The Boston (Massachusetts) Institute for Health Improvement formed an Interdisciplinary Professional Education Cooperative linking four local interdisciplinary teams (in Cleveland; Washington, DC; Pennsylvania; and South Carolina) and a coordinating committee. The organization offers health professions students opportunities to work on…

The Toronto area Learning Consortium, a partnership among two universities and four school districts, was established in 1988. The partnership's success hinges on several factors, including long-term commitment, stable finances, university faculty credibility, and a collegial management model. Consortium activities have mobilized a critical mass…

The Massachusetts Workplace Literacy Consortium was funded through a 3-year National Workplace Literacy Program grant. During the second grant year, the consortium operated 25 program sites that were almost evenly divided between health care and manufacturing. The following were the primary reasons programs were started: reduce error and waste…

A variety of consortial arrangements in higher education are discussed noting advantages such as savings realized through the cooperative efforts, enrichment of academic programs, improved student services and community outreach, as well as obstacles (organizational, procedural, and cultural). Success factors identified include presence of…

This handbook reports on the use of consortia-appointed curriculum directors for meeting small, rural school districts' curriculum renewal needs. It is based on interviews with individuals involved with consortia in five Western U.S. case-study sites. Limited resources in rural schools often hinder curriculum-renewal efforts. If several districts…

Seven Wisconsin school districts formed a consortium to improve district level implementation of career education, K-12. Each district developed assessment and/or evaluation instruments to meet their specific needs, and circulated these instruments among all seven districts for review and feedback. After revision and field testing, these…

Lacking the resources of larger organizations, small businesses are often unable to find skilled workers to fill immediate employment needs and to identify strategies to meet their future workforce needs. In some communities, business and trade organizations, community colleges, and other public and private organizations have partnered to create…

This survey of the 21 member institutions of 9 consortia in undergraduate social work education investigated the origin and development of collaborative programs, their structure and nature, and advantages and disadvantages. Results indicate that consortia that use rather than rival others' experiences are more successful. (Author/MSE)

The Tech Prep Region 10 Consortium in Indiana was formed to develop and expand the use of the Tech Prep model adopted by the state to all educational institutions in the region. Involving collaboration among postsecondary institutions, secondary schools, and business and industry within state regions, the consortium design involved three phases:…

To determine if a state-supported program of educational cooperatives would be beneficial to New Mexico's small schools, a review of the literature from 1960 was conducted and questionnaires were sent to selected New Mexico educators, followed by interviews. Approaches to shared services used by Texas and New York were investigated through the…

Many companies today consider employer-sponsored child care a viable solution to problems facing employees who are also parents. Companies can choose from many program options, each with particular benefits for employer and employees. This manual highlights what is presently happening in employer-supported child care, particularly the cost…

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) Library participated in the statewide conversion to a new integrated library system in the summer of 2002. Prior to the system's implementation, various local and statewide committees coordinated efforts to train their staffs so as to ensure a seamless transition. This case study analyzes, in…

Results of a national project to examine programs designed to aid college and university students not adequately prepared for postsecondary education are reported. Ten associate institutions were selected to form a consortium on the basis of evidence of success from relatively small, special programs for underprepared students. The programs…

Descriptive and evaluative information is provided in this report on Project COMPAS (Consortium for Operating and Managing Programs for the Advancement of Skills), a cooperative effort between seven community colleges which developed cognitive skills programs for entry-level freshmen. Chapter I reviews the unique features of Project COMPAS,…

In this paper, ULearn (University of Surrey learning on-line) and e-learning techniques are used to enhance the students' understanding and participation in Dynamics modules for an undergraduate programme in the School of Engineering, University of Surrey. The Dynamics modules are taught at Levels 2 and 3 and contain several mechanisms and…