A central food service production facility combined with a central warehouse and commissary has been financially effective in Dayton, Ohio. (MLF)

An Ontario school board found the factors necessary for the establishment of an effective decentralized energy management program to be training, a program of reinforcement, and the development of an overall attitude that encourages involvement. (MLF)

Brigham Young University (Utah) has addressed the need for maintenance and support of distributed computing systems on campus by implementing a program patterned after a national business franchise, providing the support and training of a centralized administration but allowing each unit to operate much as an independent small business.…

A University of Miami (Florida) project to centralize imaging/document management is described. The system will enable document storage, retrieval, and work-flow management, lower costs, and improve on traditional business practices. Benefits of imaging/document management, the rationale for centralizing, and the three-phase implementation plan…

University administrative data processing is moving toward a more distributed environment. An architecture must be established that incorporates central sites, campus centers, and end users in a networked pool of computer systems, with applications located at appropriate nodes in the network. (Author/MLW)

At Carnegie Mellon University, collaborative strategic planning promotes institutional distinction through the development of focused departments that exploit university strengths and opportunities. Implications of decentralized university organization and the need for centralized leadership are discussed. (MLW)

Five models of organizational decision-making are described, and a case study of the rational model as seen in the budget process at Stanford University during the 1970s is presented. Several issues are addressed to help administrators who are interested in increasing the organization's rational decision-making. The five models are as follows: the…

Using surveys of the professional staffs of 41 secondary schools, this study examines the relationship between two aspects of bureaucratic structure (centralization and formalization) and two sorts of alienation (from work and expressive relations). It then compares the results with similar studies of social studies of social welfare agencies. (JW)

Essex Community College (Maryland) has used issue-oriented planning to maintain flexibility and adaptability while responding to environmental changes. Issues addressed by centralized and structured processes include management information systems, budget development, and external resource development. Issues addressed by decentralized processes…

The Wichita, Kansas, Public Schools' Food Service Department Project Reduction in Paperwork (RIP) is designed to automate certain paperwork functions, thus reducing cost and flow of paper. This article addresses how RIP manages free/reduced meal applications and meets the objectives of reducing paper and increasing accuracy, timeliness, and…

Because colleges and universities have adopted new information technology idiosyncratically, formal structures to manage and govern its use have not evolved at the same pace. In creating such structures, issues to be considered include centralization vs. decentralization, attitudes toward change, institutional diversity, entrepreneurial spirit,…

The first part of this text on school development provides a detailed historical review of school reform in Europe and North America. The middle part of the book gives an overview of the theoretical basis for educational improvement, and the book concludes with an analysis of educational change strategies. The chapters are: (1) "The New…

The adoption and systematic use of planning guidelines and the pursuit of a disciplined strategy for implementation have provided the University of Miami with a powerful process for shaping its future. Decentralized and responsive centralized planning, defining the planning process, and guidelines used by the University of Miami are presented.…

This paper presents an agenda for "internationalizing" the university and discusses the operationalization of such an endeavor through efforts in the following areas: administration; faculty and curriculum; foreign study and international exchanges; foreign students and scholars; technical cooperation and international development; and…

This report presents the historical background of New York State's normal school system, the system that predated the centralized organization of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. New York's first state normal school was established in Albany in 1844. Nineteen years later the state began to provide support for the normal school at…