In this article, Amy N. Farley, Matthew N. Gaertner, and Michele S. Moses examine the use of ballot initiatives as a particularly attractive form of direct democracy for opponents of affirmative action in higher education. Building on previous scholarship, the authors question whether anti-affirmative ballot initiatives validly reflect voters'…

The public relations person is the principal agent in preserving humaneness in the dialogue between the campus and the community. (Editor/HS)

The Survey of Community Attitudes and Perceptions (SCAP) was conducted to determine some estimate of how Frostburg State College is perceived by its local community; how people learn about the college, its offerings, and its programs; what people know about the college factually; where do they think the college is headed in terms of growth and…

Describes a course in which a survey of local citizens' attitudes toward issues in broadcasting was prepared and presented on educational television. (KS)

A survey of 375 businesses within the target area of a university's business school revealed attitudes about university relative to 19 institutional image criteria; and which university the businesses would recommend to students planning to major in specific business areas. Implications for defining and refining institutional image and for…

A project in which college students produced a multimedia documentary of life in Two Harbors, Minnesota, while surveying residents' attitudes toward the project, is described in this paper. Topics discussed include a documentary project held in a different town the previous year, the value of analyzing public reaction to such a project, the way…

This study is concerned with 1) citizens' opinions about the legitimacy of a campus disturbance and their attitudes about campus dissent generally, 2) the background factors which influence urban citizens' attitudes about campus dissent, and 3) the beliefs about campus life associated with attitudes about campus dissent. The major sample in the…

Energy education at colleges and universities has expanded rapidly to include programs, conferences, and workshops to raise public consciousness about energy issues. The range of energy education programs includes consumer-oriented courses, vocational courses, advanced courses, nondegree courses, energy research, and community service programs.…

From the monthly Saturday Review supplement, "Education in America, sponsored by the Charles F. Kettering Foundation.

This study looks at the relationships between a number of personal and social characteristics of a random sample of 254 citizens from the Twin Cities and their satisfaction with a university. Participants were administered a questionnaire, the survey instrument. Results indicated most of the urban citizens had considerable University-related…

A random sample of adults in Alabama were surveyed in 1977 to determine their opinions and attitudes about postsecondary education. A 51-item questionnaire was designed to reflect public feeling about several areas of postsecondary education, including finance; governance; faculty; teaching, research, and service functions; and admissions and…

Colleges and universities today understand that positive public attitudes about higher education are important because they affect their financial stability and public support of their academic programs. Recent opinion surveys highlight the public's view that colleges should provide more adequate career preparation, while students also see their…

It is argued that colleges tend to have a high opinion of themselves and would be wise to learn how their various publics (community, business community, guidance counselors, college-bound students, parents, current students, alumni, staff) perceive them. Comparison with competitors and monitoring of change over time is also recommended. (MSE)