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 essays in this collection were written by John Lombardi during the 1970s while he was a resident scholar at the ERIC Clearinghouse for Junior Colleges. Following a foreword on Lombardi's life and work by a son and two daughters, John V., Mary Luciana, and Janice P. Lombardi, is an introduction by Arthur M. Cohen giving highlights of Lombardi's…

Provides an annotated bibliography of seven ERIC documents on teacher effectiveness, including documents that profile teacher excellence, describe faculty development efforts, and act as forums for the discussion of teaching and learning. (MAB)

This bibliographic guide to the literature that has contributed to the two-year college field over the past 20 years provides annotations to over 650 books, articles, and research reports. The guide is organized into the following chapters: (1) the development of community college literature; (2) general resources on two-year colleges; (3)…

This digest reviews the literature and discusses issues concerning college faculty workload. Trends in the United States which have created interest in faculty workload issues are identified including faltering state economies in the late 1980s and rising costs of higher education especially of personnel. Criticism of higher education by the…

The emphasis in community colleges on teaching as a primary faculty responsibility has frequently caused classroom teaching to be divorced from scholarship. Although the teaching role is not a necessary condition for successful scholarship, some form of scholarship appears to be a necessary condition for successful teaching over an extended period…

Reviews ERIC literature on selected topics related to community college governance, including bureaucratic, collegium, and political models of governance; organizational roots of community colleges; faculty participation in governance; and legislative shared authority. (DMM)

The digest is drawn from "Preparing Department Chairs for Their Leadership Roles," a "New Directions for Community Colleges" volume. Two main issues regarding community college department chairs are discussed: role-related issues facing new department chairs, and training and development programs that aid in preparing…

Focusing on transfer and articulation in the community college, this volume explores issues related to the history and definitions of transfer, the role of state governments, and effective articulation between institutions, and makes recommendations for future improvements in the process. The following articles are provided: (1) "A Historical and…

This digest defines interdisciplinary courses, presents the benefits and challenges of offering them in the community college, and describes six existing interdisciplinary courses at community colleges around the country. Interdisciplinary courses are characterized by the following: they tend to be highly innovative; they incorporate concepts and…

Studies of job satisfaction among community college faculty use a variety of theoretical constructs and measure widely different dimensions of satisfaction. Research on the effects of working conditions on faculty attitudes has shown consistently that interaction with students and peers and privacy within the classroom are major sources of…

Based on documents in the ERIC database, examines issues surrounding community college faculty evaluation. Focuses on the purpose of faculty evaluation, what evaluations measure, who performs evaluations, and such problems facing evaluation programs as lack of administrator concern over faculty success and faculty resistance to evaluation. (28…

The community college's mission as a teaching institution rather than a research institution has typically avoided placing scholarship in a central position. In 1988, the Commission on the Future of Community Colleges advocated a broad definition of scholarship encompassing the integration, application, and presentation of knowledge in the core…

In spring 1984, as part of a larger study of transfer education in urban community colleges, the Center for the Study of Community Colleges conducted a survey to analyze faculty involvement in the transfer function. A questionnaire was distributed to 444 randomly selected faculty members teaching transfer courses at 24 colleges, requesting…

Communications technologies have the potential to transform the educational process. In the community college context, these technologies have the power to change the the roles of faculty. On one hand, these changes might mean a reduction in the number and status of teachers. On the other hand, communications technologies may afford teachers…