American public higher education systems include the largest and most impactful colleges and universities in the nation, including 75 percent of the nation's public sector students. While their impact is enormous, they are largely neglected as an area of study and underutilized as an instrument for the improvement of postsecondary outcomes.…

In January 2010, the General Assembly passed the Complete College Tennessee Act (CCTA), a comprehensive reform agenda that seeks to transform public higher education through changes in academic, fiscal and administrative policies at the state and institutional level. At the center of these reforms is the need for more Tennesseans to be better…

Tenured and probationary faculty at a midwestern state university were asked to complete a questionnaire containing 21 merit-pay-related questions and five biographic-status questions. The typical faculty member preferred: (1) that 40% of their annual salary increment be allocated to merit; (2) that this merit component be controlled by their…

Argues that any college or university policy change that enlarges rather than restricts faculty roles must address five aspects of scholarship that interact with each other: scholarly activities; expressions of scholarship; motivations for scholarship; and quality and significance of scholarship. Offers a comprehensive model of scholarship and…

This report focuses on the group benefits available to Illinois public higher education employees. The study provides a perspective on the range of benefits and the differences in the administration of institutional benefits. Findings reveal the availability of retirement annuities that increase with each 10 years of service; optional retirement…

This report presents 65 data tables on enrollment, degrees conferred, faculty, and financing of West Virginia's 25 public and independent institutions of higher education as of fall 1997. The tables are grouped into four chapters and each chapter begins with relevant definitions. The chapters (with data examples in parentheses) are as follows: (1)…

This paper examines issues involved in selecting a strategy that could be carried out by institutions to achieve salary equity between male and female faculty. It compares potential strategies based on equity of salary adjustments, political constraints, cost to the institution, and whether the plan removes inequities. Steps in determining…

Public service in higher education is an important function of American colleges and universities. The nature and purposes of higher education can be revealed through three popular metaphors--ivory tower, social service station, and culture mart. It can best be fulfilled through ideas of value, social criticism, social problem solving, or social…

The University of California's "step" system for appointment and advancement of faculty and the salary scale attached to it are outlined, and some criteria and procedures used in making academic personnel decisions are reviewed. (MSE)

A growing bulge in the age distribution of California State University faculty and its potential effects on the status and distribution of full-time, part-time, tenured, and probationary appointments in the institution are examined. (MSE)

The court decision in Bishop vs. Aronov, that public universities may suppress a professor's classroom comments on his personal religious beliefs, is discussed, focusing on the conflict between a professor's right to express personal religious beliefs and a university's right to take action to limit that expression. (Author/MSE)

The University of Mississippi's modern language department chairman discusses the chair's role in achieving faculty diversity and offers guidelines for hiring minority faculty, including realistic self-examination and portrayal, targeting all minorities, developing a working relationship with counterpart departments in other institutions, visiting…

A comprehensive strategic planning model that has been developed by Pittsburg State University (Kansas) is described. The model is presented in the following sections: University Planning and Coordinating Committee (UPCCI): The Beginning (position paper, mission statement, and continuing goals and objectives); strategic planning unit reviews (unit…

Responses of 17 recovering alcoholic faculty to interviews concerning their own personal traits and the campus environmental and professional factors in their abuse of alcohol and drugs, and of administrators concerning their role in faculty recovery are reported and discussed. (MSE)

Origins of the University of California's procedures for systematic review of principal investigators' financial disclosures prior to acceptance of grants, and the manner in which they are working at present, are examined. The disclosure requirements, faculty committee, criteria, and disclosures made during 1988 are described. Two case studies are…