Examines faculty and administrator perspectives on the importance of institutional effectiveness activities at two- and four-year institutions. Reports that there is little difference between faculty and administrator perspectives at two-year institutions, but significant differences between faculty and administrators at four-year institutions.…

Discusses the institutional inventory completed at Schoolcraft College (Michigan), which focused on how to learn or teach necessary skills, the skills that are important for success, and the best way to assess skills necessary for competency. Reports that most stakeholders agreed on the skills that are important for success, but they held various…

Discusses the debate surrounding community college baccalaureate degrees and their possible benefit to minority students. Describes a survey of student attitudes regarding the opportunity to obtain a baccalaureate degree at the two-year college they attended. Reports that minority students' responses indicated that offering a four-year degree at…

Summarizes research-based principles of learning, which include underlying assumptions, outcomes-based learning, objective-referenced assessment, the facilitation of higher-level thinking, and cognitive/affective/psychomotor learning. Suggests strategies for applying these principles to course development and delivery. Adds that most of these…

Describes Michigan's Galileo Leadership Academy, a collaboration between K-12 and community college educators that develops leadership skills. Explains that 11 organizations participate in the program, and every two years each organization chooses five to nine leaders (primarily classroom educators) to be part of a new cohort. Asserts that the…

Discusses the community outreach issues involved in the merging of a two-year branch campus of a university and a two-year technical college in Arkansas. States that, by creating two literary magazines, the institution involved members of the community with varied talents and interests. Adds that such projects may serve as models to college…

The first interview in this article discusses the expectations and challenges adult learners bring with them to the community college classroom, and what instructors should know in order to teach them effectively. The second interview discusses the student experience, including teacher-student relationships, class size, and teacher effectiveness.…

This article describes a study of 244 chief academic officers and 208 faculty leaders at community and technical colleges regarding the effectiveness of post-tenure faculty evaluation. Findings indicate that administrators were equally divided regarding its effectiveness, while 70% of faculty expressed uncertainty or negativity toward evaluation.…

This article discusses the 6-E Report Card, a tool that provides a quantitative evaluation of instructional programs based upon a unique decision-making model that meets objectives by measuring excellence, equity, efficiency, effort, effectiveness, and ethics. Programs are assessed for their ability to meet or exceed predetermined performance…

This article examines the ways in which newly-hired factory workers define literacy. In this study, employees responded to open-ended questions and narrated a story to illustrate on-the-job success. Findings indicate that workers defined literacy in both traditional--in terms of reading and writing--and non-traditional ways, such as…

This article discusses a survey of administrators at an Alabama community college regarding faculty responsibilities and rewards. Respondents indicated that academic advising constituted the most important responsibility for faculty members. Professional organization conference planning and journal publications were among the least significant.…

This article suggests that many college educators are resistant to change, in spite of their reputation for being innovative. The author highlights three major techniques educators use to sabotage change--creating committees, using the past to dictate the future, and sticking their heads in the ground--and suggests steps to overcome them. (AUTH/NB)

This essay discusses the difficulties many English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students face when mainstreamed into academic content courses while still enrolled in ESL classes. The author demonstrates the benefits of pairing an ESL speech class with a content area course as a method for improving English language skills. (Contains 44 references.)…

This article presents a transcript of Steven Berg's interviews with James MacGregor Burns and Ritchie McKay regarding leadership. James Burns is a senior fellow in the Jepson School of Leadership Studies at the University of Richmond, Virginia. Ritchie McKay is Head Coach of the men's basketball team at University of New Mexico. Steven Berg is an…

This study explores the factors affecting the transfer behavior of community college students. A total of 481 students in 10 of Michigan's 28 community colleges completed the survey. Findings show that the academic program was the most important factor to those intending to transfer, but that school location was more important to those not…