This study explored the perceptions of faculty at a large urban university concerning (1) personal and college rewards for job responsibilities, and (2) which programs and incentives to enhance teaching effectiveness would be most attractive to them. The top rated options were institutional recognition of teaching excellence. (Author/MLW)

Four books are reviewed including: "Fostering Minority Access and Achievement in Higher Education" (a Ford Foundation study by Richard Richardson and Lewis Bender); "In Pursuit of Equality in Higher Education" (Anne Pruitt); "Latino College Students" (Michael Olivas); and "Toward Undergraduate Student Quality in…

This article outlines steps toward university collaboration with local arts organizations to enhance local cultural life in medium-sized cities. It illustrates these steps with examples from practice and discusses how to maintain ongoing collaborations. Major benefits from such partnerships and factors requiring attention to ensure success are…

The new mission-linked accreditation standards of the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business represent a fundamental change in how business schools operate. Emphases on strategic planning, stakeholder participation, faculty teams, and continuous improvement will encourage institutional cultural change and help faculty respond with…

Any reevaluation of the role of faculty and higher education must focus on both student and world needs. An honest examination under these principles will find that much of higher education must be changed. Universities are civilization's servants, not servants to the state or higher education institutions. Specific efforts of the University of…

At the University of Minnesota, the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs was established as an all-university unit with resources to establish community connections, facilitate and support faculty and graduate student urban research and outreach, and help integrate urban concerns into a large, urban-located land-grant university. Its structure,…

Two urban university professors report on their experiences with use of new technologies in their American history classes, focusing on the crucial role of the teacher. The challenge for the first was to reconcile the enormity of the Internet with the need to make its resources available to students. The second found the technology enabled…

The Memphis Maps program, a collaborative effort of Memphis (Tennessee) educational institutions, public agencies, a bank, and community programs, trains local students in Geographic Information Systems technology and provides the community with valuable demographic and assessment information. The program is described, and factors contributing to…

The freshman seminar at Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis is taught by a team that includes faculty, an academic advisor, librarians, and student mentors and is often linked to a disciplinary course. Faculty serve as instructors in the linked course, and student mentors lead supplemental instruction groups. Challenges…

Research shows that learning communities are an effective way to improve student performance and persistence, but the success of any particular implementation is not guaranteed. Each program should be evaluated with regard to the likelihood that better-prepared students tend to participate. The protocol used for evaluation at Indiana…

A thorough review and revision of curriculum at San Jose State University (California) illustrates that the modern university can achieve major internal academic reforms when two important conditions are met: legitimacy and energy. These two concepts are defined and practical illustrations are drawn from the institution's recent experience in…

A study at Barry University (Florida), a private, urban comprehensive university investigated factors in student retention. Demographic data, standardized test scores, and academic performance data were gathered for almost 3,000 students entering the university between fall 1991 and spring 1995. In addition, the students were surveyed on…

This study surveyed about 290 institutional members of either the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges, or the American Association of State Colleges and Universities which are located in urban or metropolitan areas in order to gather data and to learn about their service areas, their commitment to community service,…

This paper presents a study designed to determine the reason first and post-first year students (N=61) chose to leave Chicago Urban University (CUU) prior to graduation. Data were sought from a random sample of 100 students via either a mailed or a telephone survey, with a 61% response rate. The 54-question interview/survey instrument examined the…

This paper reports on findings of a multi-faceted preliminary study designed to identify the technical information needs of academic department chairpersons at a public urban university. Study methodology involved: (1) two 2-hour focus group sessions in which a total of 10 department chairpersons participated; (2) short written reports from the…