Views the avoidance of difficult management decisions and the failure to direct change as major internal threats to the community college. Identifies external threats including intrusion from business and the state. Discusses the state's role in providing colleges with access to modern management/financial techniques and up-to-date equipment. (LAL)

The "critical" and "established" positions on university morality leave important questions unanswered. A revised position distinguishing between the corporate and intellectual bodies of the university is offered. Three social conditions for maintaining a value-rational debate are proposed. (Author/MLW)

Winchester's article, discussing the university and academic freedom, fails to recognize a number of important truths about postsecondary education in Alberta. Academics cannot act outside the political culture that sustains them, nor do all wisdom and all reason lie within the University of Alberta. (MT)

Current research-funding trends are not a threat to academic freedom in Canadian universities, as long as the universities carefully guard the institution of tenure. (CJB)

University autonomy in Australia is examined: why institutional independence is important, how it has eroded since the late 1960s, factors leading to the erosion, and possible university responses. Concern is expressed about the universities' ability to withstand further government encroachment. (MSE)

A teacher discusses the transition from building-level autonomy to unilateral decision making by the central office in her school district. She points out how this change became a step backward for the school. (MD)

Trustees find themselves in the middle of an ongoing battle over accountability and autonomy. Government officials accuse the academy of being more interested in autonomy than accountability--more interested in demanding financial support than in serving public priorities. Business leaders question the responsiveness of colleges and universities…

The 14 essays in this book, written from 1938 through 1995, examine the modern research university, focusing on the relationship of these institutions to government, academic freedom, and the responsibilities of the academic profession. The book contends that the university has been deflected from its essential commitment to teaching, learning,…

This book compares the emergence and development of autonomous, fully fledged distance teaching universities in the higher education systems of the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Canada, and Israel. It examines the evolution and functional roles of these universities and outlines their commonalties and divergences. Main lessons are synthesized…

Problem-based learning (PBL) is an instructional strategy for preparing administrators whose basic unit of instruction is a project. Students are organized into teams and work on these projects to grapple with the problem and to achieve the learning objectives that are embedded in the project. In this PBL project, students design and prepare a…

This paper reports findings from a study of the effectiveness of charter schools in California. The study's purpose was to report preliminary findings to the Legislative Analyst's Office relating to the educational performance, characteristics, and practices of charter schools and their sponsoring agencies. The study addressed six central…

The report of an OECD IMHE Programme working group on institutional management in France is presented, focusing on four main themes: staff, diplomas and degrees, institutional administration, and relations with the central government. (Author/MSE)

Some major recent developments in program and student evaluation in Canadian colleges and universities are outlined and factors contributing to their success are identified. Critical issues involved in program evaluation, criteria for excellence, and evaluation of student learning are discussed, especially as related to questions of accountability…

Argues that the accelerating trend of standardization has produced a sameness in American education. Highlights Hillsdale College's refusal to accept federal funds, out of a conviction that quality in liberal education can only thrive without government interference. (SK)

There are two principal reasons for separating teacher education institutions from higher education institutions: (1) Schools of education are unable to achieve essential autonomy as long as they are part of traditional institutions of higher education; and (2) The location of teacher education programs in universities precludes involvement of…