The article reports on the findings of a comparative case study of six projects that operated in Israel between 1980 and 2000. The study findings identify characteristics of the programs, the host organizations, and the social and political environment, which differentiated programs that are sustained from those that are not. The findings reaffirm…

Provides models helpful to policymakers at state and institutional levels involved in academic program review and discontinuation, outlines levels of policy decisions for program discontinuation, and examines models that may be effective at each level. Concludes with program discontinuation-related recommendations. (Author/MSE)

Two decades following the publication of David G. Brown's "Criteria for Pruning Programs," (which recognized that traditional financial support to higher education was decreasing and proposed 10 guidelines for evaluating existing programs) a study was developed to determine what criteria are actually being used by comprehensive…

Program evaluation at Waukesha County Technical Institute consists of two phases: a review of student enrollment, job placement, and program costs, which occurs every two years; and a comprehensive review of program content, student job performance, and instructional effectiveness, which occurs every five years. A schedule for conducting program…

Program discontinuance at colleges and universities is often linked to issues of program demand and quality. However, neither low demand nor low quality is sufficient for program discontinuance without a judgment on the criterion of the centrality of the program to the institution's core mission. Colleges' retrenchment and survival mechanisms…

Academic program review is analyzed in regard to purposes, process, schedule and timing, criteria, and decisions. Attention is also briefly addressed to the organizational entities that oversee the process of state-level program review. The purposes of program review are linked to budgeting decisions, mission delineation, and potential program…

Criteria used by states for review and approval of academic programs were investigated in 1983 based on a survey of boards of education of states belonging to the State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO). The survey revealed an overall increase in state-level program review activity. While the general criteria for program review and…

Four key criteria used in academic program review (quality, centrality to institutional mission, competition, and demand) are defined and discussed. They are then applied to the process of strategic planning for an unspecified private university. Decision-making matrixes and their use are illustrated. (MSE)

Internal and external pressures that affect college program discontinuance schemes were investigated, based on minutes of the Kansas State Board of Regents and three other government-related groups/subgroups. During 1972-1986, a total of 206 programs were merged or discontinued. In 1972 a policy was enacted whereby masters programs that had…

The Massachusetts Workplace Education Initiative (MWEI) was begun in 1985 as an inter-agency effort to bring adult basic education and English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) instruction directly into workplaces throughout the state. The impetus for the program was a concern for large numbers of workers who did not have the skills necessary to compete…

The origin and extent of program reduction and discontinuance at colleges and universities, the elements of program review, and a framework for developing long-range organizational planning are considered. Program discontinuance refers to the merger of related programs, the elimination of certain degrees or programs within departments, and the…