Sustainability in the union

Operating as the center of student life, college unions have a central role to teach citizenship, social responsibility, and leadership. The perspective of stewardship is adopted in this chapter to advance a discussion about college unions as a model for campus sustainability.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/90521/1/20014_ftp.pd

Rebuilding human resources for health: a case study from Liberia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Following twenty years of economic and social growth, Liberia's fourteen-year civil war destroyed its health system, with most of the health workforce leaving the country. Following the inauguration of the Sirleaf administration in 2006, the Ministry of Health & Social Welfare (MOHSW) has focused on rebuilding, with an emphasis on increasing the size and capacity of its human resources for health (HRH). Given resource constraints and the high maternal and neonatal mortality rates, MOHSW concentrated on its largest cadre of health workers: nurses.</p> <p>Case description</p> <p>Based on results from a post-war rapid assessment of health workers, facilities and community access, MOHSW developed the Emergency Human Resources (HR) Plan for 2007-2011. MOHSW established a central HR Unit and county-level HR officers and prioritized nursing cadres in order to quickly increase workforce numbers, improve equitable distribution of workers and enhance performance. Strategies included increasing and standardizing salaries to attract workers and prevent outflow to the private sector; mobilizing donor funds to improve management capacity and fund incentive packages in order to retain staff in hard to reach areas; reopening training institutions and providing scholarships to increase the pool of available workers.</p> <p>Discussion and evaluation</p> <p>MOHSW has increased the total number of clinical health workers from 1396 in 1998 to 4653 in 2010, 3394 of which are nurses and midwives. From 2006 to 2010, the number of nurses has more than doubled. Certified midwives and nurse aides also increased by 28% and 31% respectively. In 2010, the percentage of the clinical workforce made up by nurses and nurse aides increased to 73%. While the nursing cadre numbers are strong and demonstrate significant improvement since the creation of the Emergency HR Plan, equitable distribution, retention and performance management continue to be challenges.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This paper illustrates the process, successes, ongoing challenges and current strategies Liberia has used to increase and improve HRH since 2006, particularly the nursing workforce. The methods used here and lessons learned might be applied in other similar settings.</p

Gender inequality and academic freedom in Pakistani higher education

Academic freedom and the right to express one’s views in higher education (HE) are important for faculty and students alike, so enabling intellectual integrity and professional autonomy. However, this might not be the case for female academics in countries where females are marginalised, and their opinions are dominated and limited by the society and culture. Gender inequality and how it negatively influences the opportunities available for females to progress is a universal issue; however, although initiatives designed to tackle this problem are being seen to result in gradual improvement internationally, particularly in industrial countries, the situation in developing countries remains a concern. In developing countries, women tend to be either absent from many organisations or exist at the margins of organisational life with the result that they have fewer opportunities for development or career progression. This has a negative impact on the growth and development of a country at national level, particularly when there has been investment in female education from an earlier stage. It would seem that this certainly is the case in Pakistan where cultural norms intertwine with organisational politics thus militating against female employees. The experiences and issues discussed in this chapter highlight the social barriers faced by female academics in HE that have a significant impact on their academic freedom and expression

A Comparative Analysis of Competency Frameworks for Youth Workers in the Out-of-School Time Field

Research suggests that the quality of out-of-school time (OST) programs is related to positive youth outcomes and skilled staff are a critical component of high quality programming. This descriptive case study of competency frameworks for youth workers in the OST field demonstrates how experts and practitioners characterize a skilled youth worker. A comparative analysis of 11 competency frameworks is conducted to identify a set of common core competencies. A set of 12 competency areas that are shared by existing frameworks used in the OST field are identified. The age of youth being served, descriptions of mastery for each competency area, an emphasis on developing mid-level managers, and incorporating research emerge as factors that should be addressed in future competency frameworks

The 21st-century community college : a strategic guide to maximizing labor market responsiveness /

"Prepared for the Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE), U.S. Department of Education, by the Academy for Educational Development.""September 2004."Includes bibliographical references.v. 1. Unleashing the power of the community college -- v. 2. Promising practices and lessons from the field -- v. 3. Self assessment tools and resources.Produced under U.S. Department of Education contract no.Mode of access: Internet