Describes a new way to link graduate education and entrepreneurship, the Intellectual Entrepreneurship program at the University of Texas at Austin, which provides opportunities for graduate students to discover how they can use their expertise to make meaningful and lasting differences in their academic disciplines and communities--to become…

The Mina Shaughnessy Scholars Program provides funds for innovators in postsecondary education to develop and disseminate their ideas. Its goal is to improve practice, rather than to advance knowledge, and the search is for practitioners who can make the most difference in improving postsecondary education. (MLW)

Examines efforts at Syracuse University since winning the 1996 Hesburgh Award for transforming into a "student-centered research university." Concludes that the institution has been successful in creating consensus for its redefined mission, building supporting infrastructure, and changing its campus culture. Asserts that it can serve as…

Describes the University of Alabama at Birmingham's experience grappling with the many issues surrounding postdoctoral education in order to ensure that postdoctoral researchers are treated as more than cheap skilled labor and given benefits or opportunities for advancement. (EV)

Presents a brief history of the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), launched during a period of growth and turmoil in U.S. higher education. Discusses FIPSE's successes as it celebrates 30 years of helping colleges and universities assess and improve the quality of their services. (EV)

The papers of Thomas A. Edison will be compiled and published in a 20-year project under the sponsorship of the National Park Service, the New Jersey Historical Commission, the Smithsonian Institution, and Rutgers University. This effort, the Thomas A. Edison Papers Project, and its background are described. (JMD)

A list of precollege programs that help Hispanic students stay in school and succeed in the courses necessary for educational and occupational success is presented. Early intervention programs, organization programs, and scholarship programs are discussed.

Discusses 30 institutions participating in a program exploring how large-enrollment introductory courses can be redesigned using technology to extend access to a new population of students without trading quality for cost savings. (EV)

The current, conventional approach to research does little to strengthen scholars' participation in civic life. However, models of research that promote more democratic inquiry methods, more reciprocal relationships between researchers and their subjects, and new collaborations between research institutions and communities are emerging and being…

Describes how the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) has played a central role in sponsoring innovations in the medical and health sciences, including landmark medical projects to integrate women's health issues into the medical curriculum and to use lay people in the teaching and evaluating of medical students. (EV)

Describes how the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) has helped institutions reach out to groups they have historically neglected, including funding a project to formulate a global strategy for making computers accessible to disabled students. Includes a list of other projects. (EV)

The complex assessment movement in higher education is examined from the perspectives of how it is being implemented on four university campuses (University of Virginia, University of Connecticut, University of Tennessee at Knoxville, and King's College, Pennsylvania) and what its prospects are for a lasting effect on undergraduate study. (MSE)

A two-year college program on a high desert ranch that combines traditional liberal arts with strenuous physical work aims to develop humility, service, leadership, and a wide range of practical skills. Most graduates have gone on to graduate study and leadership positions in society. (MSE)

Colleges faced with declining enrollments are cultivating a new crop of students--7-to-14-year-olds--who attend college after school, on Saturday mornings, and during the summer. Some programs are described, including College for Kids at the College of Marin and Cornell University. (MLW)

Discusses how the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) has considered international programs an essential element of its mandate and created projects that led to partnerships that advance core international initiatives in higher education. (EV)