Technology and Higher Education

Technology and Higher Education, edited by Linda Enghagen, J.D., the latest in NEA's Excellence in the Academy series, addresses issues of primary concern to higher education faculty, staff, students, and administrators in the rapidly evolving technological environment of contemporary Academia.

Equal access, copyright law, software choice, the under-representation of women and minorities in technical fields, and many other pressing concerns are covered in the eleven chapters of this book. Of particular interest to higher education faculty are those sections relating to intellectual property rights as they affect collective bargaining.

The contributing authors, who represent a wide spectrum of practice and interest, include Carol Baroudi and John R. Levine, co-authors of The Internet for Dummies and Internet E-Mail for Dummies; Kenneth Salomon and Michael Pierce, attorneys specializing in telecommunications law; Steven W. Gilbert, Director of Technology Projects at the American Association for Higher Education and Kenneth C. Green, Director of the Technology, Teaching, and Scholarship project at Claremont Graduate School C. Dianne Martin, Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at The George Washington University; Thomas E. Duston, Association Professor of Economics at Keene (NH) State College; and Gene Aitken, Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Northern Colorado.

Distance learning is the focus of two chapters. Eric P. Healy describes the Maine experience with planning, funding, and defending a state-wide distance education system for postsecondary students. J. N. Musto, Executive Director of the University of Hawaii Professional Assembly, discusses the development of a future-directed scenario in which an international consortium of faculty unions supported by regional cable companies secures faculty participation in the SeaHawaii distance learning venture.

Donald C. Savage, Executive Director of the Canadian Association of University Teachers, and Patricia A. Finn, Business Agent for the Carleton University Academic Staff Association, unfold the story of how model clauses developed in the 1970s to protect faculty copyrights, patent, and other intellectual rights came to be incorporated in many Canadian college and university contracts.

These are just a few of the important topics in Technology and Higher Education, a 208-page quality paperback available from the NEA Professional Library, at $18.95 for NEA members; $21.95 for non-members. See ordering information.