Graduate counseling programs are proficient in training direct service providers but less able to teach the business of sustaining a community agency's services. Modern philanthropy emphasizes social advocacy by investing in change that benefits the local community and respects the diverse cultural experiences of potential clients and…

Describes the customer service training program in the European Patent Office, which involved active listening, empathy, case studies, videobased role playing, and feedback. (SK)

There is significant interest in reforming retirement plans for public school employees, particularly in light of current market conditions. This paper presents an overview of the various types of state regulation of public pension plans that affect possibilities for reform. Several states have legal protections that effectively prevent a state…

Discusses specific activities for instituting participatory democracy as well as the benefits these activities have for departments that elect to engage in them. Uses the Communication Studies Department at San Jose State University as an exemplar. Highlights some projects to show one direction in which the public sphere seems to be changing. (PA)

Discusses librarians' salaries and possible reasons for low pay. Highlights include the greater perceived value of technical people; the legacies of Melvil Dewey, including his attraction of women to the profession; effects of a female-dominated profession; nonlibrarian staff members; and the worth of the public sector. (LRW)

Community colleges are experiencing tough times. As leaders watch the economy jump back to life and recognize this as a time of opportunity, they also realize that recovery in the public sector lags behind. Community colleges expecting to emerge from reduction stronger and better positioned will need to operate outside of a conventional business…

As the most unionized segment of the public sector workforce in the USA, teachers and their bargaining representatives wield significant power in the world of educational labour relations and beyond. Yet, just as the First Amendment's freedom of association clause affords unions the right to exist, its concomitant recognition that employees are…

This chapter provides some examples and recommendations for expanding the connections between economics and institutional research. (Contains 1 figure.)

Educational and cultural exchanges are the cornerstone of U.S. public diplomacy and an integral component of foreign policy. To further this policy objective, the Department of State designates U.S. government, academic, and private sector entities to conduct educational and cultural exchange programs pursuant to a broad grant of authority from…

Describes the New York Schools Insurance Reciprocal (NYSIR), which provides both property and liability coverage for school districts. A reciprocal is wholly owned by those insured. NYSIR insures 55 school district subscribers, providing a service that specifically accommodates school district needs and saves them money. (MLF)

Defines traditional knowledge and its uses and argues that intellectual property law contains an in-built bias that protects the intangible assets of companies while failing to recognize traditional knowledge as protectable subject matter. Discusses the globalization of intellectual property rights and the unjust situation for indigenous people.…

This essay highlights three converging trends experienced by "public sector research" during the past decade. Looking especially at France, our discussion draws attention to the new roles of universities, the blurring of relationships between types of research institutions and research activities, and the development of "research…

Based on Norwegian register data, we set up a multivariate mixed proportional hazard model (MMPH) to analyze nurses' pattern of work, sickness absence, nonemployment, and social insurance dependency from 1992 to 2000, and how that pattern was affected by workplace characteristics. The model is estimated by means of the nonparametric…

Discusses the pricing of online information in the broader context of marketing. Highlights include changes in the marketing context and issues of value relating to price; other reviews of online pricing; trends affecting price, including public sector involvement and the Internet; promotional pricing; price discrimination; and price aggregation…

Social cohesion, the "glue" that keeps a society together, is influenced by the various sectors or "pillars" of that society-educational institutions, social and religious institutions, business institutions, and government. In this article, the effect of the three branches of government (executive, legislative, and judicial) on social cohesion is…