In this essay, we embrace a vision of the future of academic libraries where librarians confront and creatively address the lack of racial and ethnic diversity within our profession and actively pursue a social justice agenda within our libraries and in the communities we serve. This future requires that we acknowledge that many of our current…

Many states are looking at effective ways to use financial incentives to encourage students to complete a postsecondary credential. JFF's new report, "Statewide Aid Policies to Improve College Access and Success", originally commissioned by the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education's Vision Project, has provided valuable…

In the tug-of-war between researchers and IT for supercomputing resources, a centralized approach can help both sides get more bang for their buck. As 2010 began, the University of Washington was preparing to launch its first shared high-performance computing cluster, a 1,500-node system called Hyak, dedicated to research activities. Like other…

Describes a process undertaken by small, rural libraries in Massachusetts in which trustees, librarians, and community leaders identified the possible roles of libraries and prioritized needs for individual communities. The results include an emphasis on community standards rather than national, and a list of three basic roles of all libraries.…

Labeled a "citizen assessment," this study evaluates the effects of Massachusetts 2-1/2 during the first year after its enactment. The law limited taxes and changed laws relating to school budgets. The study focused on two areas: (1) the effect of loss of fiscal autonomy on school budgeting procedures, and (2) the changes in school…

In this paper, the author talks about resources and resourcefulness and focuses on the theme that resources include all means of support. Human resources, particularly creativity, intellect, and diligence, are among the most valuable. In times such as these, academic departments and programs in kinesiology, physical education, exercise science,…

Pioneer Institute recently organized a roundtable in which school officials discussed their experiences with inter-district public school choice. The participants exchanged views on the current state of the choice program in Massachusetts. The Massachusetts inter-district school choice program allows parents to enroll their children at schools in…

Adjustments that state policy-makers and institutions of higher education will need to make as they face cutbacks in public support and declining enrollments are described, based in part on a research project on retrenchment in higher education conducted by the Southern Regional Education Board. Given the long-term contractual obligations of…