Institutions of higher education are not like corporations: they have multiple goals, not even limited to the central ones of teaching and research, nor are they organized hierarchically. One class of leading inhabitants, faculty members, are a cross between independent contractors and employees; another class, administrators, are a cross between bosses and colleagues. Fitting Form to Function discusses how such institutions are best organized; how decisions are best made at various levels; how administrators and faculty can effectively collaborate in giving shape to a university or college. The book takes up such topics as the office of the president, of the provost, the dean and the chairperson of a department. It considers how committees are formed to function effectively-from a faculty senate to budget and planning committees to those that advise on promotions and others that adjudicate when there are grievances. Fitting Form to Function is written in an informal style. No jargon, no footnotes, but sporting 27 recurring maxims, such as Maxim 1, In academic institutions, the forces of nature are centrifugal; organizational art must be used to create propensities toward coherence; Maxim 17, Boundaries are less likely to create solidarity among those who live within them than they constitute barriers for those residing outside them; and Maxim 23, 'A' people hire (or retain) 'A' people, while 'B' people hire 'C' people.

Have you ever thought that you might want to write a story but simply couldn't find a way to get started? This book, What's the Story?, just might launch you on the road to writing fiction. It consists of twenty casts of characters - made up of three to seven personages, with each character described in a paragraph. Both the individuals and the casts differ greatly from one another. Most are presented as currently living in various locations across America; others are no longer alive or are set in different parts of the world. No group of characters suggests any particular story, but rather hints inconclusively at numerous possibilities. The given information is designed to prod the imagination without constraining its flight. The witty drawings that accompany the casts should inspire readers to try their hands at fiction and learn the art of writing.

A Sixty-Year Ride through the World of Education depicts the author's educational pursuits from elementary school to provost. Learning is followed by teaching and writing and, soon, academic administration. Interspersed among these thirty-three short autobiographical sections are fourteen others that deal directly and practically with educational topics. This short work is a rich introduction to the world of education in the last half-century.

Academic administration, argues Rudolph Weingartner, is different from administration or managing in business because of the special character of institutions of higher learning. Colleges and universities are founded to serve certain purposes; they are supported in various ways by governments and private individuals; and, as professional institutions, they have students, among others, as clients to whom they owe education services in ways analogous to the obligations hospitals have to their patients. In this book, Weingartner argues that academic administration is not just another job of managing, but a calling that importantly assists institutions to carry out their missions.