As one of the technical reports resulting from a study of postsecondary alternatives in California, this report proposes that the state give serious consideration to the provision of a variety of noninstructional services to adults in the state, based only on people's interests and needs. These services include: diagnostic counseling; educational…

The 1976 High School Eligibility Study is the fourth in a continuing series of studies performed to provide data to the University of California and the California State University and Colleges so they can recalibrate their admission standards for first-time freshman students under the guidelines established under the Master Plan for Higher…

A taxonomy of all institutions of higher education was developed as a tool for analyzing the patterns of current revenues and expenditures. The goal was to examine institutional patterns simultaneously, examining them for the characteristics that have the greatest influence in distinguishing institutions from each other and then grouping…

Two kinds of efforts at instructional improvement in higher education, student evaluation of teachers and faculty development programs on campuses, fall short of reaching their theoretical goals. Student evaluations are neither reliable nor valid measures of a teacher's instructional effectiveness. Some of the items included in such questionnaires…

The roles of organizational slack, flexibility, and variety are considered with respect to the incidence of growth, stability, and decline in college and university enrollments and revenues from 1975 to 1979. Slack refers to the resources possessed by an organization beyond those needed for the most efficient possible level of operation.…

Statistical data on U.S. and Canadian college faculty contracts and bargaining agents are presented. Within each state, information is presented for selected colleges on: the bargaining agent, unit size, the year current agent was elected, year the initial contract was signed, 2-year or 4-year college status, number of campuses, contract…

Statistical data and a narrative description of enrollment in Arkansas colleges and universities for the 1979-1980 academic year and previous years are presented. Information is presented on course auditing, nonstandard instruction, and credit-awarding activities in the state and independent colleges and universities. The annual student semester…

The use of certain variables in predicting the probability of persistence to graduation for students majoring in business or nonbusiness was examined at Western State College of Colorado. The study sample consisted of 131 students from the 1977-78 graduating class, of whom 52 were nonbusiness majors and 79 were business majors. Predictions of…

Information is presented on a federally-funded project at Wayne State College, Nebraska, which was designed to examine general education and the extent to which the critical thinking skills of communicating, quantifying, analyzing, and synthesizing are being promoted. The project is described in relation to five stages, the specific chronology of…

Educational consumerism continues to be the major focus of litigation involving students. Disputes over admissions practices, grades, academic terminations, and financial aid comprised the largest proportion of cases reported this year. The section on academic affairs is the largest single section. As the job market gets tighter and the cost of…

The Community College of Vermont (CCV), which was established in 1970, is described. CCF is a community-based, competency-based college without a campus directed primarily to adults who previously have found access to postsecondary education to be difficult. Classes are offered in various types of locations in the community, and instructors are…

The functions and structure of postsecondary education at the state level, and goals and problems confronting statewide agencies are considered. Among the state-level functions are the following: short-range and long-range planning, establishing statewide management and information systems, review and approval of programs/centers of all state…

Freshmen enrollment for the fall of 1981 was projected, and the impact of student assistance cuts in the Pell Grant and Guaranteed Student Loan (GSL) programs was assessed. The National Institute of Independent Colleges and Universities (NIICU) surveyed college and university admissions officers on the number of paid deposits on June 15, 1980, and…

A study examines the enrollment trends of North Carolina's private colleges and universities in the period of fall 1974 to fall 1979, and compares these trends to those of the state's public and the nation's private institutions. The Carnegie Council classification of institutions is used for category comparisons. The following are the primary…

Key ingredients of long-range planning described in the literature during the last 10 years, the role of an office of institutional research, and a coordinated long-range planning process as it might occur in a public four-year college or university are described. A successful long-range planning process is characterized by centralized…