❖ As colleges and universities develop distance learning programs, administrators have scrambled to provide on-line services for distance learners. But do learners need such services? The present study examined how important services were for distance learners and how satisfied they were with the services provided to them. Data were collected through a national on-line survey and threaded discussion. Results revealed that services overall were not particularly important to participants, though there were significant differences by age and class status.The proliferation of technology in higher education has changed the ways in which education is delivered to students (

As colleges and universities develop distance learning programs, administrators have scrambled to provide on-line services for distance learners. But do learners need such services? The present study examined how important services were for distance learners and how satisfied they were with the services provided to them. Data were collected through a national on-line survey and threaded discussion. Results revealed that services overall were not particularly important to participants, though there were significant differences by age and class status.

The trend toward increased technology in traditional higher education classrooms has been met with both optimism and criticism. One of the major criticisms of technology in the college classroom is that it does little, if anything, to improve student learning. Taking this view of technology into account, this study examined how the use of technology contributed to student learning outcomes after controlling for key student demographic variables. More specifically, this study investigated the use of computer mediated conferencing (CMC) tools (i.e., email and electronic discussion boards) and computer aided instructional (CAI) resources (i.e., the computer and Internet) to determine whether they contribute to student learning.The sample utilized in this study consisted of 2000 college students, randomly drawn from the 2003 College Student Experience Questionnaire database. The survey included 53 Likert scale items with reliability ranges from .78 to .88 on each of the composite scales. The analysis of data consisted of four multiple regressions conducted on specific student learning outcomes. The student learning outcomes included four composite scales, measuring student 1) personal and social development, 2) general education gains, 3) intellectual development, 4) science and technology gains, and 3) vocationalpreparation.After controlling for student's background variables, the findings of this study revealed that the use of technology in the college classroom does contribute to student learning. The model, including technology variables, explained 4% to 7% of the gains in student learning, while student background variables contributed an additional .03% to 2% of the gains. These findings, though modest, suggest that incorporating technologies in the college classroom can aid students in the learning process.

Becoming an effective and well rounded leader in academia often requires proficiency in the threecritical components of an academic career: scholarship, service, and teaching. However, the emergingfocus on faculty scholarship as the most salient of these elements, particularly as evidenced throughpublication in academic journals for graduate faculties, has been well documented in research (Green,2005; Green & Baskind, 2007). While the relative weighting and importance of scholarship issomewhat inconsistent across universities, disciplines, and faculty rank (Green, 2008; Price & Cotton,2006), the publication productivity of faculty is the major correlate for graduate program rankings fromthe U.S. News and World Report and many graduate school deans consider it the "central criterion" forpromotion and tenure decisions (Green & Baskind, 2007, p.282).