Learning Resources

Abstract: The quality of campus life in large universities has declined over the years as faculty have given up responsibility for student life outside the classroom and institutions have become ever more bureaucratized. To solve this problem, universities should establish systems of small, decentralized academic communities modeled ultimately on the residential colleges of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. In the United States, Harvard and Yale Universities first adopted this residential college model in the 1930s, and it is now spreading to many institutions, public and private, large and small.

Abstract: This article examines the academic planning implications of “The Senior Citizens’ Freedom to Work Act of 2000.” The act sharply reduces Social Security retirement benefit penalties previously imposed on 65- to 69-year-old professionals who earned more than nominal incomes after enrolling in the program, potentially delaying their retirement decisions. Further, the average salary level of senior professors in U.S. colleges and universities places them among those who will most heavily benefit from the act, which might change the age composition of academic faculties significantly over time. This article closes with a discussion of the act’s potential impact on faculty turnover rates, academic staffing patterns, and the age distribution of academic faculties.

Abstract: In response to student and faculty complaints about the amount of time available to travel between classes, an analysis of the time between classes problem was conducted at a large, public research university. Using facilities, course scheduling, and student survey data, we discovered that many students had distances to travel between classes that would normally take longer than the allotted 10 minutes. This forced them to leave class early, arrive to class late, or skip class altogether and often left them with an inadequate amount of time to complete exams. These analyses supported a decision to implement a policy regarding student scheduling.

Abstract: This essay discusses a process for taking an institutional vision and translating and transforming it into quantifiable performance indicators that provide a framework for the institution to implement, manage and measure change. The method consists of the construction of a system-wide metric, or comprehensive “scorecard,” containing institutional strategic themes and indicators of progress. Scorecards provide institutions with clear guidelines for planning and decision making and communicate strategic priorities that are easily viewed and understood by the university community. They allow for the identification of high priority programs leading to congruence between goals and objectives and provide the framework to address productivity issues within academic and support units and throughout the university. Scorecards facilitate institutional synergy by ensuring that the sum total of unit progress will lead to the achievement of university goals.

Abstract: This article describes a joint project that allowed San Jose State University and the city of San Jose, California, to work together to meet their shared challenges and work within the parameters of their differences in constructing a joint library. It is the first such partnership in the United States that is both fully integrated and jointly funded. The article discusses the special challenges of such as project as well as the lessons learned.

Abstract: Urban schools segment students into direct from high school (DHS) or "traditional" and adult or "nontraditional," based on presumed scheduling and program preferences and media access. Grouping enrollment and survey data from one institution by permanent residence, class schedules, and campus participation produced a modified picture: local DHS students are more like adults than out-of-town DHS students. "Campus-centered" and "community-centered" are proposed to replace traditional and nontraditional concepts. Implications of this reconceptualization are developed.