This issue contains articles on:

Appraisal: a gendered agenda?
Does appraisal disadvantage women? asks Sally Brown (University of Northumbria at Newcastle).

Course Handbooks: key questions
A good course handbook can help the new student understand how their course and institution works administratively, as well as giving other useful information. David Baume (London Guildhall University) looks at what goes into a good handbook.

Staff Induction: some personal reflections
Mark Griffiths (University of Plymouth) shares his experience of a Staff Induction Course.

A Manifesto
Empowerment is a worthy ideal, now somewhat in the ascendant. But Simon Horsman (Coventry University) asks us to consider if decisions are being made wholly or partly on the basis of money values, and you are not involved, aren’t you then disempowered?

Group Projects in Biological Sciences
J Verran, J Wilcox, M Dawson and E Bingham (Manchester Metropolitan University) describe the project final year students undertake as part of their Bsc (Hons) Applied Biological Sciences.

Industrial Placements for Law Lecturers
Ruth Soetendorp (Bournemouth University) looks at the increasing view that a short placement for Law lecturers in a practice office or in chambers is a vital element of continuing staff development.

Time for a Sabbatical!
A change is a good as a rest? John Lloyd (South Bank University) takes a sabbatical with the management team at his local hospital.

Work Placement as Careers Education
Tony Watts and Ruth Hawthorn (NICEC) describe the development project they carried out for the Employment Department on guidance aspects of the Enterprise in Higher Education initiative.

Constitutional Law Through Skills
Kevin Kerrigan (University of Northumbria at Newcastle) discusses the experiences of second year LLB students during the then Newcastle Polytechnic’s third annual Skills/Alternative Learning Fortnight (February 1992).