Graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) are key partners in the education of undergraduates. Given the potentially large impact GTAs can have on undergraduate student learning, it is important to provide them with appropriate preparation for teaching. But GTAs are students themselves, and not all of them desire to pursue an academic career. Fully…

This program profile describes a restructure of the PhD exam intended to enhance graduate-level instruction and advisement within the Rhetoric and Composition program at Georgia State University. We explain how a mix of institutional constraints and mentorship opportunities drove revisions to our doctoral exams and processes of doctoral…

This paper relates how leaders of a higher education program, the Wisconsin Collaborative Education Research Network, sparked and managed innovation across communities of scholarship, research, and practice. This paper uses a "design narrative" method to describe how leaders orchestrated organizational change by bringing diverse…

This article examines how a small, regional comprehensive university located in a geographically isolated context reinvigorated its master's degree in reading. The process began with articulating a vision for the program that was centered in understanding the unique geographic context of the region. Coherent program goals were then developed to…

Due to its importance in almost all significant fields such as science, technology, education and trade, English language is offered as a compulsory course in all levels of formal education in Turkey. In the higher education context, most universities offer one-year compulsory English preparatory education for students enrolled in departments…

Graduate education in the humanities struggles with weighty traditions, constrained (fiscal) resources, and a legacy of elitism and cultural homogeneity. As the makeup of graduate students becomes ever more diverse in terms of income, ethnicity, sexuality, citizenship, and disability, graduate programs are working through the challenges and…

The marketing mix model was applied with a focus on Web media to re-strategize a Web-based Master's program in a southern state university in U.S. The program's existing marketing strategy was examined using the four components of the model: product, price, place, and promotion, in hopes to repackage the program (product) to prospective students…

Information in this report about approvals, terminations, and adjustments in doctoral programs in the Western States was compiled from a survey of private institutions and state higher education agencies in the 13 states of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education. The report covers the period from July 1, 1977 through June 30, 1978,…

This paper examines the initiation and implementation of a broad-based outreach program at Michigan State University (MSU), focusing on faculty and staff reaction to the program. The MSU program involved the reconceptualization of university outreach, defining it as a form of scholarship that cuts across teaching, research, and service and is…

Twenty-five years ago, the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay was a model of comprehensive innovation, based largely on an interdisciplinary approach and a focus on general education. It has survived merger, loss of its liberal education seminars and theme colleges, enrollment problems, and loss of environmental emphasis, but interdisciplinarity…

The University of Texas of the Permian Basin was created as an upper-division and graduate institution for community college transfer students. It instituted many innovations, including elimination of departments, integration of undergraduate/graduate education, year-round enrollment, contract study, modular classrooms, a faculty trained at…

A thorough review and revision of curriculum at San Jose State University (California) illustrates that the modern university can achieve major internal academic reforms when two important conditions are met: legitimacy and energy. These two concepts are defined and practical illustrations are drawn from the institution's recent experience in…

An overview of the evolution of the innovative University of California, Santa Cruz, looks at its origins, campus organization, curriculum and instructional philosophy, campus design, leadership and faculty, student population, campus life, and curriculum design. Strategies for and obstacles to effective change are highlighted. (MSE)

The University of Texas at El Paso has provided leadership and support for several collaborative K-16 reform activities. A closed-loop, K-12, preservice teacher preparation system supported by generous extramural funding has provided the university, community college, and local schools with opportunities for conversation, shared vision, and…

This report presents the framework for a legislatively mandated proficiency-based approach to admissions at Oregon's eight public baccalaureate-granting institutions. The goal of the report is to present a systems-level description of why and how a proficiency-based admissions system should operate. Part 1 considers the implications of the…