There have been recent calls for a royal commission (RC) on the British National Health Service (NHS). This article focuses on the impact of RCs and similar advisory bodies, particularly on finance recommendations, of three inquiries with broad remits across the whole of the NHS from very different periods: Guillebaud (1956); Royal Commission on…

This annual report shows how fee and support systems (including grants and loans) work in higher education in Europe. It provides both a comparative overview of fees and financial support available to full-time students in 2017/18, and also includes individual country sheets outlining the main elements of national systems. In particular, the…

As described in "Go8 Backgrounder 24: Answering the Global Challenge--Experiences from European Excellence Initiatives," Germany began a debate about how to strengthen its position as an excellent location for science and research in 2004. This debate focussed in particular on the competitiveness of the country's universities and…

"Linking Resources to Results" explores the deliberate approach--including specific goals, a clearly articulated grantmaking strategy and benchmarks for measuring progress--the Chicago Public Education Fund used to help the Chicago Public Schools recognize, reward and deploy high-quality teachers. The case study is intended to help…

Teaching artists work in a field with a long, rich history, and many roots and strands of development. One of TAJ's roles is to try to make this history more accessible and useful to working teaching artists. In this article, the author outlines the evolution of teaching artistry in the United States.

This report was written to shine a spotlight on the under-reported plight of America's nonprofit organizations and to make recommendations for how the nation can respond. In the wake of the economic downturn, hospitals, nursing homes, nursery schools, senior centers, soup kitchens, and other nonprofit organizations have been hit by a triple…

The purpose of this paper is to discuss both the status of the PhD in South Africa and the feasibility of the country's aspiration to increase by fivefold the production of PhDs by 2025. Based on the first empirical studies on doctoral education in South Africa, it argues that in order to move towards this target, an expanded and coordinated…

There is a call across the country and in Texas to improve health care systems through integrated care. Integrated health care is the systematic coordination of physical and behavioral health services. The idea is that physical and behavioral health problems often occur at the same time and that integrating services will provide the best results…

Major research opportunities and needs are expected by the National Science Foundation in six areas of information science: models of adaptive information processing, learning, searching, and recognition; knowledge resource systems, particularly intelligent systems; user-system interaction; augmentation of human information processing tasks;…

This article discusses the types of preservation projects the National Endowment for the Humanities' Office of Preservation expects to support, the cost of these projects, and some strategies for accomplishing them. Projects conducted by Research Libraries Group, Association of Research Libraries, and Council on Library Resources are highlighted.…

The paper summarizes major national federal programs paying benefits to handicapped children. Programs addressed include Supplemental Security Income, Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, Maternal and Child Health Services, Crippled Children's Services, Developmental Disabilities Services, vocational rehabilitation, and housing and transportation.…

This special issue includes "The Microfilming of Newspapers: An Overview" (Thomas Bourke); "United States Newspaper Program: Progress and Propsects" (Larry Sullivan); "The Preservation of Canadian Newspapers" (Mary Jane Starr); "Current Filming of the New York Times at UMI" (Kenneth Tillman); and "The…

Existing and potential federal funding programs for libraries are discussed in this special conference theme summary. The relation of library funding to the total intergovernmental grant system is explained, and eight existing federal programs are outlined that support (1) public library services, (2) interlibrary cooperation, (3) school libraries…

Describes Finland's child welfare system, including its general services, income supports, preventive services, foster care services, as well as the role of voluntary child welfare organizations. Also discusses the funding sources for child welfare work. (RJC)

Summarizes the changes and problems facing American families. Offers a national policy model for children and families--currently lacking in the United States--that includes economic supports, health care, social services, and a research program for gauging family needs. Offers strategies for analysis and implementation. (RJM)