The time pattern of university participation rates and the variations across provinces in the light of economic analysis are discussed. While cost factors, tuition fees and student aid have changed significantly, it is argued that their quantitative impact is unlikely to account for a major part of the enrollment increase. (Author/MLW)

A study to explore faculty nonparticipation in teaching improvement programs is described. Faculty nonparticipation was viewed as a function of interacting personal and situational factors. Questionnaire results were compared along disciplinary lines and according to participation in instructional workshops. (Author/MLW)

University distance education has developed in Canada on a mainly intra-provincial and occasionally regional basis. Five kinds of development are identified: correspondence programs; open universities; "outport" programs; "extension" programs; and the network. (Author/MLW)

British Columbia's College Councils were one province's solution to the need to impose central direction without sacrificing sensitivity to outlying parts. Their creation, particular structure, and demise are described. (Author/MLW)

Care must be taken in examining studies that compare one method of teaching to another. The need for precise identification of the critical variables in instructional methods is stressed. The critical contribution of variables other than "method" should be examined. (Author/MLW)

Teaching assistants are unionized at most large Ontario and British Columbia universities. The institutions tend to be urban, have large graduate enrollments, and have faced greater budgetary concerns at the time of unionization. Canada's public policy and labor relations decisions have favored unionization more than the United States's have. (MSE)

A study of goals as perceived by the presidents and board chairpersons compares their perceptions of existing and preferred goals and compares perceptions according to respondents' positions and the region, age, and size of the institutions. Perceptions were found to be similar, with process goals higher than traditional outcome goals. (MSE)

Three groups of contemporary advocates of the humanities in higher education are compared: traditionalists who argue for the implicit worth of the humanities, pragmatists who see them as having real use-value in terms of contemporary social issues, and radicals who see them as a force for social change. (MSE)

Some issues in managing university cutbacks are explored in light of research on retrenchment in both public and private sectors. The nature and significance of decline in the Canadian university system are discussed, some general and specific problems are outlined, and some specific recent cuts analyzed. (MSE)

A regression discontinuity design was used to assess the impact of a remedial education program, comparing credit course grades of students previously enrolled in remedial programs with those not previously enrolled. Results showed the remedial programs were not improving performance beyond expectation based on high school grades. (MSE)

An approach to conceptualization and analysis of institutional policy formation that differs from traditional models is proposed and applied to the University of Calgary. The model describes policymaking as a set of policymaking systems, each temporary in nature and developed in response to an identifiable stress in the institutional environment.…

Two cases illustrate an approach that considers characteristics and needs of each situation separately. One case involved the establishment of a new baccalaureate program; the second involved the remodeling of a master's program, undertaken from outside the program, by committee. (MSE)

Longitudinal survey research permits examination of the influence profiles of free-standing faculty senates and coexisting senates and faculty unions on U.S. college campuses. The forces prompting flow of power away from faculty deliberative bodies are discussed and the future of senates in hard times is examined. (MSE)

There is an urgent need for complete, comprehensible, and readily available labor market information for college students to make intelligent career choices. Colleges must help students see that liberal education is often the most effective occupational preparation, be responsive to student choices and enrollment patterns, and provide labor market…

Application of economic theories of educational supply and demand to Ontario postsecondary enrollments show that community college enrollments are more income-sensitive than university enrollments, and graduate enrollments are more price sensitive than undergraduate enrollments. No competition effects between community colleges and universities…