A decade of distance education practice has shown the following: academic achievement is enabled, teacher role changes, effective distance teachers become better classroom teachers, cost-effectiveness is only one measure of success, turf issues still remain, technology drives programs, and there is a tendency to fit technology to old teaching…

In Australia, a survey of 19 college of education faculty showed that those interested in teaching adult and community education generally lacked relevant qualifications, experience, and research. Employment of new staff, retraining of existing staff, and infrastructure development were recommended to meet the needs of a diverse spectrum of adult…

College students in telecourses (n=699) completed personality and attitude instruments. Students most satisfied with telecourses were mature, venturesome, outgoing, practical, relaxed, and studious. Techniques were recommended to help those less satisfied, who tended to be highly anxious, introverted, and less mature. (SK)

Five issues face continuing higher education: (1) accessibility, affordabiltiy, accountability, and technological literacy; (2) growth of distance education; (3) information technology paradigm shift; (4) new skills required of faculty; and (5) the role of continuing education in helping institutions adapt to the shift. (SK)

Of 170 college administrators responding to a survey, 73 were classified as intentional (planned and prepared for administrative careers) and 56 as unintentional (self-identified primarily as academic). Intentionality affected their approach to the job, networking, and professional development. It also appeared to relate to learning style…

A study had two parts: (1) construction of behaviorally anchored rating scales for continuing education administrative positions, using the DACUM (Developing a Curriculum) process and (2) professional development needs assessment of 11 directors and 22 area representatives. The utility of the scales for administrator self-assessment of…

Interviews with 3 distance education administrators, 9 faculty, and 24 students who used the Iowa Communications Network for graduate study identified the following: need for well-articulated policy, value of financial incentives, benefits of institutional cooperation, importance of a student orientation program and faculty training, and use of…

Examples of service learning projects in higher education are given to demonstrate the impact of student participation, including increased concern for civic values, greater service orientation, and expansion of the cultural context. (SK)

Presents a collection of articles that offer information on such issues as the progress of black student matriculations at the highest-ranking U.S. colleges; black historians teaching black history; Blacks in academic accounting; banishing the stereotype that African Americans cannot do mathematics; campus crime rates at black colleges; and the…

Examines the Black-White Higher Education Equality Index; the relative status of Blacks and Whites in education; students and faculty from black African nations at U.S. colleges; progress by black coaches and administrators in college sports; black enrollments at selective universities; progress in winning science and engineering degrees; and…

Reports the increase of the black-white scoring gap on the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT). As race-sensitive college admissions decline, these scores present barriers to educational progress by Blacks in selective institutions. Explains the scoring gap noting why so few Blacks have top SAT scores and thus will be shut out of major universities…

Presents the results of a survey of readers' opinions about African Americans who made the greatest contributions to American society during the 20th century. Martin Luther King, Jr., received the most votes by a large margin, followed by Thurgood Marshall, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Malcolm X. Discusses survey results by various categories. (SM)

"America in Black and White: One Nation Indivisible: Race in Modern America," by Stephan and Abigail Thernstrom, has become important in the movement to abolish affirmative action in higher education. Suggests the book seriously misinterprets and misuses evidence to make its case, refuting specific results the book cites related to enrollment,…

Notes that in 1998, despite energetic efforts to devise a more flexible admissions process at the University of California's professional schools, the percentage of entering black or Hispanic students (with the notable exception of 1997) stood at its lowest levels in 29 years. Discusses the problem, examining the effects of the University's…

Examines the teaching methods of David Wilkins, an African American Harvard Law School professor considered an exciting teacher by his students and colleagues. Describes his skill in getting students to attend class, engage in legal thinking, feel comfortable in the classroom, and learn the formal rituals and procedures for the court. (SM)