EMPLOYMENT PROBLEMS FOR GRADUATES IN THE UNITED STATES

In the United States, concern over unemployment and underemployment among graduates of higher education institutions has led to much debate over university‐level studies. The below information refers to this problem in relation to a recently published forecast of employment prospects for college graduates in the United States.     

UNIVERSITIES IN TRANSITION IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Universities in the United States of America are in a state of decline. Allocations, the proportion of knowledge taught, the proportion of research carried out, staff number, movement and salaries are all declining. Recognition of this situation has initiated studies of, and changes in, what they do in terms of value, quality and effective use of resources. Television is used extensively to relieve traditional faculty teaching load, enable faculty to maximise use of scarce resources and enhance the quality and coverage of knowledge. Developments in cable television, optical fibres, lasers and satellites herald a new era, pose a threat to the autonomy of universities and have initiated inter‐university competition for the same students as well as opening up new opportunities and markets. Substantial development has taken place in postgraduate studies and outreach.     

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF ADMINISTRATORS OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS IN THE UNITED STATES

The professional development of college and university administrators is a problem which receives attention in many discussions on the policy and planning of higher education. In this connection we give below information based on an article by Charles F. Fisher, Director of the Institute for College and University Administrators of the American Council on Education.     

AN ASSESSMENT OF THE CONTENT OF MEDICAL PRACTICE IN THE UNITED STATES: PROFILES OF PHYSICIANS IN FIVE SPECIALITIES

The University of Southern California has conducted a series of 24 surveys of the professional activities of physicians and surgeons in the United States. The surveys encompass more than 10,000 respondents representing 65.8% of all practising physicians in the United States and its territories. Using a specially‐developed “log‐diary” recording instrument, these physicians reported data on the care they provided during hundreds of thousands of encounters with their patients. This article provides an exposition of the study's unique methodology, presents illustratative data for 5 of the 24 specialities surveyed (cardiology, family practice, general internal medicine, orthopaedic surgery and psychiatry), and discusses the study's relevance and implications for medical education.     

ENROLMENT TRENDS IN HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES

A statistical report, “The Condition of Education 1976”, prepared by the Planning Office of the US National Centre for Education Statistics and submitted to the Congress of the United States in March 1976, also analysed the developments in US higher education concerning: - present and projected educational attainment of the labour force

- enrolment in higher education and its pattern

- age structure of students in US higher education institutions.

Data on these problems, presented mainly in graphical form, serves as the basis for the information below.     

UNITED STATES: CREATION OF THE COUNCIL FOR INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Seven major United States higher education associations are Charter members of the US Council for International Co‐operation in Higher Education (CICHE) whose objective is to encourage international educational collaboration between US higher education and the higher education communities of other countries. The creation of the Council has been recommended by the study “International Linkages in Higher Education Feasibility Study”.

We give below information on this study and the main task of CICHE.     

THE ARTS AND THE AGING ADVOCACY MOVEMENT IN THE UNITED STATES: A HISTORIC PERSPECTIVE

Attention is directed to a human development movement begun in earnest in the early 1970s to put older Americans in touch with their creative selves. This article traces steps taken in this national effort and suggests issues and policies to be addressed if educational opportunities in the arts are to increase for older adults.     

A “CLEARINGHOUSE ON HIGHER EDUCATION” IN THE UNITED STATES

The ERIC Clearinghouse on Higher Education is part of the Educational Resources Information Centre (ERIC), which is the world's largest gathering and dissemination system of education literature. The ERIC Clearinghouse on Higher Education was established under contract to the George Washington University in September 1968. The information below explains the background and main activities of this institution.     

xTHE QUALITY MOVEMENTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES

Writing at a time when applications of Total Quality Management (TQM) in higher education in the United States are in great vogue, the author reminds the reader that TQM is only one of many management strategies that over the years have had their periods of popularity. Strategies come and go. Usually a hot strategy is in vogue for no more than seven years; then other ideas come into vogue as other ways of getting the quick fix are tried. Other strategies in competition with TQM in the United States include outcomes assessment, Deming's fourteen points, the Malcolm Baldridge Award, the ISO 9000 series, restructuring, re‐engineering, and performance indicators. American higher education institutions will probably have recourse to more traditional models than TQM for creating change in the future.     

CALL FOR CHANGES IN UNIVERSITY CURRICULA IN THE UNITED STATES

Planning and development in university curricula is receiving attention in many discussions on the role of higher education in the context of lifelong education. The following article discusses this issue in the context of development trends in US higher education. It is an extract from an article entitled “A New American University?” which was written by Professor Steven Muller the President of Johns Hopkins University and the Johns Hopkins Hospital.     

FEDERAL POLICY AND HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES

A new federal policy for higher education in the United States may be formulated in the coming months. Below we give extracts from an article stressing responsibility of US higher education to affirm the aims of education in the changing economic and political situation, written by Professor Norman Birnbaum, of Amherst College, Massachusetts.