A. Ratings

     Schools and departments of colleges and universities are accredited by various agencies. Accreditation reports often cite areas for improvement and occasionally deny accreditation.
     Also, independent organizations and individuals rank professional schools, and several publications rank entire colleges and universities.
     Dig out these accreditation reports, ratings and assessments for your college or university and its various schools and departments. A computer search will be helpful. Cite positive and negative comments and interview students, deans and department heads, faculty members and others for comments.

B. Remedial

     About 30 percent of all college students take at least one remedial course. The costs are high, and in an era of budget cutting, some universities want out of the remedial business. They would have remedial teaching done by the community colleges.
     California's 20 campuses have seen a rise in remedial students. In 1989, 23 percent of entering freshmen needed help in mathematics, 36 percent in English. By 1993–94, 42 percent needed remedial instruction in mathematics, 43 percent in English. The most recent figures show a continued increase. What is the situation on your campus, in your state?

C. Hiring

     "The proportion of faculty who are appointed each year to tenure-line positions is declining at an alarming rate," the American Association of University Professors reports. Hiring is increasingly restricted to "contingent faculty," which the AAUP defines as "part-time and full-time faculty who are appointed off the tenure track."
     Check the hiring practices at your school. Interview department heads to see whether tenure-track positions have been cut in their budgets so that only non-tenure hiring is being done.

D. Response

<a onClick="window.open('/olcweb/cgi/pluginpop.cgi?it=jpg::::/sites/dl/free/0073511935/234798/W17_2.jpg','popWin', 'width=NaN,height=NaN,resizable,scrollbars');" href="#"><img valign="absmiddle" height="16" width="16" border="0" src="/olcweb/styles/shared/linkicons/image.gif"> (16.0K)</a> Hillary Rodham Clinton

Journalists are supposed to keep their emotions in check. Ask your classmates whether they can put their feelings aside if they were asked to interview: Benedict XVI Madonna Barry Bonds Rupert Murdoch Hillary Rodham Clinton J.D. Salinger Bob Dylan Bruce Springsteen Seymour Hersh Elizabeth Taylor Michael Jackson Mike Tyson      You may want to add names to the list.