With help from National Association of Scholars, 11 colleges have begun programs using the Great Books curriculum, designed to expose students to the best of Western civilization. The programs vary in the degree to which they adhere to Western works; some faculty are including non-Western civilization. Securing campus approval for the programs has…

Under pressure to improve undergraduate instruction and prepare a new generation of faculty, colleges and universities are strengthening their training programs for teaching assistants, extending them far beyond traditional one-day orientations. Increasingly, participation is required. The most effective efforts appear to be centralized programs…

Many historically black colleges and universities want to take advantage of a strong economy and generous donors. Typically, even relatively wealthy institutions do not have the financial capabilities and access to wealthy benefactors that predominantly white institutions have accumulated and can use more money, either as a cushion against hard…

Sudden growth in the number of doctoral programs in black studies is helping to legitimize the discipline in academe, and diversity of curricula is providing students with many more choices of emphasis. Programs have a wide range of focus, from the broadest, the black American experience, to the African diaspora and comparative black studies.…

Aggressive community colleges are fostering linkages with government programs, large and small businesses, and educational institutions for special training to upgrade worker skills, prepare workers to cope with plant closings, and meet the skill requirements of advancing technology. (MSE)

Women's studies programs are growing in former Communist countries of Eastern Europe. Two graduate programs in gender studies now exist in Poland and Hungary. Non-academic centers also provide services to women. Programs that met with strong resistance in the United States in the 1970s are greeted here with only mild reluctance. Programs provide…

The Management Education Alliance, a group of 15 business schools, including 11 predominantly minority schools, and 11 corporations was formed in 1994 to help minority schools identify and develop a specialty. It offers participation in faculty-development seminars, helps forge ties with the business community, and offers opportunities for…

National Collegiate Athletic Association institutions in divisions I and II will be relying more on student fees to bolster sports budgets due to rising costs and pressure to expand athletic opportunities for women. Only among Division III colleges has the proportion of athletics-department revenues from student fees decreased. (MSE)

A group of young scholars, frustrated by the difficult academic job market and dissatisfied with classroom instruction, is trying to establish a nontraditional university entirely through Internet, a major computer network. Prospective anonymous backers have pledged substantial start-up funds. The project will begin with simple computerized…

To produce professionals trained to use new technology, library schools are reworking programs to include instruction on computers and telecommunications systems, hiring information-system specialists rather than traditional library educators, recruiting technically oriented students, obtaining funding to restructure programs, and submitting to…