January 2005

Full January 2005 issue of Academic Leader in PDF format
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Department Seeks and Finds New Opportunities
Where do you see your department in five years? It’s a question that has inspired many a perfunctory report culminating in few tangible results beyond the report itself — but not in the case of case of Rowan University’s department of composition and rhetoric.

Web-Based Technology Improves Faculty Development
Faculty learning communities provide opportunities for faculty to get together to discuss similar interests and improve their teaching and learning practices. In the past 15 years, they have become more formalized through the work of Milton Cox and others as well as through use of Web-based technologies to connect faculty in new ways.

Finding New Markets for Academic Programs
Indications that the market for the University of the Pacific’s educational administration and leadership doctoral program was changing came from inside and outside the university. The challenge was to respond in a timely manner to meet the needs of this new market before interest waned or another institution reacted more quickly.

Proposed Graduate Degree Intended to Meet Regional Industry, Government Needs
A major criticism of higher education institutions is the lack of responsiveness to the populations they serve. Recognizing this criticism and the potential benefits of offering customized programs, the University of Maryland’s graduate school recently proposed a new degree: a master of professional studies, a 30-credit interdisciplinary degree.

Long-Time Head Makes Way for New Leader
Mos Kaveh, head of the electrical and computer engineering department at the University of Minnesota since 1990, will soon step down from this leadership position and resume as a regular faculty member. Academic Leader recently spoke with Kaveh about developing future leaders and how he envisions the transition for himself and his department.

Academic Engagement at Community Colleges
The 2004 Community College Survey of Student Engagement reveals mixed results about students’ academic experience at community colleges, suggesting that the quality of the experience varies widely by course, program, and institution. The study measures institutions in five areas—active and collaborative learning, student effort, academic challenge, student-faculty interaction, and support for learners—through a student poll.