Objective Technology-enhanced education is becoming an increasingly important part of higher and professional education. Web-based course management tools such as WebCT (Web Course Tools) are the latest wave of technology-based pedagogical tools. The question is whether certain groups of students, in particular, nontraditional students, are disadvantaged when these tools are used for teaching and learning. Method This study reports on a survey of39 social work students’ satisfaction with and perception of impact of WebCT in social work education. Results All students found course materials on the course Web site helpful. Graduate and nontraditional students reported greater utility of the course management tools. Nontraditional students were not disadvantaged by, and preferred access to, Web-based courses. Conclusions Web-based and Web-enhanced courses hold promise for accommodating the needs of nontraditional students in social work education.

This article reports a case study of the process of mergering two nonprofit social service organizations. Although the event was depicted as a merger by the majority of stakeholders, it was in fact an acquisition or buyout of one organization. Although the negotiation processes were described in the language of efficiency, power issues were their focus. Awareness of power differentials and insight into outcome expectations provided leverage to the acquired group. Judicious use of ambiguity aided participants in reaching accord in the negotiations.During the last two decades, the environment within which nonprofit social service organizations operate has become more fluid and unpredictable than ever before (

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This exploratory research focused on the structural context of working poverty, thereby transcending its individual or behavioral aspects. Two major questions guided this study: (1) How are the working poor different compared to the working nonpoor? (2) How do structural conditions affect the chances of one being working poor? Central findings of the study were that four primary sets of factors—demographic, human capital, employment barriers, and labor market positions—contribute to an individual's likelihood of being among the working poor. The structural factors—employment barriers and labor market positions—significantly contributed to the effects of human capital and demographic variables. All four factors require attention in community and policy practice to improve the lot of American workers in an increasingly global marketplace.

As nonprofit organizations seek to remain viable in an increasingly competitive environment, merger is an attractive (albeit complicated) option. This case study of the largest nonprofit association merger in U.S. history, involving three bowling associations, demonstrates the critical role of leadership in consummating a merger. The case illustrates a number of factors necessary to merger success: existence of a catalyst leader and a nucleus of like-minded individuals who can serve as the impetus for change, sufficient time to accommodate the psychological and practical aspects of merging, opportunities for building social capital among the people involved in the merger, and preservation of cultural remnants that are carried over from the predecessor organizations to the newly merged entity.