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The nature of quality teaching and learning in higher education has been subject to ongoing research and debate. In distance learning programmes, “teaching” comprises several distinct tasks including the provision of distance learning materials and the support of students’ learning when they are away from the campus. This study examined the nature of quality in terms of the provision of “off‐campus support” to students in a particular postgraduate distance education context. A questionnaire was administered to investigate students’ perceptions and expectations regarding off‐campus support. While students identified support related to their academic work as being the most important component of an off‐campus support system, issues related to the availability and accessibility of this support were also highlighted. These findings informed the development of a model of quality off‐campus support in the context of advanced level, distance learning programmes.

This is the title of the combined dietetics services in Newcastle. It includes hospital dietitians, community nutrition educators and a nutrition education facilitator under the leadership of director Julia Smith. Here Julia Smith, Alison Cullen and Moira Hill explain how the service was set up, its present activities and future plans.

All societies in the modern world are troubled by crime, and the general public is equally fascinated by criminals and fearful of criminal behaviour. In the United Kingdom, events such as the murders of Jack the Ripper, the Yorkshire Ripper and Harold Shipman, and the Soham tragedy, coupled with film and television programmes including Silence of the Lambs, Cracker and Crime Scene Investigation, have fuelled the public's consciousness of the criminal mind.In the fight against crime, the development of offender profiling by the FBI in the USA has further captured people's imagination. The technique was introduced to help law enforcement agencies solve serious crimes such as serial rape or murder, and to a lesser extent arson and property crime. At the heart of profiling lies the belief that by combining psychological principles with crime scene analysis, it is possible to identify the likely characteristics of a perpetrator.Although advances in crime detection are welcomed, the profiling field appears riddled with contradiction and disagreement. Social scientists argue that the discipline is unscientific due to methodologically weak research, while police officers appear sceptical about its benefits for solving crime. In Britain, profiling has witnessed both notable successes, for example Canter's profile of the serial rapist and murderer John Duffy, and dramatic failures, such as the Colin Stagg profile in the Rachel Nickell inquiry. This article reviews the offender profiling literature, examines its applicability in the legal system and identifies areas for future research.

Management training and development is currently in vogue. There appears to be a growing belief in the benefits of investment in training and development. When a market is buoyant is the time to consider and anticipate the consequences of a future downturn in demand. Such a downturn in demand may demonstrate increasing pressure to “justify” investment in training and development. There is a long established academic body of knowledge on the subject of evaluating training and development. From research evidence and the authors′ experience, the sponsors and the providers of training and development pay scant attention to systematic evaluation of these activities and investments. It is the authors′ contention that when the market′s critical assessment of the value of training and development increases there will be an increasing interest in evaluation. An overview of the history of evaluation traditions is provided and the state of play is commented upon. It is noted that there is a shortfall between theory and practice. It is argued that evaluation is a worthwhile and important activity and ways through the evaluation literature maze and the underpinnings of the activity are demonstrated, especially to management. Similarly the literature on evaluation techniques is reviewed. Tables are provided which demonstrate areas of major activity and identify relatively uncharted waters. This monograph provides a resource whereby practitioners can choose techniques which are appropriate to the activity on which they are engaged. It highlights the process which should be undertaken to make that choice in order that needs of the major stakeholders in the exercise are fully met.

Suggests that management development evaluation is fraught with problems as the relationship between cause and effect is impossible to prove when the subjects are human beings and they and their environment are a complex morass of variables. Describes the difficulties of designing an evaluation along traditional lines and suggests an innovative methodology, based on sound academic principles, which is user friendly to the practitioner. The methodology, a management development diary, has been developed and piloted in the UK. Discusses the development of the design and its application and considers the strengths and limitations of the product, both as an evaluation instrument and as an aid to management effectiveness.

The purpose of this paper is to identify offender typologies based on aspects of the offenders’ psychopathology and their associations with crime scene behaviours using data derived from the National Confidential Enquiry into Suicide and Safety in Mental Health concerning homicides in England and Wales committed by offenders in contact with mental health services in the year preceding the offence (n=759).

The authors used multiple correspondence analysis to investigate the interrelationships between the variables and hierarchical agglomerative clustering to identify offender typologies. Variables describing: the offenders’ mental health histories; the offenders’ mental state at the time of offence; characteristics useful for police investigations; and patterns of crime scene behaviours were included.

Results showed differences in the offenders’ histories in relation to their crime scene behaviours. Further, analyses revealed three homicide typologies: externalising, psychosis and depression.

These typologies may assist the police during homicide investigations by: furthering their understanding of the crime or likely suspect; offering insights into crime patterns; provide advice as to what an offender’s offence behaviour might signify about his/her mental health background. Findings suggest information concerning offender psychopathology may be useful for offender profiling purposes in cases of homicide offenders with schizophrenia, depression and comorbid diagnosis of personality disorder and alcohol/drug dependence.

Empirical studies with an emphasis on offender profiling have almost exclusively focussed on the inference of offender demographic characteristics. This study provides a first step in the exploration of offender psychopathology and its integration to the multivariate analysis of offence information for the purposes of investigative profiling of homicide by identifying the dominant patterns of mental illness within homicidal behaviour.

Describes an investigation into the use of the accreditation of prior learning (APL) within management training and development. A review of training managers use and opinions of APL within companies in the East Midlands region revealed some surprises. Despite the promotion of APL and its benefits through the Management Charter Initiative (MCI) managers remain somewhat sceptical and confused about the APL process.

The purpose of the study is to report on an in‐depth exploration of service quality in an Information Technology service department in a Higher Education Institute (HEI) and to evaluate the instrument used.

The study surveys customers using the SERVQUAL instrument, which is one of the most widely used and applied scales for the measurement of perceived service quality.

A focused and rigorous examination of customers' views of the importance of the service elements is provided. The study confirmed previous research that the application of SERVQUAL in the public sector can produce different service quality dimensions from those found in private sector services. It was also found that the service quality gaps, and the relative importance of the five dimensions of service quality, were the same for students and staff, albeit with some specific differences. Reliability was the most important dimension for all customers and the greatest improvement in service quality would be achieved through improved service reliability.

The implications of these findings for the department are discussed, together with the value of SERVQUAL to the public sector, in general, and Higher Education, in particular, in assisting with improvement of services. Further research at the HEI which would benefit the department is identified as well as a broader project to survey service provision and approaches to quality measurement across HEIs.

In an increasingly consumerist environment, a serious approach to service quality can only enhance the reputation of HEIs which address the area in a coherent and consistent manner. This study details a useful approach.

Evaluation of management training courses is a subject much discussed but, generally speaking, superficially carried out. This article identifies evaluation procedures and highlights their shortcomings. In summary, there is too great an emphasis on providing an objective (and positivistic) evaluation report and too little recognition of subjective and peculiar issues which do not necessarily fit the frame. The article′s concern is to bring these areas to greater attention so that more comprehensive evaluation takes place and, consequently, better training.