This book asks how modern universities are organized and managed, and questions whether 30 years of university reforms have resulted in stronger managerial structures and leadership control. It further asks whether current organisational and decision-making structures can be explained by public reform policies. The book offers a coherent,…

Charter school boards enter into a critical bargain: autonomy for accountability. Compared with their traditional district counterparts, they operate with relative freedom in curriculum, hiring, budgeting, and other operational decisions. In exchange, they are held accountable for student performance in ways that traditional district schools are…

In theory, the charter school concept is based on a trade-off or exchange: greater autonomy for increased accountability. Although charter schools have been operating for more than 10 years, little is known about charter school autonomy in practice. This mixed-methods study used survey and case study data to examine the degree of autonomy of…

The future of Greece's well-being will depend on improving educational performance to boost productivity and improve social outcomes. In the current economic context, with the need to get best value for spending, Greece must and can address inefficiencies in its education system. The challenges are significant. For example, Greece lags behind many…

Conditions and management procedures used in Dutch universities are discussed. Attention is directed to: (1) the structure of higher education in the Netherlands -- especially the University of Utrecht, its administrative procedures, and decision-making process; (2) the nature of the problems the university faced and the ineffective way in which…

This audit assesses implementation of the University Operating Flexibility Act by the State University of New York (SUNY). The legislation was designed to give SUNY more autonomy to make daily operating decisions, in order that SUNY could better compete with other major higher education institutions nationwide. The legislation empowered SUNY to…

Two case studies of states that illustrate innovations in higher education budgeting are presented, based on a project of the Education Commission of the States. The two states, Colorado and Minnesota, took different approaches. In Colorado, the impetus for change came from key legislative members interested in providing greater autonomy to the…

The 11 items in this annotated bibliography on school-based management provide information on the pros and cons of the decentralization of budgeting, the administrative role, site management, and decision-making. Also discussed are the autonomy of schools, principals as educators with managerial skills, and education vouchers. The publications…

Explores the impact of increasing outside controls on the decision-making process and the operating prerogatives of presidents and local boards in areas such as accounting requirements, increasing data requests, contractual controls, contract enrollment procedures, dependence on advice of legal counsel, performance audits, program controls, and…

New directions that state legislatures have taken in regard to accountability in higher education are reviewed, along with the way that the relationship between the legislature and higher education is changing as a result of new developments. In response to public criticism that the legislature is too responsive to pressure groups, does not do its…

The British tradition of institutional self-steering in higher education is considered along with possible applications to the West German higher education system. The objective is to identify an ideal self-steering system and an effective organizational decision-making structure for West Germany. Financial retrenchment in German higher education…

Ways that data can be misused in establishing accountability of public higher education are described along with approaches to help alleviate the potential adversary relationships between postsecondary leaders and state agency personnel. It is suggested that scholars fear a future in which educational decisions may be made according to numbers or…

School site budgeting may be said to exist when the school board and central office administration provide principals, in consultation with staff and sometimes community representatives, with an opportunity to prepare a budget for the allocation of resources at the school level. The objectives of school based budgeting include achieving more…

Trends in university management in Denmark, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom were studied as part of a larger study of European universities. The survey instrument collected information on basic facts on the institution, the organizational system, the decision-making system, the administrative structure, management techniques and…