The systems view of quality postulates that product or service quality comes as the result of interactions between various components that comprise a production process. In view of this, most problems in the organization, like an institution of higher education, can be attributed to the system. To be effective, any quality improvement initiative…

Black Student Unions (BSUs) in higher education represent a valued resource as they often engage in activities to recruit and retain students from underrepresented communities. Student groups in higher education, however, are beset by a variety of institutional and contextual complexities and complications that can impede or derail their growth.…

When President George W. Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act into law in 2002, the U.S. national high school graduation rate was 72.6 percent. Today, the national high school graduation rate has reached an all-time high of 81 percent and the number of low-graduation-rate high schools has declined considerably. While this progress is notable,…

Through special funding by the Ministry of Education and Science in 2008, the Research Institute for Higher Education (RIHE) at Hiroshima University has been able to implement a new research project on the reform of higher education in the knowledge-based society of the 21st century. RIHE hosted the third International Workshop on the Higher…

A change in focus of much of the work of the Society for General Systems Research for greater impact, relevance, and productivity is suggested. Tentative unit concepts for 23 areas of study or disciplines are explored. A unit concept is defined as the central, pivotal concept around which virtually all other basic concepts in a field revolve. The…

The increasing magnitude of the enterprise of education, the rapid growth of knowledge, the changing educational administrative requirements and challenges, and the development of new educational programs to match the range of students' diverse interests and capacities--all these challenges call for rapid upgrading of the quality and technique of…

Applications of the systems approach in the form of systems technologies are seen as having a mixed record in the management of universities. Some of the major issues challenging the general systems approach are reviewed. An incentive systems model is presented. (Author/MLW)

Explored are some of the current problems in the functioning and planning of higher education institutions, particularly viewed through the experience of British institutions. A framework of institutional analysis, the open systems approach, is presented as an essential prerequisite to the understanding of the organization. From this framework is…

This paper explores the use of a series of heuristic models that identify the interrelated components of the broader educational process. This heuristic schema was designed so that educators can examine the purpose and limitations associated with models and subsequently enhance their ability to guide changes within their own institutional setting.…

A new debate strategy which may be used in judging academic debates is the application of policy systems analysis. In the policy systems analysis approach, the negative team must advocate a policy system just as the affirmative team does, providing a comparison for the debate judge. The major difference between systems analysis and traditional…

Systems analysis principles can be used to attain feedback'' from higher education institutions. (Author/PG)

Academic planning in higher education is strongly influenced by business management theories and practices. The author questions the usefulness of this approach because the nature of higher education differs from the nature of a profit-making business. However, rational planning to achieve efficiency is relevant if efficiency is not confined to…

Presents the need for a systems and process perspective of logistics, and develops a template for a logistics education course. The template addresses functional, process, and supply chain needs and was developed by a number of university partners with core skills in different traditional disciplines. (Contains 31 references.) (Author/WRM)

Describes a department-level budgeting system that uses computer assistance. (IRT)