Although higher education institutions dislike rankings published in the mass media, they like the attention the rankings create and prefer to be included rather than excluded. Common criticisms of the methodology include emphasis on inappropriate criteria, unfair comparison of private and public institutions, faulty assumptions, inaccurate data,…

Using discriminant analysis, a study examined (1) the extent to which the new Student Adjustment to College Questionnaire (SACQ) accurately predicts student departure for a private, comprehensive university (n=1,978 students); (2) SACQ items distinguishing nonpersisters; (3) use with an incoming class; and (4) evidence linking the SACQ with…

A case study of a small, private, selective college that made institutional changes to respond to needs of disabled students found that changes needed to effectively serve this group are complex and multidimensional. Six key factors facilitating organizational change are identified, changes are cited, and suggestions for further improvement are…

Channeling the energy of volunteer boards of parents and community members can produce unexpected dividends. At Alma College (Michigan), a parent board raises $250,000 annually and helps recruit new students. A formal and communicative relationship between advisory board and governing board is essential for effective operation. (Author/MSE)

A survey of 120 top independent national liberal arts colleges ranked in "U.S. News and World Report" compared the structure of their financial reports to those of publicly held corporations. Results indicate that the colleges' forms strongly resemble those of corporations, but are not as readable as the corporate forms. (MSE)

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 report presents results of the annual College and University Faculty Salary Policies survey sent to 1,611 public institutions of higher education (895 responded) in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The results provide information on faculty salary schedules, including the minimum and maximum scheduled salaries for each rank and/or…

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the Student Affairs profession at private colleges in the state of Iowa. One hundred fifty-nine Chief Student Affairs Officers at 22 private colleges responded to a questionnaire that asked about the following items: how they spent their days (i.e., percent of time spent on student contact, administrative…

This brief report summarizes a longer document with the same title in the ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report series. Academic freedom provides the foundation for faculty scholarship and teaching, making it possible for educators to exchange ideas and concepts freely in the classroom, to explore and disseminate new knowledge, and to speak out both…

This report synthesizes the literature and applicable case law concerning academic freedom in higher education and addresses the following issues: (1) popular notions concerning academic freedom; (2) whether academic freedom is a legal right; (3) whether faculty at private institutions have the same rights as faculty in public schools; and (4)…

Faced with an enrollment decline of 36 percent in the last three years, New England College (New Hampshire) has developed a long-range plan for making itself smaller. Changes which are being made include: (1) reducing the number of faculty; (2) reducing the amount of student housing; (3) adding another person to the fundraising staff; (4) offering…

Making postsecondary education truly available to those with disabilities has become an urgent priority for handicapped citizens and government at the state and national levels. Handicapped access policies at private or independent institutions of higher education can be broadly characterized by two different policy approaches: policies that are…

The practicum sought to identify areas of relative strength and weakness in support for the Saint Leo College (Florida) Library Acquisitions Project, a project to improve library support to the Military Education Program administered by Saint Leo College on military installations throughout the Southeast. Using the Interactive Forces Theory of…

The research aimed to determine instructors' and adult students' perceptions of differences in men and women students' classroom behavior in higher education classes. A questionnaire was developed consisting of items representing classroom behaviors, personal attributes, a measure of overall student participation (not used in this analysis), and…

The following essays on presidential leadership by 12 presidents and former presidents of church-related colleges are presented in five sections: Section 1, The President and Institutional Challenge, contains "A Call for the President as Spiritual Director" (Duane H. Bagley); Section 2, Articulating the Mission, contains "The President and the…