Academia is in trouble. Taxpayers are fed up with the enormous expenses associated with public universities, as well as administrators whose strategies and goals are fuzzy at best and destructive at worst. Parents worry about how they will find the wherewithal to send their offspring to college. Employers question the ability of new graduates and degree holders to write or reason lucidly. And everyone (except entrenched faculty members) questions the practice of tenure, which generally creates an incentive for mediocrity. Meanwhile, academic authorities responsible for managing our august institutions of higher education pontificate about the problems without delivering meaningful solutions. But meaningful solutions do exist, and this book explains them in depth. Taking Back the Tower, a compendium of no-nonsense, management-oriented lessons and prescriptions for the academy, will go a long way toward restoring the respect our colleges and universities deserve.
Taking Back the Tower focuses squarely on bringing common sense to higher education by urging creative thinking, especially out-of-the-box approaches, in promoting change. It offers numerous solutions, many of which will be seen as quite controversial by the establishment. Smith outlines how to overcome resistance to change, lead more effectively, demand accountability for performance, manage resources for the highest return, remain firm with tuition payers and donors when warranted, manage costs to help keep the price of an education contained, and much more. The secret is in managing the few key variables that will have the biggest impact on overall results. The ideas are wholly practical and much less philosophical than those in most books on the subject. Following them will help schools improve results across the board. Smith's decades of experience as both a teacher and administrator in academia, as well as a consultant for many public and private-sector organizations, make him the perfect author for this book. Moreover, his insights, coupled with the many enlightening and entertaining examples (all true) will capture the attention of readers and help them understand why change must come―and why it must be radical.

Taking Back the Tower: Simple Solutions for Saving Higher Education

Education & Teaching

Smith, Howard L.

Higher & Continuing Education

Praeger

Some experts argue that adventure is dead because few places on this magnificent planet have escaped explorers’ snowboards, boot steps, parachutes, paddles, skis, or bicycle tires. However, a growing number of respected adventurers claim that the future of adventure isn’t solely about being there first, achieving the most enormous physical goal, or surviving extreme conditions at the edge. It is increasingly about cultivating personal discoveries that lead to uniquely insightful epiphanies or revelations – the last best adventure. The Last Best Adventure focuses on attention-grabbing revelations discovered when exploring wild country – that unique moment when adventure attains a higher level of meaning because someone has a gripping revelation, discovery, epiphany, paradigm shift, or other soul-altering realization; they transcend being first on an ice-throttled peak or first at careening down a raging river. This book examines the pinnacle of extraordinary moments in the wild, yet it also explores more universal adventures. Join Howard Smith as he penetrates the remote hinterlands of Mt. Rainier, survives winter blizzards when snowshoeing, confronts a grizzly bear and her three cubs in the Tetons, dances down the Deschutes River on a rafting trip poised for disaster, and treks through the lonesome alpine country of Glacier Peak. He provides a passionate recollection of hard-core backcountry quests and outdoor recreation soulfully tempered by the power of epiphany. Come explore adventure’s final frontier.

The Last Best Adventure

Science & Math

Nature & Ecology

Howard L. Smith

Get out of town and out of your car; pay attention to the natural world around you. The experience can be unforgettable. That simple message is the theme of this love letter to the wild American West. Howard L. Smith's enthusiastic accounts of his trailside adventures will make you want to take the day off and enjoy your own harmony with the wilderness. 
Most of the experiences Smith shares took place in New Mexico and Colorado, with some in Wyoming, Montana, and the Pacific Northwest. Some happened deep within wilderness areas, but most unfolded near easily accessible trails and campsites. One need not be in good physical condition to follow in Smith's footsteps. Light walking or mobility through use of a wheelchair are the only requirements.
Although Mountain Harmonies is not a guidebook, it suggests enticing possibilities for expeditions and road trips. Give it to friends to show them how easy it is to enjoy the outdoors. Use it to plan your next weekend trip. Read it afterward to recall the magic of the wilderness and the creatures that inhabit it.

Mountain Harmonies: Walking the Western Wildernesses

Travel

University of New Mexico Press

Strategic Nursing Management: Power and Responsibility in a New Era

Garner, Judith F.

Piland, Neill F.

Business & Money

ASPEN PUB.

Book by Smith, Howard L., Fottler, Myron D.

Prospective payment: Managing for operational effectiveness

Aspen Systems Corp.

Successful Fundraising presents fresh insights on raising friends and funds: <ul> <li>How to be a successful ambassador for an organization.</li> <li>What to do to land large gifts.</li> <li>What ingenious strategies to follow to raise large sums of money.</li> <li>What insightful guidelines to follow when working with wealthy people.</li> <li>How to raise millions of dollars?</li> </ul> Several well-honed strategies spell the difference: <ul> <li>Use ingenuity.</li> <li>Create a winning game plan</li> <li>Build enduring relationships</li> <li>Capturing the support of wealthy people</li> <li>Strategizing for new constraints</li> </ul>

Business Aha! Tips: Successful Fundraising

Boise State University CCI Press

Multicultural Literature for Latino Bilingual Children: Their Words, Their Worlds

While there are volumes that fall into the category of children’s literature, there appears to be relatively few that explore the needs of bilingual learners and the linguistic and sociocultural context of Latino children’s literature. This volume makes a needed contribution by addressing the social, cultural, academic, and linguistic needs of Latino bilingual learners who are still underserved through current school practices. We aim to conceptualize different forms of social knowledge so that they can serve as cultural resources for learning, acquiring knowledge, and transforming self and identity. This volume presents a balance of theory, research, and practice that speak to authentic multicultural Latino literature and helps ensure its availability for all students. The intended outcome of this volume then is to create a heightened awareness of the cultural and linguistic capital held by the Latino community, to increase Latino students’ social capital through the design of critical pedagogical practices, and for the formulation of a new perspective, that of Latino multicultural literature for children.

Politics & Social Sciences

Clark, Ellen Riojas

Alejandro González, Daniel

Flores University of Texas at San Antonio, Belinda Bustos

Social Sciences

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

This book presents theoretical, research based, and classroom practices that explore the use of multicultural children's literature to support the linguistic, academic, and psychological development of Latino children in the process of becoming bilingual and acquiring English. The contributions cover a broad spectrum of issues related to the effective use of children's literature with Bilingual Learners (Bl), including identity development, critical pedagogy, biliteracy development, and holistic literacy instruction.

This innovative text offers an approach to patient care that is physician-based, patient-centered, financially viable and quality driven. The model the authors share exemplifies medical practices that deliver quality patient care with compassion and caring.

Reinventing Medical Practice: Care Delivery that Satisfies Doctors, Patients and the Bottom Line

Medical Books

Burchell, R. Clay

Administration & Medicine Economics

MGMA

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Smith, Howard L.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Smith, Howard L.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Smith, Howard L.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Taking Back the Tower: Simple Solutions for Saving Higher Education

The Last Best Adventure

Mountain Harmonies: Walking the Western Wildernesses

Strategic Nursing Management: Power and Responsibility in a New Era

Prospective payment: Managing for operational effectiveness

Business Aha! Tips: Successful Fundraising

Multicultural Literature for Latino Bilingual Children: Their Words, Their Worlds

Multicultural Literature for Latino Bilingual Children: Their Words, Their Worlds

Reinventing Medical Practice: Care Delivery that Satisfies Doctors, Patients and the Bottom Line