In this paper, a model and tool is proposed to assist universities and other mission-based organisations to ascertain systematically the optimal portfolio of projects, in any year, meeting the organisations risk tolerances and available funds. The model and tool presented build on previous work on university operations and decision support systems…

The everyday operations of a school district depend on a network of people, including students, teachers, staff, and administrators. However, the ancillary services staff are really responsible for making the school day run smoothly. They are often the first employees that students see in the morning, either on the school bus or in the cafeteria,…

Preparing for every possible contingency seems daunting, but with teamwork and some help from the government, it's almost do-able. There is a great system out there that will help business professionals and educators develop a strong, effective emergency preparedness plan. If they haven't done a good job of implementing a solid emergency response…

Too many educators avoid using data when making decisions because they believe it is too time-consuming to do so. The authors present five steps that make it easier to use data in making school decisions. The first step is to review school improvement plan to identify the most salient issues a school wants to improve. The second step is to…

A rapidly changing global economy, shifting demographics, and concerns about our ability to maintain a competitive workforce have focused national attention on the educational systems of America's states, highlighting their critical role in ensuring a productive and creative future for our country. As a result, Americas colleges and universities…

This paper explores the fault-tree analysis approach to isolating failure modes within a system. Fault tree investigates potentially undesirable events and then looks for failures in sequence that would lead to their occurring. Relationships among these events are symbolized by AND or OR logic gates, AND used when single events must coexist to…

A systems approach to college administration and planning is probably the most valuable tool available for coping with the complex problems facing institutions of higher education today. A system is defined as a set of interrelated elements, units, or subsystems that work together toward a common goal. If a college functions as a system, the…

The Cincinnati Public Schools have been exploring new applications of computers in the areas of program planning, management, and evaluation. For the past 10 years, they have collected and computer-stored information on student, staff, administrative, and socioeconomic variables for each school. Data on a selected set of the variables best…

A survey of the use of eight decision-science techniques was conducted in a stratified random cample of school districts in the United States. The purpose of the study was to determine the relative use frequency of these techniques in 14 application areas and the potential uses of the techniques in the school districts. The amount of formal…

Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) is used in the U.S. Marine Corps task analysis program for occupational field studies. Scheduling sequential tasks, estimating time requirements, determining staffing needs, and locating checkpoints for control all can be accomplished using PERT. Examples of operational aspects of PERT, PERT…

A survey investigated the use of seven computerized decision-science techniques in public school systems. A stratified random sample of 128 12-grade school districts of varying sizes was drawn; a questionnaire was sent to the respective superintendents asking them to report the current and potential applications of the following techniques in…

The intent of this document is to describe approximately 30 management science and organizational behavioral techniques with practical applications in school business management. Each technique is described by the mechanics of using the technique, specific applications of the technique, and requirements and constraints in the use of the technique.…