Strategic planning is complex (Dodd, 2004), and when managed well, it requires deliberate incorporation of evidenced-based data and the collaboration of key stakeholders. Thus, it is essential that the planning process includes the integration of data that are collected regularly and that both internal and external professional partners have the…

The paper examines varieties of program assessment in institutions of higher education and proposes a procedure to implement systematic assessment of program outcomes. Presented in a question-and-answer format, the paper first addresses common faculty concerns about formal assessment in sections titled, "Why Not Use GPA (Grade Point Average)?" and…

The current success and acceptability of the Design for School Excellence (DSE) in the Cincinnati (Ohio) Public Schools is due largely to the seriousness in which the Board of Education and the Superintendent communicated with school employees and the entire community in planning the final outcome of this program. From the original suggestion of a…

In 1985 and 1986, 24 and 37 schools respectively, were publicly recognized as merit schools under the Design for School Excellence (DSE) program of the Cincinnati (Ohio) Public School system. The increase in merit schools was not accompanied by a large increase in the number of awards made on individual indicators. Rather, the new merit schools…

This study examined higher education institutions' compliance with Standard IIB, Criterion #35 of the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), which focuses on arrangements the teacher education program has made with school districts to provide assistance to its graduates who are first year teachers. Data were obtained from…

This paper describes a multi-faceted approach to improving student retention at an urban public university. It is noted that the students at this institution are older, working people; few live on campus and participate in what would be considered traditional student experiences. The paper examines the physical setting and external environment;…

The Reentry Adult Student Project (RASP) was initiated in 1977 as an improvement-oriented research effort designed to ease the academic reentry of adult students into New York State community colleges. In response to the difficulties facing many adult students, RASP sought to examine adult students' needs and satisfactions and assist colleges in…

The components and objectives of North Central Technical College's Planning, Management, and Evaluation System (PME) are presented as a model upon which college administrators can relate institutional goals with societal needs. The report first describes the two-year planning process through which ad hoc committees made up of students, faculty,…

The conditions under which the effectiveness of a university grants operation is potentially maximized are described. The following topics are addressed: the attitudes to be adopted by university administrators in grants operations, the functions of the institutional grants office, and the qualities needed in a campus coordinator of research. The…

This paper describes the efforts at an American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) accredited college as the school responded to the new mission-driven management expectations and prepared for the formal review of its accreditation status by the AACSB. Under the direction of Computer Information Systems (CIS) faculty, end-user…

Responding to an accrediting agency mandate for assessment of student outcomes. Earlham College (Richmond, Indiana), a liberal arts college, developed and implemented an assessment plan. The process began with review of the institutional identity and early identification of the philosophy and principles to guide the process. A timetable was…

School culture has recently emerged as a framework for the study and interpretation of the structure and development of schools. This paper reviews a work culture productivity model and reports the development of a culture instrument. The use of second-order component analysis shows areas of generalization across primary factors. The School Work…

In 1992, Alamogordo Branch Community College (ABCC), a branch campus of New Mexico State University, developed and implemented the Institutional Assessment and Strategic Planning (IASP) process, an integrated process designed to assess both student academic achievement and institutional effectiveness. Each year, the IASP process begins when…

In July 1989, the members of Project Cooperation, 10 community colleges that had been invited to serve as demonstration sites for research on institutional effectiveness, were brought together for the second national colloquium on institutional effectiveness through outcomes measures. This report contains the presentations made at the colloquium…

The changing perspectives of higher educational administration in Australia are traced from the growth of the 1960s and early 1970s to the period of contraction, since 1975. Three major challenges facing administrators in the period ahead are identified: problems of continuing institutional viability with the threat of government intervention;…