University provision for academic development is well established in the USA, UK and many other countries. However, arrangements for its provision and staffing vary. In Australia, there has been a trend towards professional rather than academic staff appointments. Is this appropriate? In this paper, the domains of academic development work are…

The challenge of producing the systemic changes that are needed to boost educational attainment and economic competitiveness across the country falls heavily on entities that coordinate public postsecondary institutions. Coordination of postsecondary education, whether of a single system of institutions or across an entire state, requires…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate decision making in the Common Core State Standards Initiative as the change process moved from research, development and diffusion activities to adoption of the Common Core State Standards by the states. A decision-oriented evaluation model was used to describe the four stages of planning, structuring,…

The political processes involved in an academic program evaluation are discussed. The focus is on how evaluative information is politically linked to programmatic decisions within the context of various organizational and evaluative utilization models. To examine the explanatory power of the various theories and models, information from a program…

This paper discusses the incongruity among education's multiplicity of conflicting actors, theories, and values that affect curriculum decision-making. This discussion is divided into three major concerns: sociopolitical, professional, and student. Sociopolitical concerns include the impact of peace, war, human sexuality, environment, work and…

The beliefs that underpin traditional governance in higher education no longer fit the reality of higher education leadership. Higher education must abandon the quest for the perfect governance structure and attend to the nature of effective governance. Focusing on autonomy and control issues distracts from solving problems of access,…

Designed as a guide for policy formation, program development, and resource allocation, this report identifies and evaluates future trends and their implications for California's De Anza College (DAC). Section 1 contains introductory information on the purposes, processes, and components of institutional planning at DAC. Section 2 assesses the…

The Kellogg Foundation's Community Partnerships in Health Professions Education, a program designed to increase multidisciplinary, comprehensive, cost-effective primary care teams in communities, uses an organizational structure linking academic medical education with communities. The new structures have resulted in new curricula and other…

This report examines political conflict in decision making in three public schools, and describes how the Teacher Participation Project (TPP), which was implemented in two of the schools, sought to minimize such conflict by institutionalizing local governance structures for teachers. The report consists of two parts. Part I investigates various…

Within the context of the reauthorization of the Vocational Education Act of 1963, as amended, the predominant issues for vocational education in the eighties will be refined into policies. Central issues related to reauthorization and to the larger picture of the future of vocational education can be generally grouped into four broad categories:…

At Mills College (California), faculty, administrators, and trustees collaborated on development of a tuition freeze. The move was found to be not only effective in stabilizing student costs, but also in improving the institution's overall financial condition. The context of the decision, decision-making process, information dissemination methods,…

Higher education governance structures are ineffective and new structures of "prospective governance" are needed for future success. Trends affecting higher education include financial scarcity, lack of government funding juxtaposed with the growing public demand for better services, and the competitive pressures of commercialization and…