Community colleges need a program for all faculty members where research geared to their special needs is promoted, and where appropriate evaluation will prevent research from becoming an incidental function. (Author)

A sarcastic essay outlines ways in which the college faculty member can avoid carrying out committee service responsibly. (MSE)

Author recommends that a labor-management relationship between faculty and administration would be more honest than the vagaries of the current relationship based on democratic pluralism. (HS)

A former community college teacher describes the differences between community college and state university teaching and students. In her opinion community college teaching is more challenging because the students lack the self-confidence that students in selective state universities attain. (PG)

A university journalism professor explains the concept of "public journalism," a movement in support of socially constructive journalism, and by extension, the idea that scholarship and public service can be integrated in scholarly activities that benefit the larger community. (MSE)

With higher education now undergoing fundamental changes, it is time to consider a new system of faculty roles with distinctive pathways that allow teachers to pursue what they do best (teaching, research, or professional service). Faculty members would choose an area of emphasis for a specific duration and retain the option to continue on that…

Five faculty members were interviewed about the impact of campus assessment activities on their roles and responsibilities. Three areas of concern were students (what they need to know and what can be expected of them); teaching (how classroom methods follow from higher expectations of students); and faculty roles and responsibilities. (MLW)

The heart of teaching is how teachers feel about their students. The hidden fact about the teaching profession is that learners complicate it enormously. A teacher's obligation is to value students enough to value everything done for them. (MLW)

The "Yeshiva debate" over the nature of faculty governance will continue to rage within academe. Unions will argue that faculties must bargain collectively with or without the protection of NLRB legislation; small private colleges may submit that they cannot afford bargaining costs and refuse to bargain. (MSE)

Discusses how a focus on learning can change teaching and identifies five key changes to practice that come out of a focus on learning. They are changes in: (1) the balance of power; (2) the role of the teacher; (3) the responsibility for learning; (4) the function of content; and (5) the purposes and processes of evaluation. (SLD)

At Stanford University, The early retirement plan is an option for older faculty who, while continuing for the most part to serve their institutions well, nonetheless recognize a difficulty in competing with younger faculty who are attuned to today's approaches. (Author/PG)

The roles of the institution itself, faculty, the board, and issues of curriculum, finances and financial information in college closing are discussed. The pressures generated by closing often force resolution of difficult problems, even the definition of function and purpose felt by many institutions. (MSE)

Four elements that exercise a perverse influence on academic managerial behavior are identified: lack of objectives and performance criteria, collegiality and shared governance, disdain for administration, and productivity in academe. Three steps necessary to reconcile good management with subcultural values are identified. (MLW)

Presents an historical perspective and an analysis of the current problems being faced by the Harvard Department of Economics concerning faculty appointments, faculty ideology, and student attitudes. (PG)

A recently released National Institute of Education publication about the state of U.S. undergraduate education that gives 27 suggestions for their improvement is summarized and discussed. A number of criticisms are offered, including lack of documentation. (MSE)