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)

A site visit to the College of DuPage, a comprehensive community college, is summarized. Computer services, a master plan, computer hardware and software, and special activities (monthly newsletter and computer awareness training) of the Computer Services Department are described. (MLW)

Alternatives to the normal detail bid specifications usually required for public institutions of higher education to purchase computer software are examined. It is suggested that the request for proposal method described offers the consumer a better understanding of individual software vendors' products. (Author/SF)

The Department of Administrative Programming Services of Clemson University investigated products available in user-friendly retrieval systems. The test of INTELLECT, a natural language query system written by Artifical Intelligence Corporation, is described. (Author/MLW)

Key tailors, desk organizers; text-oriented database programs, outlining programs, thesauruses, spelling checkers, and punctuation and style checkers are described. The functions these programs perform will probably become more common as application programs absorb the functions into their own operation. (Author/MLW)

An online data retrieval system for administrators of departments at Ball State University is described. The underlying concept is to pull together data elements from operational databases available on the mainframe and to make this information accessible to administrators through a straightforward retrieval system. (MLW)

A project to improve the "request budget" procedure at each of the campuses of the University of Colorado is described. The project extracted data maintained in central mainframe computers and downloaded it to floppy magnetic diskettes. The amount of manual data entry, calculation, and preparation time was reduced significantly.…

Data custodians are described as "owners" of the data and administrative computing staff the data processors. New hardware and software have put the processing tools into the hands of anyone who can afford them. The term "end-user computing" refers to the processing of data in the administrative units. (MLW)

The academic computing office at the University of Texas-Houston Health Science Center implemented a campuswide system for information dissemination. The system has since been tied into a worldwide system. The evolution of the system is described, including selection and adoption of procedures, staffing, and development of publishing tools. (MSE)

Decision support systems integrate information from multiple data sources, both internal and external, to produce concise analytic reports for both decision making and planning. The administrator requiring information for decision making is usually not concerned with daily, detailed changes, but rather with aggregated numbers, from fixed points in…