Learning Resources

Abstract: Book review of Planning Focus Groups, by David Morgan with Alice Scannell. SAGE Publications, 1997. 139 pages. ISBN 0-7619-0817-X paperback. (Also available as part of the six-volume Focus Group Kit, ISBN 0-7619-0816-1.) Pull quotes: "Familiarity with the concept of focus-group research has often outstripped the development of sophisticated understanding of what useful focus-group research entails."

Abstract: Book review of Learning From the Future: Competitive Foresight Scenarios, by Liam Fahey and Robert M. Randall. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1997. 446 pages. ISBN 0-47-130352-6. Pull quotes: "Scenarios need to be plausible, and they must be integrated into organizational decision making."

Abstract: Features the attempts of Stanford University to undo past errors in campus development, with a renewed focus on landscape planning designed to unify the campus. When possible, institutional planners have sought to return to the original campus landscape plan. The author discusses various impediments to the project, and examines several landscaping projects in detail. Concludes with lessons learned in the process, including the need for a comprehensive master plan, the importance of developing new funding sources, and the necessity of consistent and proactive leadership.

Abstract: Contends that new technologies demand we rethink traditional campus roles and responsibilities, and especially how we evaluate them for accreditation purposes. Current accreditation criteria reflect the values and structure of the residential campus, but are inadequate for evaluating an electronic one. Warns against allowing accreditation to impede meaningful change, nor permitting change to disassociate from an adequate accreditation process. Examines ways in which both institutions and accrediting bodies can adapt new standards and tools for evaluation.

Abstract: Book reviews of The Case for Tenure, eidted by Matthew W. Finkin. Cornell University Press, 1996. 211 pages ISBN 0-8014-3316-9. (and) New Pathways: Faculty Careers and Employment for the 21st Century. American Association for Higher Education: Alternatives to Tenure for the Next Generation of Academic, Inquiry # 14, by David Breneman. 1997. 16 pages; Academic Freedom Without Tenure?, Inquiry #5, by J. Peter Byrne. 1997. 17 pages; Off the Tenure Track: Six Models for Full-Time, Nontenurable Appointments, Inquiry #10, by Judith Gappa. 36. Pull quotes: "Higher education institutions in recent years have hired an increased number of faculty in positions not eligible for tenure and fewer faculty in positions that will lead to tenure." "The broader society will largely decide the future of tenure."

Abstract: Article It takes external pressures and internal leadership to energize integrated planning.

Abstract: Book review of The Responsive University: Restructuring for High Performance, edited by William Tierney. Johns Hopkins University Presss, 1998. 172 pages. ISBN 0-8018-5715-5. Pull quotes: "If the power of academic departments is weakened and numerous deans and vice presidents are 'eliminated,' who will restructure the institution and reallocate resources, and how?"

Abstract: Article Faculty and presidential perceptions of comprehensive change are not always as different as you would suspect. Pull quotes: "The most agreed-upon source of high pressure compelling institutions to undertake comprehensive change, as reported by both faculty and presidents, came from presidents and cabinets." "Who is in charge? Who does what? The more interesting, and possibly more important, question might be, who thinks who is supposed to do what?" "This study shows that presidents and faculty agree more often than the conventional wisdom would suggest."

Abstract: Book review of Strategic Choices for the Academy: How Demand for Lifelong Learning Will Re-Create Higher Education, by Daniel James Rowley, Herman D. Lujan, and Micheal G. Dolence. Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1998. 309 pages. ISBN 0-7879-4067-4. Pull quotes: "Higher education must focus more broadly on educating a much larger percentage of the population to prepare our society and economy to survive in a global economy."

Abstract: Book review for Information Architects, by Richard Saul Wurman, edited by Peter Bradford. Watson-Guptill Publications, 1997. 235 pages ISBN 1-888001-38-0. Pull quotes: "Information architects design ways for us to see the patterns underneath all the information fragments." "Many people in higher education find that the management and understanding of electronic information resources is an enlarging challenge."