The Management and Planning System (MAPS), designed to provide a computer-based information storage and retrieval system to aid school board decision makers, is described. (DB)

To enable decision makers to become more aware of the levels of confidence that can be placed in the results of particular computerized decision models, methods for establishing confidence levels are discussed. The U.S. General Accounting Office has developed criteria and review procedures for evaluating computerized policy analysis models.…

This report explores the use of policy analysis as a tool for setting computer use policy in a school district by discussing the steps in the policy formation and implementation processes and outlining how policy analysis methods can contribute to the creation of effective policy. Factors related to the adoption and implementation of innovations…

Proposes a computer-based simulation technique--system dynamics--for use in policy development and decision making by community college administrators. Utilizes the technique to create a model showing the responses of three student income groups to increases in tuition. (DD)

A system dynamics model for the pricing of tuition is presented, illustrating how such models enable decision-makers to anticipate cause-and-effect relationships and test alternative courses of action. (Author)

The development and use of financial planning models, with a focus on the Stanford University financial tradeoff (TRADES) methodology, are covered in conference papers, along with the application of the Stanford conceptual framework in five institutional settings. Additional papers consider an experimental modeling language that was developed to…

A decision support application based on the Markov analytic model is described, and its use in the formation of policy concerning reduction in force and work force distribution is illustrated through the comparative modeling of two personnel management policies. (MSE)

Ideas that have been developed in the decision support systems (DSS) literature that seem particularly relevant to institutional research, planning, and analysis (IRPA) are reviewed. In addition, a survey of practitioners in Canadian universities that provides new information on the rapidly changing current state of information technology,…

INFORMATION CONTROL SHOULD BE AN INDIVIDUALIZED POLICY WHICH IS DEVELOPED AND MAINTAINED FOR EACH INSTITUTION. THE NEED FOR INFORMATION CONTROL HAS ARISEN BECAUSE OF THE INCREASING NUMBER OF OFFICES AND BUREAUS OF INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH, THE USE OF COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY, THE INCREASING NUMBER OF STUDIES ON STUDENTS, BUDGET REQUESTS, AND AMOUNTS OF…

Seven potentially useful maxims from the field of human information processing are proposed that may help institutional researchers prepare and present information for higher education decision-makers. The maxims, which are based on research and theory about how people cognitively process information, are as follows: (1) more may not be better;…

The importance of myth and ritual in understanding the use of computer simulators in higher education is considered. Myths are commonly held beliefs that maintain social solidarity and reduce ambiguity; rituals serve a similar function, but they involve actions in addition to words. Examples of common myths and rituals are used to illustrate the…

This report presents results of a study of five state and local computer-based special education management information systems (MISs). Descriptions are provided of the five MISs used for reporting and decision-making in special education, the planning and implementation processes used by the states and districts, and the general benefits that…

Designed as an accompaniment to college level macroeconomic lectures (see SO 011 937), this package contains materials for three approaches to the macroeconomics course. The course covers topics of basic macroeconomic concepts, income and expenditure determination, aggregate demand, unemployment and inflation, policy making, investment and…

Decision makers have always relied on a mixture of qualitative and quantitative information. Recently, two technological tools--spreadsheets and the Internet--have dramatically altered how decision makers analyze quantitative information, thus necessitating curriculum changes in programs to prepare students to use these tools effectively. Harvard…