Three recent reports on the quality and need for reform in American higher education are examined as opportunities, particularly for faculty, to renew their commitment to excellence in their profession. (MSE)

Shifts in attitudes toward the academy is a product of changes in the American political economy, especially the rapid expansion of the white-collar sector and corporate takeover, and social movements of the post-war era in which people previously without power began to assert themselves. (MSE)

Restrictions on intellectual freedom have existed in American colleges and universities from their founding in the mid-seventeenth century through the rise of the corporate and government dominated institutions of today, and intellectual repression is a principal factor in low faculty morale in the 1980s. (MSE)

College faculty suffer from loss of esteem and place in the institutional structure, discrepancies between their commitment and that of the institution, and government intrusion into the academy. Burnout is one result of this loss of power and opportunity. Faculty must not become passive or cease caring or creating. (MSE)

The attitudes of eight part-time faculty members about their lack of job security, the increasing elusiveness of regular positions, inadequate compensation, commitment to the profession, distance from their peers, and other features of their employment situation are discussed. (MSE)

Ohio University's development and implementation of an early retirement incentive program is described and discussed in the context of faculty demographics and faculty attitudes. (MSE)

General reasons for the upsurge of religious dogmatism in American society are discussed, the nature of the faculty encounter with dogmatic students is examined, and appropriate responses to student religious dogmatism are outlined. (MSE)

The role of feminist faculty and unions in forming alliances to change the traditional academic power structure and in addressing faculty issues common to women and other groups is discussed. (MSE)

American higher education should have three priorities: (1) show students that we are connected through the use of symbols; (2) help students understand, through science, the underlying patterns and connections of the natural world; and (3) teach students about social and civic institutions through familiarity with other cultures. (MSE)

Under full scrutiny, the Strategic Defense Initiative program is revealed as a form of escapism from global realities, with dangerous and destabilizing themes for both the university and society. Universities must face this issue squarely, and limit their focus to activities best suited to an intellectually constructive and humane purpose. (MSE)

Businesses and universities must be encouraged to act from their traditional positions of strength, based on the longest view and the broadest interests. They must examine carefully their potential sources of conflict as well as opportunities for benefit before engaging in alliances that may become complex and difficult to manage. (MSE)

The evolution of California's attempts to determine college faculty salary comparability within and outside the state are chronicled and discussed, focusing on the difficulties inherent in the comparison. (MSE)

The use of labor market differentials to determine college faculty salary structures in different disciplines is examined in the context of Michigan and California faculty's efforts to rectify salary inequity. (MSE)

Keene State College's experience with establishing and implementing market-based faculty salary increases is described, focusing on faculty concerns about this and other equity issues. (MSE)

The increasing numbers of independent scholars, individuals doing scholarly work outside academe, suggests three needs: a comprehensive study of this phenomenon, development of a means of communicating within and outside this group, and discussion of what independence means. (MSE)