The purpose of the President's Advisory Council at Ramapo College of New Jersey is discussed by the college's president. The Council consists of a small group of experienced executives who discuss with the president strategic issues inherent in managing a sizeable enterprise. The four members of the Council are a marketing expert, a strategic…

Examined are: (1) the causes of growth, elaboration, and differentiation in middle-level collegiate administration; (2) the roles and status of middle-level administrators; and (3) the functions of national occupational associations in the professional lives of these campus officials. Results are based on a literature review, survey questionnaire,…

Suggestions for ways that middle managers can help themselves are offered in this discussion of administrative and staffing issues affecting the deans, directors, and assistants of support services. (LBH)

The dramatic growth of complex national associations as important organizations for middle-managers is seen as the result of the demand for information, guidance, and training, as well as the desire for recognition and the status that comes from being part of a recognized group. (MLW)

The demand, supply, sponsorship, and need for staff development and training activities for middle-level collegiate administrators is examined and discussed. Data were gathered by a survey research questionnaire and structured interviews with 200 administrators and faculty at 20 colleges and universities, and an extensive review of the literature.…

Additional readings concerning the two themes of (1) organizational effectiveness as a consequence of managerial action and (2) assessment of services seen as assessment of staff are presented. Sources on staff renewal as a form of staff evaluation are highlighted. (MSE)

In a broad institutional planning exercise, Ramapo College (New Jersey) used charts to analyze the state of the college and brought in a theater and set designer to help assess the institutional context for its work. The technique has been used to explore organizational patterns in staff utilization, curriculum design and organization, space…

A primer on strategic planning related to institutional self-studies and attempts at assessment is outlined. The refinement of a strategic plan and the preparation for continued accreditation are major events in an institution's life, but the two processes are too often kept separate. Strategic planning requires that an institution know who it is;…

A convocation address at St. Lawrence University, New York, considers the purpose of the curriculum, expectations of the curricula, and the promise that it represents. It is suggested that the curriculum comprises a set of experiences, most of which are organized as courses, selected to facilitate a student's progress toward defined educational…

Personnel officers, like other middle-level collegiate administrators, have become so concerned with their status on campus that they have forgotten their role, which is to serve: to serve the goals of the institution, which are or should be educational goals established by the faculty and its leaders. Personnel is now a vulnerable area, but its…

Personal reflection on the role of college or university presidents and how their professional academic preparation influences how they accomplish things is presented. Evidence of the sociological imagination is noted. A review of how others have viewed their positions as president is included. In a recent summary, findings on the college…

The demand, supply, sponsorship, and need for staff development and training activities for middle level college administrators is examined through interviews with nearly 200 administrators and faculty at 20 colleges and universities, and a review of the literature. It is explained that middle level staff serve three functions--as liaison with…

University trustees have an important role to play in the globalization of university programs. Global education prepares students to work in an increasingly interdependent and "multicultural" world. Institutions of higher education have 11 points of leverage that can be employed to raise the institutional priority for global education:…

An extensive library listing of 65 institutional indicators is designed to alert administrators of higher education to a number of appropriate signals of institutional vitality. Some indicators reflect financial condition in general, while others signal specific features of the educational environment. Regular monitoring of these indicators can…

This report examines the problem of strained relations between State universities and the State government and addresses why this condition might exist for many schools of higher education. It suggests that the proper role of the campus Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in improving state relations, and in all other institutional relations, is as…