Hedge funds are the rock stars of today's financial world. These slightly regulated pools of equity, which are open only to rich players, are managed through secretive and sophisticated investment strategies. Although the risks are high, so are the potential benefits. Despite the risks, many colleges and universities have chosen to invest heavily…

The study examined the application of 1:3 in employments of academic and non-academic staff in Nigerian Universities, as recommended by the National Universities Commission (N.U.C.), following the general feeling that Nigerian Universities were highly bureaucratised; non-teaching staff was over employed while some universities lacked…

The working lives of general staff in universities have been a rather closed book until recently, having been largely ignored in both academic and non-academic literature. When discussed or referred to, general staff have been depicted in problematic ways that, in recent times, can be associated with the prevailing discourse of "corporate…

Information and communication technologies have the potential to enhance teaching and learning in higher education by improving access to and interaction with information and resources, and by facilitating dialogue between people. The benefits for learners studying independently are considerable. From the students' perspective, networked learning…

Leadership is a key ingredient in the ultimate success or failure of any organization. In this article the authors review the research on leadership in general and then focus on how leadership in the academic world is similar to, yet distinct from, leadership in the private sector. Included in this discussion are a description of how leadership in…

This article examines how a graduate sport-marketing class, at an urban university, implemented a sport-related service-learning project (Hoops Against Hunger) that provided relief to victims of Florida's 2004 hurricanes. The article describes the seven components of the project (need, participants, learning, service, publicity, evaluation, and…

Faced with thousands of incoming students who needed remedial classes, the California State University system launched an effort in 2001 to provide high school juniors with an early signal of whether they have the English and math skills necessary for college, and to provide help for those who do not. CSU draws its students from the top third of…

The introduction of subject benchmarking led to fears of increased external intervention in the activities of universities and a more restrictive view of institutional autonomy, accompanied by an undermining of the academic profession, particularly through the perceived threat of the introduction of a national curriculum for higher education. For…

A unique data set on Taiwan was employed to investigate the socioeconomic family backgrounds of students attending universities. Our empirical study found that individuals attending university are more likely to come from better-educated families than are those who do not attend university. Students attending public universities, which receive…

The modern university has become a subsystem within the technological system. As such, the university has lost its autonomy. Every aspect of the university--administration, pedagogy, research--has become specialized and technical. Success, power, and efficiency are its only values. An alternative to the modern university is briefly explored.…

Building upon earlier work by Camp, Gibbs, and Masters II, (1988). "The Journal of Higher Education" 59(6): 652-667 and Wenger and Girard, (2000). "Research in Higher Education" 41(2):195-207, we present a model for allocating funds for salary increases to faculty lines within an academic unit at a public research university. The model first…

Public debate on higher education reform today is dominated by competing views about what higher education institutions, particularly universities, are or should become. To a surprising extent, these views are based upon highly simplified characterisations of university history. The claims in question have been repeated so often that they have…

What is changing in academic research? What has changed over the past decades and what might change in the coming ones? Could the research mission of universities be carried out in slightly or radically different ways in the medium term? This article aims to cast light on the trends and driving forces that can be observed in academic research over…

Measurable research outputs have become part of the overall research management structure within Australian universities over the past ten years. As such, policy makers and administrators alike have come to regard effective management structures and mechanisms as fundamental components of a research environment capable of generating desired…

Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia (BC), celebrated its fortieth anniversary in 2005. A relatively new university, it has nevertheless seen tremendous changes over the past four decades. As admissions officers, registrars and other student services professionals know, the rate of change is continuing to increase dramatically.…