Analysis of six reputational rankings of English departments since 1925 indicates most of the highest-ranking departments have been in private universities. There has been great stability in the highest-ranked departments during this period, with few entering or leaving the group. (Author/MSE)

A national survey of 75 directors of doctoral programs in higher education found that program missions are greatly affected by their reputation, governance, and organizational structure. High-reputation programs are distinctive in a variety of ways. Less prestigious programs may be able to capitalize best on local and regional missions.…

A study investigated the validity of eight indicators (acceptance rate, mean entrance test score, matriculants' class standing, faculty/student ratio, faculty background, instructional budget, retention, graduation rate) for assessing quality in higher education institutions. Indicators were more predictive of retention, graduation, and reputation…

Examines discrepancy between public college faculty's role and expectations of the public and funding agencies, explores contributing circumstances, and looks at two attempts to address increased demand for better undergraduate teaching without weakening institutions' research reputations. The first approach, development of ethical principles of…

Examined relations between characterological versus behavioral self-blaming attributions for victimization and maladjustment in middle school students. Found that self-perceived victimization was associated with characterological self-blame, loneliness, anxiety, and low self-worth. Peer-perceived victimization was related to peer acceptance and…

Two representatives of popular magazines that publish controversial rankings of colleges and universities respond to criticism of the rankings. Issues addressed include the need for third-party comparisons, the importance of institutional reputation, cooperation with the higher education community, changing methodology, data integrity, reader…

It is argued that professional doctorates such as the Doctor of Education degree have value as a means of reconstructing the relationship between theory and practice, by demanding a reconstruction of university research relationships with practitioners. In turn, this requires that universities change their conceptualization and teaching of…

This article describes the various salient features of a world-class university. Interestingly and intentionally the keywords used in describing it all start with the letters forming the word--WORLD-CLASS. On this note, the model becomes all the more pertinent and the key features easily remembered. (Contains 1 table.)

Students with higher achievement scores and high school grade point averages are more likely to succeed in college as measured by their retention and graduation rates. Furthermore, an institution's ability to attract better prepared students results in a better academic reputation of the institution. The fact that better prepared students are…

The massive sex scandal that rocked the Roman Catholic Church raises a question as to whether Catholic identity remains an asset that the nation's 8,000 Catholic schools should continue to promote. This case study found that continuing to promote Catholic identity has had no adverse effect on recruitment and enrollment at four Omaha, Nebraska,…

Leadership, like diversity, is often used in education as an all-encompassing notion, applied to a wide variety of situations, or at times, used rather loosely. The danger with such an approach is the lack of specificity. Yet, specificity can set the boundaries so narrow that one is led to believe one approach is better than another or that "one…

In this article, the author shares the views of his undergraduate students regarding elder female agency and their answers to the question: "Do old ladies make world history?" Because his undergraduate students mostly view the past in terms of the Great Man theory of history, which holds that those who make history are necessarily great,…

This study examined 68 Web sources selected by 19 second-language (L2) students while preparing to write research papers. Students submitted an annotated bibliography consisting of ten sources from print or electronic media. Each Web source was classified according to type (e.g., news or advocacy). Of the 68 sites, 29 were considered conventional,…

The Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC), the academic consortium of twelve research universities located in eight midwestern states, piloted the Summer Research Opportunities Program (SROP) in 1986 to encourage minority students to consider graduate education and help them prepare for the graduate admissions process. In addition to SROP,…

In an effort to gauge student perceptions of campus climate, the 1995 Spring Student Survey at Glendale Community College (GCC), in California, included a section requesting student feedback on the college. The section consisted of 14 sets of paired words, such as inexpensive and expensive, and students were requested to indicate the extent that…