At the University of Delaware, World Wide Web tools are used to produce multiplatform administrative applications, including hyperreporting, mixed media, electronic forms, and kiosk services. Web applications are quickly and easily crafted to interact with administrative databases. They are particularly suited to customer outreach efforts,…

In July 1993, DePaul University integrated its information technology and service functions under a new division of University Planning and Information Technology, consolidating formerly fragmented services to achieve a unified direction for information technology closely aligned with university goals. This case study discusses the framework,…

As technical compatibility standards have become critical in business and industrial computing, educational software interoperability is rapidly becoming an issue for users and developers of educational information systems. New interoperability initiatives are under way in library automation, higher education information services, and K-12…

In the University of Massachusetts' multicampus system, an integrated suite of technologies called PRO*CAST provides administrators, planners, and policymakers with access to timely, accurate information to support decision making and monitor progress toward established goals. The system is structured as an information warehouse with executive…

In moving Syracuse University (New York) administrative computing applications from mainframe to a client/server environment, challenges have come not from technological transition but from changes in the ways both information systems are organized and clients work. Cultural initiatives were necessary, including organizational restructuring,…

The University of Rochester's experience with online analytical processing (OLAP), part of its executive information system, is reported. The server, a multiuser, local area network (LAN)-based database loaded from legacy systems or a data warehouse, can rapidly manipulate and display data, and allows quick creation and changing of analytical…

The experience of Stanford University (California) in developing the institutional image it portrayed on the World Wide Web is discussed. Principles and practical suggestions for developing such an image through layout and content are offered, including a list of things not to do on a Web page. (MSE)

The gap in understanding between scientists and the field of science studies, particularly critics of the current state of the sciences, is examined. It is argued that the tension has little or nothing to do with political correctness, but rather with the cost of science and the social contract on which its financial support rests. (MSE)

Legal and educational aspects of the debate over religious expression entering the college classroom are examined, particularly as they relate to inclusion of creationism into science instruction. It is concluded that the central question is not whether creationism is religious, but whether it is true, and that truth benefits from open debate over…

A Dartmouth College (New Hampshire) professor comments on the value of study abroad programs, not only for students but also for faculty. Issues for the institution to consider in designing an overseas program are discussed, including academic purpose, costs, unique administrative problems, implications for tenure-track faculty, compensation…

Two college teachers acting as administrators of study abroad programs in France identify unique challenges found in the job, including unfamiliar administrative responsibilities, foreign bureaucracies, student logistical and personal problems, extensive paperwork, "on-call" student supervision, taking a family abroad, and relations with the home…

The director of a University of Virginia Arabic language program in Jordan discusses issues, sometimes unfamiliar, with which the administrator must deal. In addition to logistical and administrative tasks, in this context these include the role of women in the Arab university and students' questions about the universality of social values. (MSE)

A national survey of 140 college and university presidents concerning the design, content, and status of faculty development programs suggests that renewed institutional efforts are needed to ensure that faculty will understand the changing nature of their disciplines. Major retraining in informational and educational technology is urged, with…

A discussion of the responsibility of the college teacher as researcher looks at the researcher's role in setting agendas that may be of national or international significance, effects of research on the lives of individuals and groups studied, possible consequences of the findings, and perceptions of "successful" research. More difficult debates…

Economic and social trends that will affect the health care system are examined, including federal health care reform efforts, federal budget trimming through managed care and cost-cutting, declines in state spending, adoption of single-payer systems, growing competition in the private sector (mergers, alliances, acquisitions), dominance of health…