Tenured and probationary faculty at a midwestern state university were asked to complete a questionnaire containing 21 merit-pay-related questions and five biographic-status questions. The typical faculty member preferred: (1) that 40% of their annual salary increment be allocated to merit; (2) that this merit component be controlled by their…

The level of concern about security problems at the University of Maryland at College Park and the use of available security measures and services were investigated in May 1983. A randomly-selected sample of 764 students, 571 employees, and 31 campus police were surveyed. Higher response rates were obtained from women than from men, and from…

Ohio University's development and implementation of an early retirement incentive program is described and discussed in the context of faculty demographics and faculty attitudes. (MSE)

Ways to eliminate sexism (discrimination based on sex) in Oregon State University classrooms are suggested, with attention to language, behavior, and expectations. Social outcomes of sexism are also identified. Unequal treatment singles out or ignores the individual. As a result, students may lose confidence, lower academic goals, or limit their…

The court decision in Bishop vs. Aronov, that public universities may suppress a professor's classroom comments on his personal religious beliefs, is discussed, focusing on the conflict between a professor's right to express personal religious beliefs and a university's right to take action to limit that expression. (Author/MSE)

The University of Minnesota's required six-week ambulatory medicine clerkship provides a comprehensive orientation to ambulatory care through planned integration of patient care with academic work. Responses of both students and faculty have been enthusiastic, with the benefits compensating for high costs in preceptor time. (MSE)

A literature search and survey of 259 Ohio State University faculty addressed advantages and disadvantages of large enrollment classes as well as factors in deciding appropriate class size. Results of both efforts found that the advantages of large classes included lowering of instructor costs, efficient use of faculty time and faculty talent,…

State comprehensive universities are caught between the research university model and the liberal arts and community college models, unsure of their identity. The quest for status has resulted in faculty dissatisfaction, loss of institutional self-esteem, and disparagement of scholarship. Five approaches to developing distinct and appropriate…

This volume offers personal reflections and professional advice on governing a state university system from the former president of the University of Wisconsin (UW) System Board of Regents, Laurence A. Weinstein. The book is organized into 10 chapters. Chapter I outlines Weinstein's background and his vision of the role of university system…

A redesign of the basic foreign language courses at the University of Michigan--Flint, stimulated by a need for improved enrollment and retention and for more language majors, had the result of improving faculty cooperation and teaching. Before the curriculum development effort, the program reflected individual faculty preferences and…

A case study of faculty morale at the University of Oregon as an example of a university experiencing an extended period of fiscal austerity found faculty morale, collegiality, and allegiance have been negatively affected by the inadequacy of financial resources; a history of chronic neglect by the Oregon legislature; and inequities among academic…

This report of a 2-year study on public university responsiveness to academic and vocational reforms in public K-12 schools and community colleges focuses on: (1) how state universities respond to curricular experiments, and (2) the difficulties reformers encounter with universities. The report presents a brief summary of previous progressive…

Problems inherent in the holistic scoring of essay examinations written by limited-English-speakers are examined, particularly in the context of one California state college in which English writing skills, holistically assessed, are required for graduation. These problems include lack of interrater reliability, raters' perceptions of their role,…