The State Higher Education Finance (SHEF) report is a tool to help policy makers and educators address broad public policy questions. SHEF seeks to inform policy deliberations with information and perspective on financial issues and national trends. The fiscal 2005 SHEF study builds on the work of Kent Halstead, who conceptualized and implemented…

This book offers college department chairs guidelines for effectively fulfilling their roles as faculty developers, managers, leaders, and scholars. The results of several national surveys on chairs' duties and needs are summarized. Part 1 reviews the role of faculty developer. A practical set of procedures is given for recruiting faculty, bearing…

This collection of papers, the fifth in an annual series, presents views of members of the Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education on improving teaching and learning in higher education settings. Articles and their authors are as follows: "Reflections of a Practitioner: Ten Years of Professional and Organization…

This book contains papers presented at a conference focused on the subject of funding for higher education and providing comparative perspectives on, and case studies of, educational financing from around the world. After an introduction by Ernest L. Boyer, the papers and their authors are as follows: "The Costs of Higher Education: Worldwide…

Universities, local school districts, intermediate schools, and state education departments can work together to create model collaboratives by redirecting existing resources, consolidating resources, and discovering mutually beneficial resources to improve teacher preparation, inservice education, and the quality of classroom instruction. Under…

Traces the problems of water overuse to the fact that many farmers are allowed to use water at a fraction of its real cost. Maintains that government subsidies promote misuse and abuse of this resource. Proposes two solutions: environmentally friendly water prices and environmentally friendly water ownership. (MJP)

Considers the global effects of a rapidly growing population combined with dwindling natural resources and how these issues might be addressed in the classroom. Includes a population education lesson plan, guiding principles, list of resources, and suggested activities. (MJP)

A growing trend in bilingual education is to provide instruction in standard ("mainstream") English for children who are native speakers of an English dialect, such as black English. Debate over the practice focuses on effectiveness and the potential drain on bilingual education funding. Although not criticizing or devaluing the nonstandard…

The unsatisfactory status of higher education in the United States has many explanations, such as the declining value of scholarship and academic ethos and the neglect of teaching obligations in favor of research duties. This paper posits another theory for the skepticism toward academic institutions: the general loss of confidence of the American…

The president of Idaho State University explains his institution's unusual increase in support to graduate study in pharmacy as part of an overall commitment to improved health care in the state. (MSE)

Argues that well-intentioned government policies, such as the Endangered Species Act, can actually cause harm to endangered species by creating disincentives to preserving the habitat for endangered species. Maintains that the use of incentives can lead to voluntary species protection. Includes instructions for an in-class teaching activity. (MJP)

Develops a simple theoretical model to evaluate interdisciplinary differences in research productivity between economics departments and related subjects. Compares the research publishing statistics of economics, finance, psychology, geology, physics, oceanography, chemistry, and geophysics. Considers a number of factors including journal…

Multimedia instruction, a computer-based system incorporating video, audio, and digital storage media, provides educators with the tools to bring learning alive. With strategic planning, adequate funding, and faculty development, multimedia may become the most common form of instructional technology by the late 1990s. (Author/MSE)

After summarizing the philosophy behind the financing of public schools, this document reviews the division of legal responsibility for education between the state and federal governments; outlines the state's responsibility for providing an equal educational opportunity for its residents; and summarizes the use of federal revenues, state…

Attaining the goals that higher-education reformers target (making the academy more accessible, affordable, and effective) via technology is likely to require a significant overhaul of postsecondary institutions, including the use of time, resource allocation, roles of faculty/staff, and institutional mission. Closer examination of how technology…