An Intergenerational Summer Program Involving Persons with Dementia and Preschool Children

ABSTRACT

We implemented an intergenerational (IG) summer program at a colocated site for 2 consecutive summers to maximize continuity and enhance sustainability. We incorporated multiple methods to represent the views of key program stakeholders, including staff and administrators, parents who attended the program, and facilitators’ reports of the experiences of child and adult participants. We generated a list of themes and subthemes from each source and triangulated the data points. Despite the resources invested and the challenges faced, the program was well received and viewed as beneficial. These findings offer insight into the likelihood of sustainability for IG summer programming.     

Educational needs of the talented

Children with specific talents have particular needs that must be recognized if that talent is to be nurtured.     

Trustees versus Directors,Whom Do They Serve? Boards,For‐Profits and the Public Good in the United States

Postsecondary education in the United States is provided by public, not‐for‐profit and for‐profit institutions. Public and not‐for‐profit institutions are expected to serve the public good due to state control or chartering requirements; for‐profit institutions are not. Therefore, the decision to serve the public good is vested in the board. The for‐profit director's role as representative of shareholders' interests does not ensure deference to the public good. Currently, national priorities are aligned with shareholder interests creating an environment ripe for expansion of for‐profit education. However, there are implications as national priorities shift to positions that do not complement shareholder interests. Most critically, continued growth of for‐profit postsecondary education may lead to a reduction of service of the public good by all institutions. Private institutions (not‐for‐profit or for‐profit) exist in every large country; therefore, a thorough analysis of the legal distinctions among sectors is encouraged to understand the implications of growth.     

A new generation of grey literature: The impact of advanced information technologies

A basic challenge of the Weinberg Report addressed the question of information overload. The Weinberg Panel was extremely concerned with the proliferation of scientific literature and the specific issue of how to sift through reams of data to find the “gems” of wisdom, or that which is truly new and useful. In the early 1960s when the report was being written, computers were not part of the information access and retrieval infrastructure. Writing twenty-five years later, in 1988, Dr. Weinberg recognized that the panel had not adequately taken into account the impact of the computer and the growth of the information industry. Today we have a new world of microcomputers and networked information which is fundamentally shifting the paradigm of scientific communication. We have new capabilities, including electronic publishing, visualization techniques, even virtual reality. Without getting into a great debate about the definition of “grey literature,” the main characteristics have traditionally been described as: rapid publication, wariable formats, no public peer review, and no commercial source of general availability. With networked information and multi-media technology, the new world of grey literature is emerging with an interesting set of new and revived challenges. This article looks at the most interesting characteristics, and based on them, presents the thesis that in the 1990s we are facing a new generation of “grey literature”.