The purpose of this essay is to offer a survey of religious studies capstones from twenty-nine U.S. colleges and universities, to identify the most common frustrations about the capstone, and to observe how departments resolve such frustrations. I conclude that the most successful capstones--in terms of students' performance and faculty…

Last spring, the author distributed a survey to majors and minors in Hispanic studies at Connecticut College and at other schools to informally gather student attitudes toward the nature of Hispanic-studies courses as it pertained to their interests and goals. Although results were somewhat predictable, an unexpected finding was that of 148…

Discusses how chairs might use information from a survey documenting the types of support and compensation that chairs in the Association of Departments of English community receive to negotiate a compensation package that is best for them during their term of office but also takes into account such other considerations as opportunity costs…

Describes how the English Department at Loyola University of Chicago, adopted assessment measures beneficial to the department's program and acceptable to administrators, faculty, and students. (TB)

Preliminary findings are reported from a survey conducted to determine the apparent absence of compensation for foreign language department chairs at some institutions. It is noted that, compared to the sciences or humanities, the typical foreign language program has greater and more complex tasks administratively and should, therefore, receive…

The emergence of undergraduate majors in America is reviewed, and a survey of administrative attitudes on undergraduate majors is discussed. Today's academic departments control majors entirely by determining how many courses will constitute their major, what these courses will be, and in what order they will be taken. (MLW)

The article reports on a national survey of state education agencies regarding the use and status of learning disability professionals in schools, and discusses the reasons for and implications of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (P.L. 94-142) not specifically mandating their presence on evaluation teams. (DLS)

A poll of department chairpersons about personal and professional attitudes, motivations, and concerns is reported. Opportunity, challenge, and responsibility were recurring themes. Recommendations are made: giving additional released time, clarifying requirements for promotion, providing credit for accomplishments, publicizing need for unpopular…

Discusses the findings of a subcommittee of the American Vocational Association which examined the current information about 12-month programs of vocational agriculture. Surveyed state supervisors to determine what types of help and support were available from the state level. Discusses planning aids used in establishing and planning summer…

Discusses the role of academic departments in university reform efforts and reports on a survey of 64 provosts concerning department-level change. Three sources of tension between institutional needs and traditional academic departments are identified. Urges faculty involvement in reforms, including regrouping faculty, redefining departmental…

A survey of 300 college faculty across disciplines suggested that many faculty encounter conditions that hinder collegiality concerning undergraduate teaching issues. These difficulties include faculty isolation and fragmented communication, constrained resources, and inappropriate evaluation and reward systems. Results also suggest ways in which…

Society suffers from the underutilization of more than half of the talents available to educational administration because of discriminatory attitudes against women which are reinforced in the school setting. Indeed, a 1970-71 nationwide survey showed that while 67% of all public school teachers were women, women held only 15% of the school…

Institutional research that focuses on professional development is addressed in 35 papers from the 1982 meeting of the North East Association for Institutional Research. Titles and authors include the following: "Modeling College Student Adjustment and Retention for the Individual Institution" (Norman D. Aitken); "The Development…

Standardized tests often produce results that are inaccurate, inconsistent, and biased against minority, female, and low-income students. Such tests shift control and authority into the hands of the unregulated testing industry and can undermine school achievement by narrowing the curriculum, frustrating teachers, and driving students out of…

Principles for college outcomes assessment, as outlined in the literature, are reviewed. Drawing on the experience of the Virginia State Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) during a decade of state-mandated outcomes assessment, a number of salient issues are identified. Faculty and academic issues include these: faculty…