A survey of English majors at the University of Southern Maine concerning the subject of curricular reform allowed a professor involved in the planning of the project to compile several "dos" and "don'ts" in an appendix titled "A Few Basic Principles of Questionnaire Design." These guidelines, however, require some…

Argues that faculty vitality is an essential element in all English departments, and asserts that basic changes in the English field over the last two decades can help create that vitality. (MM)

As the 21st century begins, the clicking of computer keyboards is increasingly interrupting the calm of literary classrooms. The sound of new technology now marks the world in which students grow up and will live, how they learn, and in essence who they are. How do educators cope and make it all work? On a typical day this could happen: the…

Offers advice to English department administrators on how to respond to lawsuits both from within and outside the department. (AEA)

Suggestions for teacher-oriented supervision of classroom practices, development of new courses, and grading and assignment policies are discussed. (HTH)

Presents guidelines for maximum class size and workload in English. Presents recommendations for the number of students in writing courses and the number of students in literature courses. Considers recommendations for hours of instruction, variety of courses, variable workloads, administrative duties, and part-time and temporary appointments. (SG)

Suggests that an institution's use of a critical mass of full-time, tenured and tenured-track faculty members provides a measure for judging the quality of undergraduate education. Presents a table that gives the average percentages of undergraduate course sections taught by full- and part-time instructors in different types of English and foreign…

Presents seven high school teachers' descriptions of how cooperation and communication among English teachers is promoted in their departments/school districts. (MM)

Discusses the findings of an extensive research study of the authors and writing most frequently assigned in college-level English survey courses. Finds that similar historical periods and authors are considered in the survey courses offered by college and university English departments. Finds that traditional authors continue to be taught in…

Describes how the English department at Willamette University set out to revise the English curriculum as a participant in the MLA-FIPSE English Programs Curriculum Review Project. Shows how the faculty redesigned the curriculum, and shares three important ideas that might be useful to other departments undertaking similar changes. (HB)

Discusses the various roles that different generations of academics have played in defining community, and the need for local knowledge and local engagement. Suggests that the field of English needs a new generation of leaders who not only are willing to redefine academic citizenship and community, but to cultivate and encourage the support of…

Offers guidelines that specify the kinds of information that will assist faculties in identifying and rectifying problems in their graduate programs. Directs attention to eight areas: department goals; graduate admissions; retention and attrition of students; financial support for students; preparing students for careers within and outside the…

Considers how Phil Smith has given much thought in his own department, and in the national deliberations, to the staffing crisis in English departments, and he has done so with attention to the highest values and to the needs of all, from undergraduate students in the general education courses to part-timers to tenure-track and tenured faculty…

Discusses the "latest forecast" for the future of English departments. Addresses departmental and institutional staffing practices, employment opportunities for PhDs, the acceleration of change in the institution, and the general state of the study and teaching of English. (RS)

Suggests that the intellectual challenges of contemporary literary study be seen as enriched by, rather than in competition with, knowledge of the history of literary theory; and that English departments cultivate a determined antagonism to disciplinary territorialism, whether in faculty hiring, curricular design, or graduate admissions. (RS)