male self-identified heterosexual and 32 male self-identified homosexual college students attending the University of Virginia. Data were collected during the winter and spring of the 1983-84 school year. Selected students completed a questionnaire packet addressing several…

The corporate structures that inform and sustain high schools and colleges are different from each other. The high school structure is required by law to provide students with surrogate parents who ensure that legal requirements are enforced. Colleges, however, assume students are adults and provide a much more open and volatile academic…

A study was conducted to gather responses to the question "what is it like to be a black student on a traditionally or predominantly white campus in 1986?" Responses were gathered by 22 black student leaders from 13 predominantly white campuses in North Carolina, using random samples of black first-year students at their institutions.…

The Community College Goals Inventory (CCGI) was used to gather comparative data from faculty, administrators, staff, lay advisory members, and college board members at Virginia Western Community College (VWCC). CCGI's 90 goal statements, which are grouped into 20 goal categories and a miscellaneous category, and an additional 18 local statements…

Black student attitudes about Louisiana State University (LSU) and their participation in extracurricular activities were studied and compared to those of white students. Questionnaires were mailed to the approximately 1,400 black students attending LSU and an equal number of white students, and responses were obtained from 129 black and 114 white…

A profile of white faculty members at Fayetteville State University (FSU) was developed and compared with data on white teachers at Morehouse College, Atlanta, Georgia, a historically/predominantly black institution of similar size. The objective was to ascertain if the difference in cultural settings between the two colleges (small town vs.…

Perspectives on higher education and its leadership are offered by the president emeritus of the University of California. Six impressions concerning higher education are considered, based on about 800 interviews conducted by a presidential leadership commission sponsored by the Association of Governing Boards. In addition to the perception that…