Institutional researchers are often tasked with assessing why college-wide initiatives succeed or fail. This can be a difficult task: researchers need to discriminate between multiple feasible explanations, work with limited data, and produce compelling narratives. Process tracing is a qualitative methodology that enables researchers to make valid…

This paper provides an overview of best practices and challenges for deans and department heads of online programmes in the ever-changing world of higher education. It concentrates on the challenges for small private universities and tertiary education institutions in the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. Department heads must consider…

Competency-based education (CBE) refers to online and hybrid courses and programs that offer credit or degrees based on evidence of student learning, or competencies, rather than on the amount of time spent in a course. Students work at their own pace, receive personalized academic support, and demonstrate mastery as they progress through their…

Academic year 2010-11 produced 2 new all-time highs for physics bachelor's and physics PhDs conferred in the U.S. The 6,296 physics bachelor's degrees earned in the class of 2011 represent a 73% increase from a recent low in the class of 1999 twelve years earlier. The 1,688 PhDs in the class of 2011 is up 55% from a recent low 7 years earlier.…

The National High School Center has created a college and career development organizer to synthesize and organize an increasingly complicated and crowded field of college and career readiness initiatives. The organizer, composed of three strands, can be used to map the efforts of state education agencies (SEAs) and local education agencies (LEAs)…

The article addresses the effective use of full-time and part-time faculty in transforming an institutionalized marginalized professional studies unit into an academic unit with greater academic credibility, as perceived by traditional colleagues and accreditors. Recommendations are supported by a case study narrative from the experiences of the…

Interviews with university and college department chairs or persons responsible for existing educational administration and higher education programs evaluated the effects of a merged structure (combining the two programs) on the study of administration. Sixteen universities were visited and program heads were interviewed. Identified advantages of…

Examines the determinants of power and budget allocations on two campuses of a large, state university system. Faculty positions and budget allocations were a function of student enrollment and departmental power, and departmental power was related to the amount of a department's grant and contract funds as well as to its enrollment. (Author/IRT)

Survey of departments offering majors in radio and television provides information on curricula, budgets, and equipment relative to department structure, funding type, campus size, and region. (PD)

This roster contains detailed information from the annual Survey of Enrollments and Degrees. The report contains data reported by degree-granting astronomy departments in the United States for 1999-2000 introductory astronomy course enrollments, 1999-2000 degrees, and fall 2000 undergraduate majors and graduate student enrollments. In the United…

This roster contains detailed data from the annual Survey of Enrollments and Degrees in the 2001-2002 academic year. The report contains data reported by degree-granting astronomy departments for their 2000-2001 introductory astronomy course enrollments, 2000-2001 degrees, and fall 2001 undergraduate majors and graduate student enrollments. At the…

This roster contains detailed data from the annual survey of enrollments and degrees. The survey, conducted during the 2002-2003 academic year, contains data about all degree-granting astronomy departments in the United States. Presented in this roster are the data reported by those departments for their 2001-2002 introductory astronomy course…

This roster contains detailed information from the annual Survey of Enrollments and Degrees. The report contains data reported by degree-granting astronomy departments in the United States for 1998-1999 introductory astronomy course enrollments, 1998-1999 degrees, and fall 1999 undergraduate majors and graduate student enrollments. In the United…

Discusses the role of the administrator in communication programs. Considers educational goals and values of students; variations in enrollments; historically under-represented student populations; and faculty turnover and replacement. (MS)