In this commentary, author John Saltmarsh reflects on "Journal of Public Service and Outreach" article "Ensuring the quality of outreach: The critical role of evaluating individual and collective initiatives and performance," written by Ernest A. Lynton and reprinted in this 20th anniversary issue of "Journal of Higher…

Origins of and issues in the debate over the need for a pedagogy specific to graduate-level teaching and research are reviewed, particularly as they apply to the Australian higher education context. The concerns reflected in a series of papers in this journal issue on this topic are outlined. (MSE)

A discussion of the threat to instructional quality and the viability of academic careers posed by the aging of the academic labor force examines such issues as student-faculty ratios, tenure, federal legislation contributing to faculty aging, low out-migration, costs, reduction in administrative flexibility, effects on minorities and women, and…

Arguments are presented which suggest that, although higher education cannot be offered entirely separately from research, institutions of higher education do not need to conduct research to justify their title. However, faculty need time and resources to keep up with their fields. If higher education is serious about promoting quality, it must…

Argues that quality in faculty research does not translate directly into quality in teaching, and industrial modes of quality-assurance involving strong central management control are inappropriate for universities. The link between research and teaching is in mechanisms supporting quality. Academics know how to support quality in research; the…

Today's drive to make faculty meet short-term economic needs actually robs the U.S. of education's most valuable contributions: quality teaching and research. The advice for advancement officers is to emphasize the quality of education, not what the campus can do for business, politicians, or students in the short run. (MLW)

The capacity of the Australian university system is being steadily undermined by government policies, which erode infrastructure, destroy faculty career opportunities, and threaten commitment to teaching and research. Acceptance of current policies amounts to collaboration in the erosion of the universities. Those committed to educational quality…

In graduate education, higher cognitive skills, scholarship, and research are being sacrificed to rote memory and encyclopedic knowledge. Ways that professors and administrators can improve graduate teaching include: define objectives, pick the right students and counsel them, restrict who can teach graduate students, provide students with a…

This article proposes that, in the new university-colleges being created in British Columbia, instructors' workloads should not be based upon traditional models which stress the importance of research and publication for excellent teaching. It is claimed that research fails to support a positive relationship between faculty research and teaching…

Four challenges facing America are identified: to build a stronger economy with greater competiveness, productivity, and growth; to foster equal opportunity and full integration of poor and minority groups; to improve the quality of life by reducing poverty, cleaning up the environment; and to strengthen values and moral standards. (MLW)

Many alternative forms of graduate education are arising. Some are being provided as universities recognize the changing pattern of educational and career interest, while others are offered elsewhere to serve corporate or proprietary interests. Maintenance of educational quality must be paramount. (MLW)

The text of "Involvement in Learning: Realizing the Potential of American Higher Education," the report of the Study Group on the Conditions of Excellence in American Higher Education is presented. (Author/MLW)

Three problems for universities are identified: the implications of technological change, the quality and credibility of undergraduate education, and society's increasing reluctance to fund research. Since a small number of major research universities constitute the resource base for most basic research, they need to be identified as national…

In this long-range look at higher education, it is predicted that short-range problems will be the challenge. Enrollment predictions, along with such other issues as quality of education, balance in higher education, integrity, dynamism of institutions, and the future of the private sector, are discussed. (MLW)

Higher education's principal reason for being is seen as that of developing student talents. This premise suggests that a high-quality institution is one that maximizes the intellectual and personal development of its students. Student involvement is seen as the cornerstone of academic excellence. (MLW)