Advancement in higher education: the role of marketing in building philanthropic giving

This paper empirically explores ways in which marketers of higher education can contribute to the important task of cultivating alumni philanthropy. Advancement professionals understand that philanthropy is influenced by wealth and affinity. As marketers, we anticipate that our contribution resides with investments in building affinity. Using survey data that measure the affinity of alumni of a large US university who have been commercially screened to reveal individual wealth, this paper provides empirical evidence of the relative contributions of affinity and wealth to giving. Logistic regression analysis reveals that affinity has a greater impact on predicting the likelihood of giving than other variables, including prior giving and wealth. Important to marketers, this study emphasizes the importance of building affinity and also uncovers obstacles to affinity formation. This information can be used to bridge and repair alumni relationships with their alma mater and inform segmented marketing communications to foster alumni enthusiasm for giving.     

Educational Testing in America: What's Right,What's Wrong? A Criterion-Referenced Perspective

What is a criterion-referenced test? What are the good and bad points of authentic assessment, criterion-referenced testing, and Item Response Theory?     

A RE‐EXAMINATION OF THE PAST: SOME ORIGINS OF THE “SECOND BEST” NOTION

A premise of the current criticism that community colleges are institutions that promote social tracking and inhibit social mobility was reviewed and analyzed. The relationship between the roles of the two‐year college and the research university as proposed by Harper and Lange was examined. The thesis that junior colleges emerged when universities supported their growth as feeder institutions was tested by the case history of the development of community colleges in Wyoming. Findings of this study were that: (a) the University's opposition did not halt the development of community colleges, (b) community colleges were comprehensive and community‐based from the outset in Wyoming, and (c) establishment of the transfer function was not predominant in the rationale for the community college movement. It was concluded that the stereotypic explanation of two‐year college development from transfer‐oriented “junior” colleges to comprehensive institutions may be incorrect, and that many two‐year colleges may have been comprehensive from inception.     

Finding the law: A criminal justice guide to basic legal research techniques

Either by choice or by necessity, criminal justice students, educators, researchers, administrators, and practitioners frequently seek information or engage in conduct that somehow concerns the law. There are numerous reasons why persons interested in criminal justice theory and practice may want or need legal knowledge, but a lack of familiarity with the basic techniques for conducting legal research may inhibit access to this knowledge. This article describes the reference materials available for legal research, explains how they are used, and suggests why it is important that more people who are involved with criminal justice become skilled in the basic techniques of legal research.     

Collaborative working in a large pharmaceutical company: Developing better practices through a structurational schema

This paper presents the ongoing case study of a large pharmaceutical organisation currently undertaking a number of changes to their work practices. These collaborative changes are being facilitated by groupware systems. In many instances this has led to the rejection of or resistance to the more complex tools. The paper outlines research, based on a perspective informed by structuration theory, that provides the organisation with an approach to supporting staff in this new ‘collaborative environment’. An example, drawn from the case study, shows how such support might be developed and presents a set of recommendations for supporting a particular group, based on this research schema.