An assistant principal describes longterm benefits from her mentoring relationship with the principal of Santa Monica (California) High School. Chagrined at her principal's close, hands-on supervisory style, the assistant principal gradually gained experience and confidence. She learned that leadership is about serving others, compassion, and…

Analyzes 177 letters of application for a teaching job at Ohio Northern University. Explains that the letters were poorly written and inappropriately framed for a small liberal arts college. Suggests that applicants should be spending more time writing their applications letters and crafting the letters specifically for the school to which they…

Describes the John W. McCormack Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Massachusetts at Boston, including: (1) origins; (2) organization and operation; (3) impact (independent analysis, education/training of public servants, publishing, convening and catalyzing, developing mechanisms to modernize state government, empowering new…

Describes the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota. Addresses financing, policy making as institutional design, the institutional design perspective at the institute, scope and range of activities, decision-making about programs, and activities (including Sasakawa Global 2000 Program in Sub-Saharan Africa…

Provides an example of how engagement with a public entity is incorporated into Portland State University's undergraduate curriculum. Details the development of a science-based service learning course that combines academic rigor with a community-based experience. (EV)

Describes a comprehensive assessment model as a method for capturing the different perceptions of and impacts on each constituency participating in service-learning projects, and for promoting ongoing improvement of service-learning programs and the partner relationships that sustain them. (EV)

The work presented here follows up the authors' paper, in the previous issue of this journal, which (i) explored modernizing leadership in a public-private partnership, principally from the perspective of the senior managers of a private company contracted to run school support services by a local education authority (LEA), and (ii) suggested that…

An important and unresolved issue central to the study of government performance is how the actions of managers and the nature of organizations affect the cost of public services. This paper presents an empirical analysis of fire departments that estimates the influence of managerial choices on per capita spending within a simultaneous public…

The paper explores processes of social movement learning within SINTRAEMCALI, a public service trade union in the South West of Colombia, which has successfully prevented a series of attempts by the national government to privatise public utilities. The paper develops the concept of "strategic learning" and applies it to an exploration…

In today's fast-paced, technological world, it is a constant battle for teachers to find new and exciting ways to challenge and engage their students. One success story involves a unique collaborative project that focuses on water resources and conservation in which students design public service announcements (PSAs) to be produced and aired on…

The founder of Penn State's Laboratory for Public Scholarship and Democracy and chair of Penn State's Public Scholarship Associates establishes public scholarship's connections with democracy by distinguishing public scholarship from service, outlining a curriculum of consequence, and suggesting the constitutional roots of public scholarship.

Teachers were among the public servants at work in New York City on September 11, 2001. This study focuses on the feelings and actions of a representative group of elementary teachers in Queens, New York. As they became aware of the unfolding tragedy of the World Trade Center attacks, they demonstrated the essential qualities of public service,…

This book highlights the role of citizens in solving public problems. Part 1 presents the insights of several successful Americans to show why the rethinking of self-interest, power, and public life is the key to bringing new meaning into the lives of Americans. Part 2 describes changes occurring across the United States, which are conceptualized…

This report presents the results of a review of state funding for research and public service in the Florida State University System (SUS), focusing on the policy basis for research and public service, the types of SUS research and public service programs and their sources of funding, funding approaches used by other states, expenditure patterns…

This essay argues that proponents of service learning and faculty professional service should join forces to pursue a common agenda of community outreach. It maintains that at a time when colleges and universities are being urged to help solve society's problems, the faculty represents a virtually untapped resource. The current system of promotion…