One of a series of papers on critical issues in vocational-technical education, this paper discusses four aspects of Competency-Based Vocational Education (CBVE): What is CBVE?, Why CBVE?, V-TECS (Vocational-Technical Education Consortium of States)--A System of Curriculum Development, and Problems--Issues. Focus is on Kentucky program development…

Discussion of state information networks highlights the network entrepreneurs, state network development, the third decade of networking, and six potential issues of special concern to state library networks: decentralization, standards, linkage, technical obsolescence, security, and appropriate technology for small libraries. (EJS)

Describes Five Colleges, Inc., a consortium formed in 1965 by Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, and Smith colleges and the University of Massachusetts. Details how the cooperation between these institutions has been successful and describes some obstacles encountered. Focuses on the effects of the cooperation on the schools' foreign language…

The Consortium for Student Retention Data Exchange was established in 1994. Its membership increased from 163 colleges and universities in 1994 to more than 400 in 2001. Over the past 8 years, the routine of working with a large and diverse group of institutions has culminated in a valuable collection of experiences and lessons. The 8-year…

Membership in a technical writing consortium is advantageous both to the local university and to the neighboring community colleges because the consortium guarantees accreditation of the community college courses while increasing enrollment in the advanced technical writing courses and internship programs of the university. An area-wide consortium…

Effective staff development programs require environments receptive to change; programming that is institutionally integrated and developmental; program execution that is comprehensive, dynamic, cost-effective, and that can be evaluated; and activity that is pragmatic and action-oriented. Present staff development programs must improve delivery…

Presents perspective of the executive director of the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS) on information networking, covering developments in the last 15 years, NCLIS activities, economic and political problems of networking, ownership and governance of networks and databases, and other difficult and challenging…

The Texas Education Agency initiated the Adult Education Professional Development and Curriculum Consortium in 1994. The nine members involved in the consortium are postsecondary institutions, including a community college, an education service center, and a community-based organization. The focus of the consortium's professional development…

The proportion of active foreign language teachers working in cooperative or collaborative efforts is very small. Foreign languages have lagged behind other disciplines in this area. Consortia, or groups of postsecondary institutions agreeing to work together toward specific, long-range goals, date back to medieval times, but few have emerged over…

The Western Massachusetts Five College/Public School Partnership was organized to strengthen communication and share resources among the schools in western Massachusetts and the members of a higher education consortium called Five Colleges, Inc. (comprising Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, and Smith Colleges and the University of Massachusetts…

The Arab Bureau of Education for the Gulf States (ABEGS) is a regional organization for education, culture, and science founded in 1975 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This paper examines the goals, objectives, and accomplishments of ABEGS, its background; its organizational structure; its major accomplishments; and its future plans in the fields of…

The first year of work has been completed by a consortium composed of the National Center for Research in Vocational Education (NCRVE) and seven interested states to support the cooperative development, field testing, and implementation of competency based modules for the preparation of local administrators of vocational education. An outgrowth of…

The Medical Sciences Library of the University of California, Irvine acquired an on-line serials control system quickly and at low cost by entering into a consortium with the University of California, Los Angeles Biomedical Library, whose on-line serials system has been in existence and operating successfully for four years. The conversion was…

This document lists critical factors that would assist in assuring quality in nontraditional programs in higher education. These factors include: (1) a statement of program purposes that has the commitment of the major factors in implementing the program; (2) given purposes specified at the university as well as program level, the institution…

Views of the executive director of the Southeastern Library Network (SOLINET) on the topic of regional networking are expressed, noting the needs of users of regional networks, cooperative program development among "networkers," state and multistate structures, and the impact of microcomputers, distributed processing, and resource…