LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) resource centers are campus spaces dedicated to the success of sexual minority students. However, only a small handful of American colleges and universities have such spaces. Political opportunity and resource mobilization theory can provide a useful framework for understanding what contextual factors…

The objective of this research is to ground the reputation construct in theory and to explore the formation of reputation through beliefs about the university and attitude toward the university. Additionally, it will allow for analysis of the consequences of reputation, specifically behavioral intentions, which has received limited attention in…

Several land-grant institutions have adopted a name to encompass the teaching, research, and Extension components of the university, creating a brand identity for those public services. But, in the mind of stakeholders, has the connection between the tripartite mission and the brand name been made? The study reported here sought to determine…

Using data about collaborative relationships among 109 reading policy actors from four states, this study investigated the extent to which social capital, operationalized as spanning structural holes, predicted a policy actor's reputed influence. Regression analysis showed that after controlling for state, centrality, and government entity, having…

Minority groups are often justified in being watchful for the difficulties that negative reputations can bring on them. The necessity for discovery and discussion of serious issues within a minority community is real, but the resistance to such a candid approach is founded in their position of vulnerability and the power of old stereotypes. Two…

Raphael Meldola FRS (1849-1915) was professor of chemistry at the City and Guilds Technical College in Finsbury. He was a colleague and close friend of Silvanus Phillips Thompson FRS (1851-1916), the college principal and professor of physics. This paper follows an earlier one on Thompson and the making of his career. It is intended to illustrate…

The Association of College & Research Libraries' (ACRL) Academic/Research Librarian of the Year awardees constitute a "hall of fame" for ACRL. This article reports research analyzing 30 years of awardees between 1978 and 2007. Studying the demographics and accomplishments of the awardees contributes to knowledge of how academic librarianship has…

Academic fame is an even stranger goddess than her nonacademic counterpart. In this article, the author contends that academic fame is not easily lost, compared with other kinds of fame. In the world of films or novels, one's fame is fleeting--one is often only as good as his last production. Films that splashed across marquees in the summer are…

The authors assessed the relationship of mortality salience, as represented by birthdays, on the day of death. Preliminary studies considered the role of possible artifacts such as seasonality of birth and death, and time units for evaluation. On the basis of terror management theory's concept of "mortality salience," the authors hypothesized that…

This year's group of "emerging scholars" is a force to be reckoned with. This diverse group of young (under-40) crusaders is pushing the boundaries of research, technology and public policy in ways never imagined and reaching new heights of accomplishments. The Class of 2009 includes a physiologist who devised an artificial pancreas to produce the…

A recent report published in the United Kingdom proposed the image of "an avalanche" to describe the radical changes affecting tertiary education in many parts of the world (Barber, Donnelly and Rizvi, 2013). Indeed, powerful transformative forces of three kinds--rupture factors, crisis factors and stimulus factors--are challenging…

Stanford education professor Martin Carnoy examines four main critiques of how international test results are used in policymaking. Of particular interest are critiques of the policy analyses published by the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). Using average PISA scores as a comparative measure of student achievement is misleading…

Soon after news of the child molestation scandal involving Jerry Sandusky, a former Pennsylvania State University assistant football coach, broke in November 2011, the development and alumni relations staff gathered for a town hall-style meeting. "The Penn Stater" has tackled controversial topics before: student riots, a faculty member…

Hundreds of middle level and high schools are trying new strategies to improve attendance as an important path to improving achievement; graduation rates; and in many states, funding. Celebrity wake-up calls are just one of the tactics that school administrators are turning to as they look to leverage their own mix of sizzle and substance to…

This historical study identifies catalysts for transformative learning in the lives of three scientist-environmentalists important to the 20th-century environmental movement: Aldo Leopold, Rachel Carson, and David Suzuki. Following a brief review of theoretical perspectives on transformative learning, the article argues that transformative…