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To describe existing placement services of public 2-year colleges in New York, questionnaires were mailed to the chief placement officer of 40 colleges, and on-site visits and interviews were held with placement officers of seven colleges. Returned questionnaires from 36 placement officers plus the interview data revealed that: (1) A total of 35 chief placement officers had some graduate training, with the most frequent area of specialization being student personnel administration, (2) Only six officers had any on-th-job training or supervision, (3) Most of the students who utilize the placement service do so to find permanent or part-time jobs, (4) Of the 35 colleges, 20 made no special efforts to serve the placement needs of minority students, and (5) Fourteen colleges mentioned cooperative efforts in placement with other colleges, most of which were in the form of visits to other campuses and discussion of common problems. Recommendations were made concerning the need for adequate administrative support, providing on-the-job training, increased cooperative efforts, and conducting evaluation research on placement. (SB)

THE STUDY ATTEMPTED TO IDENTIFY, DESCRIBE, AND EVALUATE THE CURRENT PROCEDURES BY WHICH COLLEGE JOBS ARE FOUND AND FILLED, AND TO UNDERSTAND THE STRUCTURE OF THE ACADEMIC LABOR MARKET AND THE ACTIVITIES OF NEARLY 2,500 PLACEMENT AGENCIES. QUESTIONNAIRES WERE MAILED TO 10,312 PERSONS, OVER ONE-THIRD OF ALL NEWLY APPOINTED COLLEGE TEACHERS, WHO REPRESENTED ALL DISCIPLINES, ALL REGIONS OF THE COUNTRY, ALL ACADEMIC RANKS, AND ALL SIZES OF INSTITUTIONS. OVER 70 PERCENT RETURNED USABLE QUESTIONNAIRES. SOME OF THE CONCLUSIONS WERE--(1) ABOUT ONE-SIXTH OF ALL COLLEGE FACULTY MEMBERS ARE "FRESHMEN OR TRANSFERS," (2) OUT OF 10 VACANCIES, FOUR AND A HALF OCCUR FROM EXPANSION, TWO AND A HALF FROM PROFESSORS SWITCHING COLLEGES, TWO FROM PERSONS LEAVING THE TEACHING PROFESSION, AND ONE BY PROFESSORS GOING ON LEAVE, (3) TEN NEWLY HIRED COLLEGE TEACHERS WILL INCLUDE FOUR GRADUATE STUDENTS, THREE PROFESSORS CHANGING INSTITUTIONS, ONE PRIMARY OR SECONDARY TEACHER, ONE BUSINESS OR GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEE AND ONE FROM OTHER EXPERIENCE, (4) THE AVERAGE FULL PROFESSOR SWITCHED JOBS THREE TIMES AND MOVED 1,350 MILES, (5) ACADEMIC LABOR MARKETS ARE NATIONAL AND THERE IS AN ABSENCE OF LARGE SALARY DIFFERENTIALS AMONG REGIONS, (6) THE ATTITUDE AND ABILITY OF THE INSTITUTION TOP MANAGEMENT, COURSES TO BE TAUGHT, TEACHING LOAD, RESEARCH FACILITIES, AND COMPETENCY OF PROFESSIONAL COLLEAGUES, SALARY AND FUTURE PROSPECTS, QUALITY OF STUDENTS, CULTURAL OPPORTUNITIES, ACADEMIC RANK, FRINGE BENEFITS, CLIMATE, AND NEARNESS TO FRIENDS AND RELATIVES ARE VARIABLES WHICH DETERMINE JOB CHOICE. RECOMMENDATIONS WERE--(1) TO INSTITUTE A JOURNAL OF ACADEMIC VACANCIES AND AN ACADEMIC REGISTER, AND (2) FOR BOTH EMPLOYERS AND CANDIDATES TO APPROACH THE ACADEMIC LABOR MARKET IN A MORE SYSTEMATIC MANNER. "PLACEMENT SERVICES FOR COLLEGE TEACHERS" (VT 004 312) IS A COMPANION VOLUME. (MM)

THE VARIOUS INTERMEDIARIES THAT ARE OPERATING IN THE ACADEMIC MARKET ARE IDENTIFIED AND THE SERVICES THEY OFFER ARE EXPLAINED. INDIVIDUAL INTERVIEWS WERE HELD WITH DIRECTORS OF 15 PLACEMENT AGENCIES AND INFORMATION WAS SECURED ON AN ADDITIONAL 25 THROUGH CORRESPONDENCE. THE ACADEMIC PLACEMENT SERVICES CONSIST OF--(1) COLLEGE PLACEMENT OFFICERS, (2) GRADUATE SCHOOL DEPARTMENTS, (3) EMPLOYER-ORIENTED PLACEMENT SERVICES, (4) PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT SERVICES, (5) PRIVATE EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES, (6) DISCIPLINARY PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS, AND (7) OTHER PLACEMENT SERVICES SUCH AS COOPERATIVE TEACHER'S BUREAU AND THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY WOMEN. THERE IS A GENERAL REALIZATION THAT THE TRADITIONS OF INFORMAL PLACEMENT ARE BECOMING LESS VIABLE. RECRUITMENT MUST BE AGGRESSIVE, JUST AS JOB SEEKING MUST BE EXTENSIVE. THERE ARE MORE THAN 2,500 ARTIFICIAL MARKET INTERMEDIARIES OPERATING IN THE ACADEMIC LABOR MARKET. PLACEMENT SERVICES ACCOUNTED FOR 22 PERCENT OF ALL THE JOBS FOUND IN 1964-65 AND ANOTHER 19 PERCENT SECURED JOBS BY WRITING BLIND LETTERS OF APPLICATION TO POTENTIAL EMPLOYERS. CHANNELS OF COMMUNICATIONS IN THE ACADEMIC LABOR MARKET ARE A LOOSELY KNIT SUPERSTRUCTURE, AND THERE IS UNNECESSARY DUPLICATION OF EFFORT. MANY OF THE PLACEMENT SERVICES ARE TOO SMALL TO BE EFFICIENT. THERE IS A GREAT NEED FOR MORE CONSOLIDATION AND COOPERATION AMONG EXISTING PLACEMENT ORGANIZATIONS. THIS IS A COMPANION VOLUME TO "ACADEMIC LABOR MARKETS" (VT 004 313). (MM)