As part of ongoing reevaluations and realignments of resources (see "Annual Report ...",), the Georgia Center's Environmental Scanning Program has been discontinued and has been folded into a new University-wide strategic planning process that the Center has adopted.

The program, a futures research technique, began in 1985 and offered Center faculty and staff members the opportunity to participate in the strategic planning processes of the organization, by scanning for trends and issues and by analyzing data. At any given time in its existence, some 50-60 faculty and staff members were participating in the program. The effort, while informing the strategic plans of the Center, produced a database of thousands of article summaries, some of which may be accessed through the Center's Web page: http://www.gactr.uga.edu/.

Thus ends "The Quarterly Quiz." For a final time....

Browsing an Environmental Scanning database is an enlightening experience. As you take the following Did you know...? quiz, what opportunities or threats do you see for your organization in relation to products, programs, delivery systems, education/training, management, and customer service? The source/"scan number" at the end of each question is part of the Georgia Center's cataloging system.

For more information, contact the Director's Office, Georgia Center for Continuing Education, The University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602-3603.

Did you know ...

1.... that the number of people who regularly access the Internet through points other than home, office, or school has nearly tripled last year, with libraries, museums, and civic organizations among those providing alternate access? (ADEC Distance Education Consortium listserv 2537)

2.... that "although the strongest predictor of academic dismissal (from a distance education program) is grade performance, the strongest predictor of voluntary withdrawal is the lack of individual integration into the social system of the college"? (Open Praxis 2504)

3.... that "research indicates that up to 70% of customers are not profitable at all"? (Pryor Report 2559)

4.... that "less than 40% of the 33 million Americans age 65 or over collect a pension, with the average recipient receiving less than $10,000 a year" ? (Washington Post National Weekly Edition 2588)

5.... that the authors of Workforce 2020 predict "a bifurcated U.S. labor force in the early 21st century," with the "skills premium" being even more important than was thought when the first Workforce 2000 study premiered? (Wilson Quarterly 2581)

6.... that "U.S. colleges and universities and their counterparts in other countries" face similar challenges including issues of access, accountability, assessment, financing, governance, information technology, and the need for curricula to transcend national boundaries? (Chronicle of Higher Education 2616)

7.... that "Information Fatigue Syndrome" affects almost half of all senior managers and a third of all managers? (Investor's Business Daily 2608)

8.... that well-connected road warriors require hotel rooms equipped with "a large, well-lit working desk and dual phone lines," one line to connect on-line to the company and one line for telephone use? (Successful Meetings 2533)

9.... that meeting planners are beginning to recognize "toxic clients" and sever relationships that offer more "hassle factor" than profitability? (Meetings and Conventions 2613)

10.... that "with near-workerless factories and virtual companies already looming on the horizon, every nation will have to grapple with the question of what to do with the millions of people whose labor is needed less, or not at all, in an ever-more-automated global economy"? (The Nation 2582)

11....that Medicare use is disproportionately high among the wealthy; despite their greater contributions, they "gobble up more than they brought" because they live longer than the poor and "use the system more intensively"? (The Economist 2573)