Defines (a) the role that a management information system (MIS) should play in directing processes of planned change and (b) the types of information which the MIS must gather through various feedback loops if systematic as opposed to crisis oriented change is to take place. (Author)

Improvement in education clearly depends on improved management practice, which, in turn, depends on more effective information systems. The kind of management information systems needed in education in the seventies is referred to in the literature as a "fourth generation" system, one that focuses on the decision process and is developed in terms…

When a rational decision process is desired, information specialists can contribute information and also contribute to the process in which that information is used, thereby promoting rational decision-making. The contribution of Stanford's information specialists to rational decision-making is described. (MLW)

Through a discussion of research on institutions using computer-based planning models, this question is addressed: How does the institutional decision maker make decisions using state-of-the-art computing tools without neglecting nonquantitative realities? (MSE)

This paper presents the overall conceptual framework in which information gathered and stored by computers can be transformed into a comprehensive planning system useful in administrative decisionmaking. Identified and discussed are information needs (enrollment, costs, resources, and measurements) and a sample system (STEP - System for Trenton's…

The objectives of the study presented in the dissertation were to identify present and anticipated information requirements of the various departments within the Oklahoma State Department of Vocational and Technical Education, to design a computerized information system model utilizing an integrated systems concept to meet information…

An institutional management systems development study examined the Management Information Systems (MIS) needs of 23 public institutions of higher education in Missouri. The result was a model framework for other institutions to develop MIS appropriate to their needs. One of five distinct structural development phases could be related to all…

This report describes a project designed to (1) develop models for use of vocational education data available from the Oregon Management Information System (MIS) to implement decision making at key points in program planning and curriculum development, and (2) design, develop, and test a system to improve the competencies of state and local…

A systematic approach to planning and presenting the data collection activities of a State Department of Education is described. The Information Communication System, a model communication system used by the state of New Jersey, conveys narrative and statistical information relating to a school district's students, teachers, finances, facilities…

A planning and evaluation model for management information systems (MIS) at the institutional or system level in higher education is presented. The procedure provides an analytical approach for assessing the effectiveness of an existing information system utilizing a variation of the Business Systems Planning methodology developed by the IBM…

These proceedings include 83 papers and 24 abstracts of papers contributed at the AIR's Annual Forum. Practitioners at two- and four-year colleges and universities, public and private (teachers, department chairmen, and administrators) as well as theoreticians are addressed. Papers fall into 13 categories: (1) presidential address and theme…