City University of New York's (CUNY) new community college, planned almost entirely by administrators and slated to open in 2012, seems designed to shunt its student body into narrow, mostly terminal career-technical programs with the promise of an associate's degree at the end. But to what purpose? To "reimagine community college education…

An academic plan is a business plan disguised in the regalia donned for significant public ceremonies--black cap and gown, colorful hood, and, of course, gold tassel. Several years ago, the University of Connecticut started to plan for the economic disaster that was at the time so obviously in the future of higher education institutions. A formal…

About 25 percent of faculty working in the United States will reportedly consider retiring in the next five to seven years. As one of this 25 percent, the author has been researching what she needs to know to retire. What she found initially was a lot of misinformation. To complicate matters, the world has changed over the past year, causing those…

Those in America are confronting a stark alternative: either open themselves to an appreciation of human plurality and the diversity of cultures around the globe or limit themselves to a narrowly normative culture. Will American schools and colleges provide students with opportunities to learn to understand other voices, or will the educational…

In 2005, TIAA-CREF sponsored its first-ever "Retirement Confidence Survey of College and University Faculty" to discover the answer to this question: How well are faculty members taking advantage of employer-sponsored pension plans and saving for retirement? An additional objective of the project was to compare the survey's findings for higher…

This article discusses how one small liberal arts school, Wheaton College in Massachusetts, devised a strategic plan to improve faculty salaries by linking improvements in salaries to improvements in college resources. The benefits of the salary plan went beyond improving salaries. First, the plan dictated that faculty salaries be determined at…

The factors faculty should consider in selecting from two investment alternatives in estate planning--the individual retirement account and tax-sheltered annuities--are outlined: maximum annual investment, fund management, contribution timing, penalties, ownership transfers, taxes, and rollovers. Common questions are answered. (MSE)

Congress' proposed revision of the Internal Revenue Code could have a significant impact on the retirement options available to educators. Some retirement and tax shelter plans are reviewed including: Individual Retirement Accounts, Keogh plans, Section 403(b) of the Code, and retirement and estate planning. (MLW)

Experience with the frequent change in spaces used for design studios at the University of Pennsylvania's undergraduate Design of the Environment program illustrates how the need for efficient space utilization can lead to a creative process of uncovering unforeseen possibilities in teaching, learning, and living together. (MSE)

The benefits of the new Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association graded-benefit method and traditional level-benefit program are compared. Several possible typical situations are analyzed for both plans, showing net yearly incomes projected through retirement and considering tax rates. (MSE)

Last fall, the author addressed the AAUP's 2003 governance conference about a faculty-led initiative to reform college sports. The Coalition on Intercollegiate Athletics (COIA) grew out of a meeting one afternoon in the student union at the University of Oregon among a few senior professors who had recently been appointed to the faculty senate.…

Excerpts from a recent research report outline patterns of demographic and social change affecting higher education enrollment, staffing, and planning patterns in the near future. Among the findings are that: fewer students will have college preparation; industry, government, and other agencies are now and will be educating more adults than will…

Describes restructuring of an academic department at Radford University; uses a dialogue between the department chair and the vice president of academic affairs to present the process's contrasting perspectives. Explores how faculty and administrators can treat budgetary challenges as opportunities to renew institutional missions, collaborate in…

A review of published reports of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) regarding institutional policies on layoff of tenured faculty traces the approaches and reasoning used by AAUP investigating committees. It is concluded that the principle of due process is the central issue. (MSE)

The themes of the 1982 annual conference of the American Association of University Professors are outlined. They include the importance of planning, selective versus across-the-board retrenchment strategies, definitions and problems of financial exigency, program reduction, and affirmative action claims. (MSE)