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In this article the author discusses aspects of the effects of task forces at higher educational institutions. He is critical of two task-force projects that he participated in at Tufts University. He discusses several lessons that he learned from his experiences including to limit the scope of the task force, consider the resources required, build support from the community, and assign responsibility for putting the task force's recommendations into place.

James Madison University thinks its distinctive approach can help students learn to be more innovative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the views of the author on higher education in the U.S. The author has spent nearly 25 years chairing academic departments at three universities. Department chairmen attend many meetings where the future is unveiled, priorities are articulated, and innovations are announced. Some of those much-heralded innovations are long forgotten. Others remain housed somewhere on the campus, but the author thinks that it is fair to say that higher education hasn't changed all that much, that none of these ideas proved to be as transformative as their advocates predicted.

The article focuses on how the University of Maryland at College Park is planning to make required introductory courses more exciting. The author explores why general-education curriculum courses are disliked by both students and professors, analyzes why redesigning these types of classes is difficult for college administration, and discusses the revitalized core requirements called the "I-Series" at the University of Maryland. He notes that techniques such as role-playing, including online lectures, and focusing on primary sources have been introduced and seem successful.