Described is a planning process that integrates program, budget and facility concerns and requirements in a way that provides University of Utah administrators with alternatives that encourage them to initiate controlled change. Outlined are eight strategies and processes that deviate from the traditional total (institution-wide) comprehensive…

The paper describes a simple, yet effective method of computing a comparative index of instructional costs. The Instructional Cost Index identifies direct cost differentials among instructional programs. Cost differentials are described in terms of differences among numerical values of variables that reflect fundamental academic and resource…

The numerous issues and problems facing college and university decisionmakers and the ever increasing information needs of external agency representatives place conflicting pressures on institutional research personnel, forcing them to make difficult decisions regarding the allocation of their resources. Outlined are several such pressures. It is…

The attractive features of various strategies for resolving a simulated commons dilemma (a paradox in which a long-term benefit requires the individual to forego immediate gain) were determined in conditions where 40 groups of college age participants (total number = 136) were acting as a world policy making body or local advisory group when there…

The educational administrator must often straddle the gap between empirically sound and politically expedient decisions, employing policy assessment as a hedge against adopting ill-conceived policies. The resource allocation model (RAM) attempts to remedy this dilemma by tying program evaluation and policy analysis into a single conceptual yet…

Presents edited lecture text given at the 1984 Scottish Educational Research Association annual conference. Reviews the history of the Scottish Education Department's involvement in educational research. Discusses annual research funding and allocation plus initiation and selection of projects. Lists 11 research projects with "awareness"…

Richard Delgado and Jean Stefanic have examined a series of legal decisions they consider to be "serious moral errors,""embarrassingly inhumane decisions," and "moral abominations." Departing from their exploration of bad judicial decision making, this paper points out some examples of bad decision making in higher education. It identifies four…

To determine whether the current concentration of funding awards to faculty at top ranked institutions is justifiable, the individual characteristics of faculty and productivity characteristics were analyzed by institutional type. Based on American Council on Education 1972-1973 data, a stratified sample of 2,530 faculty who held Ph.D.s and were…

The history of the present allocation model of a Dutch university is evaluated. This model was widely accepted at the start. As budget decreases continued, the model was increasingly criticized. At present it is no longer accepted as an instrument for policy decisions. The details of the model itself have become issues of political interest and…

This paper examines the role of institutional research (IR) in higher education, focusing on past trends and future possibilities for such research. It discusses the origin of IR in the 1950s and 1960s as a force to assist higher education planning and management, as well as the expansion and fragmentation of IR in the 1970s and 1980s due to…

This manual describes a systematic process for conducting an educational needs assessment at the building level which includes suggestions for the formation of an advisory group and the use of two Likert Scale surveys. The advisory group is composed of parents, students, and educators; this group carries out the tasks of understanding, planning,…

Two interconnected problems are implicated in every model of state funding of universities: (1) every decision on norms, parameters and standards creates specific incentives in the system, often in unintended ways and unforeseen directions; (2) every model is an expression of the relationship between the state and universities. (Author/MLW)

Since 1975 the allocation of the academic staff at the University of Leyden has been based on a limited range of tasks and means. An allocation model for technical and administrative staff is described. Some remarks covering aspects related to the structuring of models are provided. (Author/MLW)

Although the major locus of mental health care in the United States is in community agencies, funding cutbacks threaten the services those agencies provide. To assist human service managers in developing guidelines and concrete action strategies for dealing with financial problems, 106 mental health professionals (e.g., agency directors, technical…

The political processes involved in an academic program evaluation are discussed. The focus is on how evaluative information is politically linked to programmatic decisions within the context of various organizational and evaluative utilization models. To examine the explanatory power of the various theories and models, information from a program…