Small Men on Campus: Modern University Presidents

Modern university presidents lack the stature and standing their predecessors enjoyed, or so it appears. Critics and defenders alike--even presidents and former presidents--seem to agree with this proposition, albeit for different reasons. Critics note that presidents today exhibit a career orientation, moving frequently from institution to institution, with the result that presidential tenure continues to decline at a relatively rapid pace. Given these increasingly brief terms, it should not cause surprise that presidents find it difficult to accomplish or even to define agendas. In addition, the critics claim that modern presidents either lack the authority or will to accomplish much of substance or that they avoid controversial issues both on and off campus. However, few commentators have conducted careful comparisons of earlier and modern presidents to establish the validity of the claim about the shrinking college president. This article seeks to evaluate the claim in a comparative and analytical context and to suggest a revised interpretation. Modern presidents tend to focus on their institutions rather than on higher education in general, by way of contrast to earlier presidents; and they spend more time on campus rather than on general societal concerns. That difference, however, appears to be dissipating because of new developments and new needs within the society at large.     

Creativity,Culture and Education 1

This study investigated differences in creativity between traditionally and modern educated students in the Sudan. The Alternative Uses Test was applied to a group of 207 students, 120 male and 87 female with an age range of 19‐23 years. The results indicated that the modern educated group obtained significantly higher scores. Internal cultural factors as well as external factors account for the results. Mutual adaptation and reconciliation between traditional and modem culture are necessary in order to take advantage of the positive aspects of both.

     

Reading Giroux Through a Deweyan Lens: pushing Utopia to the outer edge

… power is never uni dimensional; it is exercised not only as a mode of domination, but also as an act of resistance or even as an expression of a creative mode of cultural and social production outside the immediate force of domination.The point is important in that the behavior expressed by subordinate groups cannot be reduced to a study of domination or resistance.Clearly, in the behavior of subordinate groups there are moments of cultural and creative expression that are informed by a different logic, whether it be existential, religious, or otherwise.(Giroux, 1983, p.108)
Our faith is ultimately in individuals and their potentialities.In saying this, I do not mean what is sometimes called individualism as opposed to association.I mean rather an individuality that operates in and through voluntary associations.If our outward scene is one of externally imposed organization, behind and beneath there is working the force of liberated individualities, experimenting in their own ways to find and realize their own ends.The testimony of history is that in the end such a force, however scattered and inchoate, ultimately prevails over all set institutionalized forms, however firmly established the latter may be.(Dewey, 1928, cited in Hickman & Alexander, 1998, p.322)     

Literacy skills of welfare recipients

Illiteracy is considered to be a significant barrier to employment. Programs are being established to require literacy education and work programs of welfare recipients. The purpose of this study was to determine the literacy skills of a random sample of welfare recipients. One-hundred and six welfare subjects were administered theWoodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery and a comprehensive interview form. Using common criteria to separate the sample into the literate and functionally illiterate, the groups were found to differ significantly on intellectual capabilities. It was concluded that illiteracy is associated with subaverage intellectual functioning among persons on welfare. A number of recommendations were made pertaining to policy.     

Conflict of Interest Policies in Library Consortia

Library consortia are typically nonprofit entities that exist to promote the interests and concerns of their member libraries. Activities may include licensing e-resources such as databases, ejournals, ebooks, and other library tools; operating shared library platforms; providing union catalogs and regional delivery and a host of other services. Most library consortia are governed by a board of directors and have active involvement with librarians in their member institutions. Conflict of interest policies have been instituted in many library consortia to provide good governance and to make sure that the needs of the organization are the primary purpose of participants and not the personal interests of stakeholders. An examination of some of the key elements of conflict of interest policies in nonprofit organizations are examined with specific application to library consortia. The key elements in all of the policies that were examined are transparency and disclosure. Organizations vary on the level of proactive disclosure that is required with some requiring extensive disclosure statements and others providing a simple acknowledgement of a conflict of interest policy.     

Trends in Higher Education and Library Consortia

Public higher education is going through dramatic changes in terms of student demographics, public funding and changing perceptions on the value of higher education. Libraries are embedded in this ecosystem and must adjust to changing requirements and expectations. To help mitigate the impacts from these changes, libraries are collaborating through regional consortia to extend their purchasing power, provide services and do what they can to minimize negative impacts.