A survey of National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges (NASULGC) members found that, although many purported to be assessing undergraduate student outcomes, most had only recently begun and could not identify specific improvements resulting. However, most found the association's statement of principles on outcomes…

A study in one private university classified four academic disciplines as hard or soft and pure or applied, then compared student evaluations of courses for organization, breadth of coverage, group interaction, enthusiasm, grading, and individual rapport. Results suggest a single evaluation form may not be appropriate for all disciplines.…

Research on college students' evaluations of their male and female teachers is synthesized and compared with results of research on student evaluation of hypothetical male and female teachers. Results suggest the interaction of gender, teacher characteristics/behaviors, and student perceptions and expectations is complex. (MSE)

A study applying anomie theory to behavior of college faculty, especially as alienation from the academic reward system results in deviation from professional norms of communality, disinterestedness, universalism, and organized skepticism, is reported. Implications for use of norms as interpretive devices, ambivalence of academics toward norms,…

Analysis of data from a national survey of about 1,000 college faculty found African-American faculty reported higher levels of occupational stress than white counterpart, especially in areas of research and service activities. Possible effects of extra-academic assignments given to African-American faculty are considered. (Author/MSE)

A study with 2,453 college students investigated the construct validity of the student commitment to institution as a factor in academic persistence. Results suggest factors such as institutional quality, practical educational utility, student-institution fit, and loyalty to institution were more predictive of persistence than similarity of…

A study classified 90 full-time tenure-track faculty in 1 university into 5 discrete types based on teaching, research, and service. Types include all-stars, teachers and good citizens, researchers, teachers, and uninvolved. This mix of types is seen as resulting from past administrative decisions and helps shape future decisions. (Author/MSE)

A study compared selected personal and environmental motivational variables in college faculty with allocation of work effort to teaching. Faculty represented the disciplines of English, chemistry, and psychology and various institution types. Self-valuation and perception of the environment motivators significantly accounted for the explained…

A study compared selected personal and environmental motivational variables in college faculty with allocation of work effort to research, scholarship, and service. Faculty were from eight liberal arts and sciences departments in a range of institution types. For all institutional types, self-valuation motivators significantly accounted for the…

A study of 136 graduate social work students found that burnout (strain) was significantly related to each of 3 stress indicators and 2 outcome measures (intention to quit school and physical and psychological symptoms). Direct stress-to-outcome relationship was nonsignificant. Evidence of a buffering influence of social support was limited. (MSE)

A study at the University of Wisconsin-Madison examined the effect of nonnative English-speaking teaching assistants (TAs) on student performance, as measured by grades, over five semesters. Additional variables investigated include TA regional origin, instructional area, course drop rates, and TA training programs. Consistently higher performance…

A study of 723 doctoral students investigated the relationship between time taken to complete the degree and economic factors, including employment hours, study hours, household income, indebtedness, amount and type of aid, and part-time student status. Field of study and foreign/domestic student status were also considered. (Author/MSE)

A survey of respondents and nonrespondents to the Vocational Education Data System's follow-up survey of Massachusetts community college graduates was designed to measure response bias. The survey investigated employment patterns, wages, and degree of job relatedness. Results suggest original data was biased, if at all, toward underestimation, not…

Development and validation of the Ethical Climate Index, designed to measure perceived ethical climate of an institution's graduate and professional school programs, is described. The instrument was found to be valid and reliable, and variability was found in student perceptions of ethical climate across major academic areas. Research needs are…

Analysis of data on freshman-to-senior developmental gains in 722 University of Tennessee-Knoxville students provides evidence of the advantages of structural equation modeling with latent variables and suggests that the group differences identified by traditional analysis of variance and covariance techniques may be an artifact of measurement…