The language used in program descriptions of graduate leadership programs on college and university websites are first attempts at enticing prospective students to consider enrolling. The descriptions invariably include value propositions about the benefits of a particular program, aimed to appeal to readers’ motivations, couched in one of three discourse styles: Formal Impersonal, Formal Personal, and Informal Personal styles. Program descriptions, a de facto rhetorical genre, and demographics of all 154 master's degree programs in Organizational Leadership in existence as of January 2014 are analyzed, using a systematic discourse analysis typology which explored the ways in which value propositions were presented. Four questions concerning discourse types, the kinds of value propositions, the relationship between rankings of universities and kinds of value propositions and discourse types, intrinsic (meaning) and extrinsic (utility) appeals are answered. Detailed cross‐sectional comparative analysis of leadership master's degree programs are also presented.

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Negation poses certain challenges for queries and searches. This paper deals with exclusionary queries implemented using the ISO database language SQL and a dialog-based interface and with retrieval searches involving negation. This research arose because instructors in database courses noticed a large proportion of students making mistakes on certain queries. The paper explores underlying comprehension issues and makes practical recommendations on identifying potential sources of error and avoiding incorrect or misleading results. Proposed actions include changes in general education and database training and encouraging implementation of the new SQL:1999 standard.

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