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College and university response to the sense of anomie experienced by students --especially those attending large, complex institutions-- has been to implement several plans for reducing the students' feelings of impersonality and estrangement. In one of these plans, based on the "ombudsman" concept, students register complaints to 1 individual, who conducts an impartial investigation, reports to the appropriate authority, and makes other efforts to achieve desired results. An informal survey of Western colleges and universities was made in August, 1968 to ascertain to what extent this kind of plan has been utilized. Twenty-nine of the responding institutions had studied the concept, 24 had not, 9 had rejected it, and only 7 had some form of ombudsman program. Student and staff reactions to the program ranged from neutral to positive. Of the 29 institutions that had studied the concept, 20 had student bodies of more than 5,000 FTE (Full-Time Equivalent), and 16 of the 24 that had not considered such a program had student bodies of less than 5,000 FTE. Survey results suggest that requirements unique to the institution involved determine the appropriateness of the ombudsman idea. Due to a number of factors, larger state-supported institutions tend to consider the concept much sooner than small state or privately-supported institutions. The report contains a list of the 53 responding institutions, and selected data collected during the survey. (WM)

An informal survey of colleges and universities was conducted in the Summer of 1967 to ascertain what positions they had taken with regard to the use of drugs by students. All of the institutions involved reported that they were aware of an urgent need to develop approaches for dealing with the problem, and were attempting to acquaint students with the problems involved in illegal drug use. Nine institutions had an established policy concerning the use of drugs, 10 were developing statements, and 14 did not yet have a policy. Those colleges and universities with policies had apparently assumed their positions because of the increasing use of drugs by students, community pressures, and concern for students involved in illicit drug use. Summarized, these policies state that: the university regards drug use as a serious problem and strives, through professional means, to bring the facts about drugs and their use to the attention of the campus community; students using drugs should seek aid from the Dean of Students or from the Student Health Center; the university will uphold state and federal laws with respect to drugs; and the possession, distribution, or sale of drugs could result in disciplinary action by the university. Abstracts of the 9 statements are presented, as well as a list of institutions that were either developing policies or had not yet established a position on drug use when this report was written. (WM)