Today's employers seek high levels of creativity, communication, and critical thinking, which are considered essential skills in the workplace. Engaging undergraduate students in critical thinking is especially challenging in introductory courses. The advent of YouTube, inexpensive video cameras, and easy-to-use video editors provides…

Student philanthropy is a teaching strategy designed to engage students actively in the curriculum, increase awareness of social needs and nonprofit organizations, and teach grant-writing and grant-making skills. This is the first study to examine long-term effects of student philanthropy by surveying alumni years after their experience with this…

In response to a growing movement within higher education to provide interdisciplinary educational programs, this study describes the creation of an interdisciplinary graduate certificate program in healthcare policy and management. Building on prior research, we surveyed healthcare executives to examine their perceptions about the need for such a…

In this article we discuss some of the factors that influence how faculty members and academic staff at Michigan State University connect their scholarly activities to external audiences. Logistic regression was used to analyze data collected using an institutional-wide survey. Findings reveal that appointment type, discipline, and demographic…

Peer mentoring programs are an important component in the strategy to enhance the first year undergraduate experience. The operation of these programs needs to be informed by evidence as to their effectiveness. In this article we report on a six-year study of the development of a peer mentoring program in which feedback is used to improve program…

Using data from two rounds of surveys on students in the Washington State Achievers (WSA) program, this study examined the relationship between student engagement in college activities and student persistence in college. Different approaches using student engagement measures in the persistence models were compared. The results indicated that the…

This article explores the concept of academic receivership in U.S. colleges and universities. Academic receivership occurs when control of an academic department or program is removed from the faculty and an outside chair is put in place by the college or university administration. A literature review is supplemented by a small survey to assess…

The authors investigated student and faculty perceptions of academic challenge at their institution, based on early administrations of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). This analysis revealed that the NSSE did not fully capture many meanings of academic challenge held by these faculty and students. This study led to a proposal for…

While the number of mid-career faculty currently in U.S. higher education is significant, professional development programming that addresses the teaching and learning issues of this population has not been a priority. This article describes the Mid-Career Teaching Program (MCTP) and presents data that assesses its impact on participants'…

A survey of 1,017 academic deans examined the fit between academic deans and their work environments in the U.S. and Australia, relating it to multiple role stress factors, and identifying personal, institutional, and work-defining variables that either increase or decrease dean stress. Five strategies are suggested to improve the…

A survey of administrators at nine research universities elicited information about the use, benefits, and problems of strategic planning, other decision-making and evaluative processes, and techniques for perpetuating the spirit of planning within the organization. Attention is given to the value of innovative approaches to planning. (MSE)

This article urges academe to reconsider how it defines, rewards, and supports scholarship. Noting that only 10-15% of college professors publish regularly, it suggests that faculty are distanced from their work because of a discrepancy between what they want to do and perceived institutional expectations. A survey of professional development…

Professional staff of colleges and universities usually do not have the kind of clearly defined paths for advancement that are available to the faculty. The results of a survey examining opportunities for professional staff are presented. Information given includes job classification, salaries, job evaluation, promotion, and incentives.…

Portfolio assessment has become a standard mechanism for the evaluation of prior learning for experienced students. An informal survey of portfolio narratives receiving faculty approval for credit at various postsecondary institutions indicates a wide range of declarative, analytical, and interpretive assertions recognized as "learning" in these…

University faculty were surveyed to assess their attitudes toward teaching and teaching improvement. The results suggest the presence of faculty subgroups with different degrees of motivation for faculty development. Implications are drawn for creating successful faculty development approaches that can capitalize on existing faculty interest. (MLW)