Using results from the Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA) administered at Central Connecticut State University, a public Carnegie master's-larger programs university in the Northeast, this study demonstrates time on spent on the test, student motivation, and to a lesser extent the local institutional administration procedures represent…

The call to be strategic--and with it the concept of strategic management--can bring to mind a wide range of definitions, and there is now a huge array of academic literature supporting the different schools of thought. At a basic level, however, strategic thinking is probably most simply about focusing on the whole, rather than the part. In…

Most "performance evaluation" or "performance development" programs in higher education today are little more than metrically-weak, bureaucratic programs aimed simply at establishing a legally-grounded employee record and a rough basis for merit increases. This article outlines the rationale and procedural framework for a talent development and…

The first part of the article provides an overview of the changing policy contexts in Europe and North America in which doctoral education and training are embedded and points out the similarities and differences of the ongoing debates and concerns about doctoral education in the two world regions. The second part provides some insight into the…

Research centers in schools of social work are growing in number and scope. In this article the authors argue that this increase is in line with the growing recognition that research and science are critical components of the mission of the social work profession. The authors examine the purposes and various models for establishing research…

This article describes one school's effort to establish a social work research development center in the area of coexisting drug and mental disorders (dual disorders), within the context of the social work profession's efforts to compete more effectively for federal research grants. This center was funded as part of a successful application in…

This article discusses academic entrepreneurship in the context of ongoing changes in university management and governance in European universities. The comparative perspective is provided by the European Union (EU) research project "European Universities for Entrepreneurship: Their Role in the Europe of Knowledge" (EUEREK) comprising…

This study examines what specific data college faculty and administrators use in their jobs and the extent to which they use data analysis to design and improve the impact of programs and services. The study is based on a survey on the use of student data by faculty and administrators at 41 community colleges participating in Achieving the Dream:…

What is institutional research (IR)? One of the most widely definition of the institutional research is by Joe Saupe, who emphasized institutional research as a set of activities that support institutional planning, policy formation, and decision making. Institutional researchers and IR functions are embedded in the offices of strategic planning,…

This paper examines the characteristics and organizational issues associated with university-based research centers. The first section sketches general characteristics and functions of centers. The second section examines major issues concerning the organization of centers, including funding and sustainability, center autonomy, and relations with…

The Recalibrating the British Columbia (BC) Transfer System project initiated in 2005 proposed that the designation of institutions in the BC Transfer Guide as either "sending institution" or "receiving institution," according to their perceived primary function, should be examined. The results of the consultation indicated…

This study examines the historical conditions that fostered significant reform in science education. To understand these conditions, we employ a framework drawn from the new institutionalism in organization theory to study the founding and early development of the Exploratorium--a prominent science center that greatly impacted the field of science…

The ability to think strategically is an increasingly important requirement for managers at all organizational levels. HRD (human resource development) professionals have attempted to help develop this ability through work experiences. However, research identifying which work experiences are most beneficial is limited. As a result, HRD efforts may…

Felton et al. (2004) reported that web-based student evaluations of teaching (SET) demonstrated a student preference for course easiness and instructor sexiness. This study explores these same relationships with a larger and improved database. Results indicate even stronger relationships than previously reported. In addition, this study…

Universities are increasingly characterized as businesses, and higher education as an industry. Yet there has been little empirical work to support claims of growing corporatization--and no theoretical basis offered to test them. To motivate research and discussion from a cross-disciplinary perspective, I examine three analogies for the…