Institutional policies and policy systems are vital to the well-being of institutions of higher education. While many institutions dedicate time and resources to the development of key policies, the establishment of a well-designed and well-functioning policy system is often neglected. We refer to the discrepancy between the importance of…

Based on the findings of a two month visit to Argentina by a World Bank Mission in November/December of 1988, this report summarizes current economic, education, and social policies in Argentina. The four major areas targeted are the social sectors, education, health care, and housing. The analysis identifies critical problems in the organization…

Four major goals of Loyola University affect decisions concerning computing resources. These goals include: excellence in education and the growing role of computers; emphasis on research and attracting quality faculty, competition for students, and meeting administrative and health care needs. (MLW)

The offices of Information Resource Management and Institutional Research at Virginia Tech developed a set of guidelines for information management. This article describes the historical evolution, the forces that motivated the development of the guidelines, and the consensus-building activities that led to the acceptance of the guidelines.…

A persistent increase in student, faculty, and administrative demand for information technology has resulted in a sharp rise in the total cost of computing services to universities. In response, universities must develop long-term strategic planning processes and policies to establish priorities for information technology investments, determine…

A step-by-step approach is provided for developing an environmental scanning system for colleges and universities to assist them in planning for the future. The objectives of such a system are to detect social, scientific, economic, technical, and political interactions important to the organization; define potential threats and opportunities from…

Based on telephone interviews with 12 Association of Research Libraries (ARL) member libraries, this report presents the underlying reasons for the libraries' decisions relating to the design and implementation of automated library systems. The survey results are summarized, a list of respondents is provided, and profiles of present and planned…

Assessments should improve performance by providing usable feedback, and should not merely audit it. Problems with educational accountability policies stem from a flawed view of student assessment. Intellectual excellence cannot be obtained via one-time mandated tests composed of proxies for real challenges. Common standards should be developed…

The objectives of the Launching Conference of the South African Institute for Distance Education (SAIDE) are reviewed, and its recommendations are explored. The conference participants considered how theories, teaching, and administrative practices in distance education worldwide could be used to design a new distance education system for a…