Learning Resources

Abstract: Book review: Strategic Planning : A Human resource Tool for Higher Education, edited by Kathleen Alvino. The College and University Personnel assocation, 1995. 121 pages. ISBN 1-878240-46-3

Abstract: Reviews the history of former President Robert McCabe’s tenure at Miami-Dade Community College. In so doing, the author provide clues not only to what prompted McCabe’s departure, but suggests how substantive strategic change at any institution might result in unintended consequences, such as the ousting of a transformational leader.

Abstract: Book review: A Writer's Companion, by Richard Marius. Third Edition. McGraw-Hill, 1995. 241 pages. ISBN 0-07-040526-3. On Writing Well, by William Zinsser. Fifth Edition. Harper Collins, 1994. 287 pages. ISBN 0-06-273303-6.

Abstract: Book review: Managing Higher Education as a business, by Robert Lenington. Oryx Press, 1996. 128 pages. ISBN 1-57356-023-5.

Abstract: Reviews the scope and common causes of student attrition, highlighting seven major reasons for withdrawal: academic difficulty, adjustment problems, goal development or orientation, weak or external commitments, financial challenges, lack of congruence between the student and the institution, or isolation. Institutions have developed an array of retention programs in response. One such response, the development of learning communities, is explored in depth.

Abstract: Private colleges and universities increasingly are being asked to shoulder their share of municipal and regional tax burdens, thereby ending their age-old tax exempt status. In particular, the author cites four strategies used to pressure institutions into making tax payments: taxing only on property used for auxilliary or non-educational purposes; denying exemptions for leased property; redefining what kinds of institutions qualify for tax-exempt status; and demanding annual gifts of money or service in lieu of taxes. Advocates planning for the growing likelihood that an institution’s tax-exempt privileges will eventually be challenged.

Abstract: Book review: Discovering Design: Exploration in Design Studies, edited by Richard Buchanan and Victor Margolin. University of Chicago Press, 1995. 252 pages. ISBN 0-226-07815-9

Abstract: Book review: Studies in Tectonic Culture: The Poetics of COnsturction in the Nineteenth and twentieth Century, by Kenneth Framton. MIT Press, 1995. 411 pages. ISBN 0-262-06173-2.

Abstract: Book Review: Prescribing the LIfe of the Mind: An Easy on the Purpose of the University, the Aims of Liberal Education, the Competence of CItizens, adn the Cultivation of Pracitcal Reason, by Charles Anderson. University of Wisconsin press, 1996. 173 pages. ISBN 0-299-138-348.

Abstract: Discusses the advent of two-way compressed video, which, unlike radio, film, or cable television, permits bidirectional communication between isolated or geographically separate institutions. Advantages to two-way compressed video include greater connectivity and reasonable cost. Offers suggestions for guiding institutions through the implementation of interactive video connections and planning for eventual system upgrades.