This article reviews Jaroslav Pelikan's 1992 book, "The Idea of the University: A Reexamination" which calls into question the concept of "university" posited by John Henry Cardinal Newman in his 1852 lectures, "The Idea of a University." Pelikan proposes that the ideas presented by Newman, although widely honored,…

A study investigated the test-retest reliability of critical faculty productivity measures used in a 1988 major national survey, "Faculty at Work." It further sought to explain reliability differences among items and item types, identify variables and constructs wrongly assumed to be stable over time, and examine implications for other…

A study of the Lilly Endowment's Teaching Fellows Program, which provides professional growth experiences for junior faculty of colleges and universities, found that the program broadly socializes faculty to their roles and specifically enhances teaching abilities. Implications for institutional leaders and faculty developers are noted.…

Individual profiles from an ethnographic study of gay/bisexual male students at Pennsylvania State University are presented, focusing on the experience of coming out while in college. Issues discussed include the relationship of language, culture, and power in shaping experience; overt student actions as political statements; and efforts to open…

In interviews with 18 college faculty actively collaborating on research in the field of higher education, a variety of metaphors were used to explain the nature of the collaborative process, reflecting 6 distinct dynamics of the relationship: degree of jointness, definition of roles and responsibilities, flexibility of roles, similarity of…

Based on a year-long cultural study, undertaken for the 1994 merger of Bethany Theological Seminary (Illinois) and Earlham School of Religion (Indiana), this essay describes distinctive aspects of the two institutional cultures, identifies potential cultural conflicts, and discusses the implications and benefits of using cultural research to guide…

Over 40% of women assistant professors in a recent survey (n=124) identified publishing, teaching, committees, and "time required by children" as serious impediments to achieving tenure, many more than reported sexual harassment and sexism as serious obstacles. Policy changes that will accommodate women professors' time commitments to…

A study assessed reflectivity in college students in general education environmental studies courses, using a reflective judgment-developmental instruction model designed to help students examine their epistemic perspectives. The developmental instructional students (n=28) had significantly higher reflective judgment change scores than students in…

Content analysis of task force reports on improving the undergraduate major in 10 liberal arts disciplines revealed that each discipline's epistemological character strongly influenced methodology, pedagogy, and curricular innovation, consistent with previous theory and research on disciplines. The role of these factors and pragmatic…

National data reveal postsecondary students in proprietary schools and vocational education are much more likely than others to receive financial aid, and community college students are much less likely. Because of community college student sensitivity to costs and because evidence indicates aid is effective in two-year colleges, the pattern is…

Analysis of effects of different student financial aid types on year-to-year persistence of high school seniors of 1980 found social and educational background had differential effects at different points in the college experience, college experiences were influential, student aid had a positive effect on persistence, and loans promoted…

To develop and validate a framework for assessing academic program quality, national data from the fields of computer science and electrical and mechanical engineering were examined. Results, which are evaluated from four perspectives of quality assessment, support the notion that single-variable or single-dimension concepts of quality are…

Yvonna Lincoln and Egon Guba's challenge to the traditional positivist approach to social science research, naturalistic inquiry, is seen as posing ethical dilemmas of its own. Greater awareness of problems of over-idealizing "special relationships" in research practices and in focusing too much on individual rather than systemic…

A study sought to clarify the meaning and use of "academic freedom" in public higher education through a survey of administrators, department heads, and college faculty in Georgia public institutions of higher education. It is felt that clarification of the term should reduce potential for conflict in faculty and institutional rights and…

A study of 539 graduates of 36 higher education programs from 1972-87 yielded (1) a demographic profile of the average graduate, (2) details of their doctoral education, and (3) employment history. Findings include increasing feminization of higher education programs and graduate dissatisfaction with the higher education doctorate. (Author/MSE)