ADJUNCT TO WHAT? A NON-TRADITIONAL PERSPECTIVE ON TEACHING THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

ABSTRACT

The assumption of adjunct faculty as both behind and beneath fulltime and/or tenured faculty is becoming a point of increasing conflict and controversy in the world of academia. Regardless of the setting (community college, four year college, or university), adjuncts occupy next to the lowest position in the faculty hierarchy. Ironically, while unflatteringly positioned, the economic, operational, and boundary-spanning contributions of this unheralded cadre of professors are substantial. Additional mining of adjunct faculty potential in several venues can unearth possibilities such as: (1) having university administration leverage adjunct influence in the community; and/or (2) having employers enhance organizational performance by utilizing employees who serve as adjuncts to broker applied theory; and/or (3) have adjunct faculty members capitalize on the uniqueness of their “praxis” orientation thereby benefiting students, employers, the university, and themselves.

The teaching profession is one to be held in high regard. The ability to understand complex academic principles and meaningfully convey them to students is a gift. Reality is that, through the lens of the student, there is no distinction between tenured and adjunct faculty. To this end, adjunct professors are encouraged to master the craft of teaching, treat it as a gift, and hold it gently.     

TEACHING SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY PRINCIPLES TO NON-TECHNOLOGISTS — LESSONS LEARNED

ABSTRACT

Much has been written over the past several decades on the “inevitability” that the technological revolution will transform international, interpersonal, and business relations. But are the effects of technological change as far reaching as the literature suggests and where it does reach does it penetrate very deeply into the general culture, its organizations, or into the psyche of its citizens? The linkage of science and technology education to industrial trends, and its prominence in pubic policy debates makes it all the more important to ensure that the educated public have as complete a grounding in S&T issues as possible. Perhaps it is a unique twenty-first century paradox that it is more important for “progress” and public policy formulation to focus the attention of our educational system upon the inter-relationships, consequences, and implications of current and previous technological developments rather than mindlessly joining the “bandwagon of progress.” Students must be exposed to the theories, language, culture, engineering difficulties, societal implications, and public policy problems posed by the inevitable advance of technology. The primary target of such efforts should be the non-technologists who tend to enter government service, run for public office, enter the teaching profession, are more politically active and where the greatest multiplier effect can be achieved.     

INNOVATION,PUBLIC POLICY AND PUBLIC SERVICES DELIVERY IN THE UK. THE WORD THAT WOULD BE KING?

This paper explores the dialogue about innovation in public services currently found within public policy and creates an interaction between research and practice about its strengths and limitations. It argues that this dialogue is a flawed one, often both at odds with the existing evidence and lacking a holistic understanding of the nature of innovation and its distinctive policy and managerial challenges. It therefore synthesizes existing research to challenge current public policy thinking about the role and determinants of innovation in public services. It concludes by offering five lessons towards effective policy‐making and implementation that would provide a more sophisticated and evidence‐based approach to the encouragement and sustenance of public service innovation – and four key areas for further research.     

PROMOTING CIVIC CULTURE BY SUPPORTING CITIZENSHIP: WHAT DIFFERENCE CAN LOCAL GOVERNMENT MAKE?

Scholars and policy‐makers alike argue that government efforts to empower citizens and build cohesive communities are integral to the development of a flourishing civic culture, especially within disadvantaged areas. In this paper, we explore this assumption by analysing the impact of different approaches to supporting citizenship in English urban local authorities on levels of political efficacy and social cohesion. Support for citizenship is modelled using primary data drawn from a large‐scale national survey as well as in‐depth case studies, supplemented with relevant secondary data. The findings suggest that local authorities that seek to promote greater understanding of citizenship and democracy can enhance citizens' perceived influence over local decisions, and that this effect is particularly marked in deprived areas. Citizens experiencing high levels of social harmony tend to reside in areas where councils actively seek to reduce disaffection.     

CAN PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT FOSTER SOCIAL EQUITY? STAKEHOLDER POWER,PROTECTIVE INSTITUTIONS,AND MINORITY REPRESENTATION

Performance management has been criticized for harming or, at best, ignoring social equity outcomes. While there is evidence suggesting that performance management fosters an emphasis on efficiency and effectiveness at the expense of other public values, we are still in search of a theory linking performance management to social equity. The article takes a first step towards the development of such a theory and proposes the importance of contingency factors. It argues that managerial performance information use will benefit disadvantaged groups in the presence of powerful stakeholders, protective institutions, and minority representation in government. Using data on school districts in Texas, the article finds support for the first two contingency factors but not the third one. Performance information use by superintendents increases test scores of disadvantaged students if these students make up a sizeable, powerful group, and if superintendents put emphasis on complying with the No Child Left Behind Act.     

A TEST: CAN STEWARDSHIP THEORY SERVE AS A SECOND CONCEPTUAL FOUNDATION FOR ACCOUNTABILITY METHODS IN CONTRACTED HUMAN SERVICES?

Stewardship theories have been proposed recently as the possible basis for the reform of roles and responsibilities of principals and agents in government contracted service relations, and for the design and development of more effective methods for ensuring accountability (and quality) in contracted human services.

This article reports on an empirical field study that tested the relationship between two values-related independent variables associated with stewardship theories–values convergence and altruistic (public service) values–and service quality of contracted providers. The study did not demonstrate a positive relationship between the independent variables and service quality, but the authors argue that stewardship theory should not be dismissed yet as a conceptual foundation for the development of methods for ensuring accountability in human services contracting. They urge additional research in this area.     

煤?霉? 媒?

起名字确实不该掉以轻心,譬如:煤。煤“霉”同音,它的那些奇遇要不怨“倒霉”的名字才怪呢。煤的长相实在也太难看,那些几十年一贯制的又脏又旧的煤店门面,与正忙着换成铝合金、茶色玻璃等新型材料的店铺相形见拙。专家认为,烧煤造成严重的大气污染,大气污染使广州人的癌     

硬着陆?软着陆?

通胀高企、货币紧缩、增长放缓,中国经济的下一步走向是硬着陆还是软着陆?是一个引人关注的问题。6月11日,曾预测全球金融危机的"末日博士",纽约鲁比尼全球经济咨询公司董事长、纽约大学教授努里     

通胀?通缩?

<正>策划人语当世界经济在复苏的上升螺旋中遭遇欧洲债务之刀,面临二次探底危险的时候,中国经济的形势变得更加扑朔迷离。从去年官方承认存在"通胀预期",煤电油涨价,到今年前段时间玉米、绿豆、大蒜价格飞涨,人们惊呼"通胀来了"。但余音未绝,物价却开始掉头向下,内需严重不足、大量产能过剩的担忧再次抬头,中国经济似乎又开始面临通缩的危险。中国官方更是声明,绿豆等的价格暴涨是有不法分子暗中操纵,囤积居奇。只是刚刚打击了不法分子,不仅绿豆的价格再次上涨,小麦的价格也开始水涨船高。     

韩流?寒流?

进入3月后,日本东京竟罕见地下了几场大雪,尽管春天已经到来,日本还是冷得让人瑟瑟发抖。伴随着这股寒流的是近来韩日关系的迅速降温。抗议,游行,停止交流,断指,自焚,沉浸在韩国流行歌曲和电影电视中的日本人没有想到,生活在“勇样”(日本国民对韩国影星裴勇俊的爱称,“样”在日语里是人称敬语)国度里的人们竟对日本抱有如此强烈的反感。而多年来一直致力于营造日韩友好气氛,并准备在今年大肆操办日韩邦交正常化40周年活动的日本政府更是被彻头浇了一盆凉水。领土老问题引起外交新麻烦与日本国内的寒流相对应,韩国内     

辅导员?公务员?

如果取消国家干部,高等学府里的辅导员算什么?公务员?辅导员与大学生是一对奇特的角色伴侣,不信请看——告急!告急! 正是午餐时间,广州某大学的学生饭堂象炸开了的马蜂窝,乱极了。一位迟下课来吃饭的同     

新华社?信用社?

甘肃大佛寺,寺外土台上,老头老太太们在喝茶,有些年轻的姑娘在唱秦腔。树荫浓,乡音重,好一幅风俗图。几位外地记者见状,不禁掏出相机捕捉镜头。镜头中突然出现了五个指头的特写。记者面前站了个老头,面部皱纹令人想起那幅名画《父亲》。只是,这一位涎着张老脸,逼上来说:     

书呆子?街边仔?

一个收入颇丰的小摊主,其业余爱好竟是钻‘故纸堆’一个从没到过广州的外省朋友写信向我描绘了他想象中的广州青年的形象:T恤、牛仔裤、一举一动都在跳迪斯科……我笑了,因为这未免太表面化了。近几年来,随着朝南的窗户大开.徐徐吹来略带     

自由岛?幸福岛?

策划人语时至今日,提起中国的特区,谁还能记起,海南亦是其中之一?11年前,海被国务院授权,可以自由兑换货币、境内投资者自获利年度起10年内不再     

调控谁?谁调控?

日前,记者在北京就一系列有关宏观调控的问题,专访了国务院发展研究中心宏观经济研究部研究员魏加宁博士。《南风窗》(以下简称《南》):作为国内较早呼吁树立央行在宏观调控中的主导地位的学者,近来的经济运行情况和宏观调控进程是否使您觉得有必要修正自己的观点?魏加宁(以下简魏):我一直坚持认为,在计划经济时期,宏观调控的主角是国家计委;在市场经济环境中,央行应当在宏观调控方面发挥主导作用。但是去年以来,央行发出的信号受到来自各个方面的阻力和压力,尤其是一些政府部门及官员的声音很     

好汉小泉?恶汉小泉?

小泉首相生涯的善始善终,首先得益于父亲的死让他不再堕落,而政治导师福田纠夫反派阀的教训让他矢志改革,其次是由桥本开创、森内阁继承的行政改革为他的内政改革铺平了道路,再次是他的个人魅力吸引自民党内年轻议员跟随他推动触及根本的政治和财政结构改革,最后是他在最辉煌的时期选择急流勇退,毫无贪恋权力的迹象。     

不如归去?

贾玉霞,20岁,广州某餐厅咨客我是1992年10月离开河南洑阳市,到广州干上这迎来送往的职业的。长这么大了,很想了解一下开放城市是怎么一回事,就来了。你说我的表情很甜吗?我认为那是一种职业性笑容。当咨客,是餐厅的“门面”,顾客来就餐.总希望开开心心见到这里的张张笑容的。久而久之,我也许就不分地点一味微笑了。不过,工作时偶尔也会笑得很难看的,人总会有心情不好的时候,对不对? 为什么心情不好?譬如说,我的理想是有一天当上大公司里的白领,但目前我还达不到这个水平。按我的理解,都     

退潮?

△问:听说广州市民购买福利奖券的热潮已经过去,无人光顾的奖券只好一包包卖给造纸厂?△答:据中募委和省募委统计,广州市发行销售福利奖券的数量不仅在全省继续保持第一,就是在全国各城市中也是一直保持领先地     

爱国?叛国? 人在他国

正有人说他们是爱国者有人说他们是叛国者他们都是泄密者他们如今身处异乡从泄密门的维基解密网站创始人阿桑奇,曾向维基解密网站泄露大约70万份美军秘密文件的曼宁,再到揭露了棱镜门事件的斯诺登,这些泄密者们究竟是爱国者还是叛国者的争论,始终就没有停止过。2013年8月14日,在美国马里兰州的军事法庭听证会上,因向维基解密披露大量机密信息的美军士兵曼宁突然为自己的行为道歉,称自己的举动伤害美国,这也是他首次对自己的行为表示悔意。一直纠缠于曼宁是叛国者还是爱国者的争论,至此出现了让人猝不及防的重大转折。那么,另两位泄密者阿桑奇和斯诺登,如今又在干什么?