Policy Perspectives
1993

"An Uncertain Terrain" November 1993 Format = Adobe Acrobat,  Size = 3.2 M,  Download This essay draws on campus-based roundtable discussions at 30 institutions; the "terrain" to which this issue's title refers lies in the realm of reform and restructuring. The essay examines the forces that enable and impede change within institutions, and describes the responses of faculty to language that casts students as "consumers" of education. It also conveys faculty concerns that convoluted means of governance pose a threat to the quality of their institutions, as well as describes a pervasive sense of loss of scholarly community.

"A Transatlantic Dialogue" June 1993 Format = Adobe Acrobat,  Size = 56k,  Download This issue derives from a special roundtable consisting of college and university leaders from western, eastern, and central Europe as well as the United States. It examines the proposition that societal demands and market forces are reshaping universities all over the world, and that a failure to understand external exigencies puts institutions of higher education at risk.

"A Transatlantic Dialogue# Voices" June 1993 Format = Adobe Acrobat,  Size = 112k,  Download This issue derives from a special roundtable consisting of college and university leaders from western, eastern, and central Europe as well as the United States. It examines the proposition that societal demands and market forces are reshaping universities all over the world, and that a failure to understand external exigencies puts institutions of higher education at risk.

"A Call to Meeting" February 1993 Format = Adobe Acrobat,  Size = 3 M,  Download This issue suggests that the time for diagnosing the problems facing institutions of higher learning is past, and that educators and administrators must now begin to explore practical strategies for identifying their primary missions, reducing their budgets, and restructuring the delivery of their product. Some suggestions provided in this essay include: employing full-time faculty to teach core courses; simplifying curricula; instituting responsibility center budgeting; and contracting out for administrative functions where possible.