Malcolm Baldrige Awards has established a framework of operations in order to encourage accountability, transparent decision making, and optimal use of available resources. In 2001, the University of Wisconsin at Stout was the first higher educational institute to receive this award. Their operation has been prioritized into the factors of:…

This year marks the fifth annual EDUCAUSE Current Issues Survey to identify what campus information technology leaders see as their most critical IT challenges. Thirty-five percent (571) of the 1,638 EDUCAUSE primary member representatives who were asked to participate responded to an e-mail invitation to complete the Web-based survey in December…

Even with all the external elements of school reform in place, educators can end up spinning their wheels. To make progress, schools must identify the nonnegotiable key elements of their reform plans and use the habits of highly effective schools to turn them into school practice. These habits are: (1) demonstrate high expectations and a vision…

As economic conditions worsen and enrollments surge, community colleges make two basic moves. They increase class size, add more sections, hire more part-time instructors, boost tuition, and create more parking spaces to accommodate more students. Then they slash spending by cutting things before people--travel, staff development funds, equipment…

The challenges of meeting the needs of diverse students have long been recognized in higher education. As many institutions wrestle with austere budgets, however, diversity programs are struggling to maintain their effectiveness amidst financial rescissions. This climate of austerity coincides with demographic predictions for an increasingly…

When budgets are tight, administrators have to find ways to provide and maintain facilities without draining their budgets. Fortunately, advancements in technology, new ideas in construction and design, and savvy management strategies are available that enable schools and universities to spend their money more wisely and efficiently. Here are 10…

As energy costs rise and resources dwindle, schools and universities can benefit greatly by taking an environmentally sensitive approach to construction, renovation and maintenance of facilities. Administrators free up needed budget resources by operating facilities more efficiently. Using sustainable-design strategies can set a good example for…

Implementing an incentives-based budget system at a large public research university significantly redirected internal funds while producing notable organizational and financial surprises. For example, units did not increase their "hoarding" of students, contrary to some expectations. The findings point to several issues for further…

This paper discusses the higher education sector's role in a knowledge-based economy though research training, that is, doctoral education. It also examines how a Faculty of Education supports its doctoral candidates in their endeavours to become "knowledge producers". Two themes are explored: one is Australia's limited investment in…

Using multiple births as an exogenous shift in family size, I investigate the impact of the number of children on child investment and child well-being. Using data from the 1980 US Census Five-Percent Public Use Micro Sample, 2SLS results demonstrate that parents facing a change in family size reallocate resources in a way consistent with Becker's…

Assessments are not ends in themselves as Suskie (2002) noted. Their purpose is to indicate how effectively educational programs are meeting their goals for student learning. This paper reviews assessment data from the North Carolina Vocational Competency Achievement Tracking System (VoCATS) for business and marketing education to examine student…

This article presents a report from the Education Trust stating the growing gap in school funding between wealthy and poor districts in most states. In the report, the Washington-based Education Trust blames cash-strapped states for the disparities, which average just more than $1,300 per student across the country. The Education Trust makes…

Flexibility is a lever for change that occupies an increasingly prominent place in federal strategies for educational improvement. Flexibility assumes that local actors are in the best position to identify the most serious problems facing schools and students and to determine how to solve them. Consequently, these actors should be given greater…

Clearly defining what rural means has tangible implications for public policies and practices in education, from establishing resource needs to achieving the goals of No Child Left Behind in rural areas. The word "rural" has many meanings. It has been defined in reference to population density, geographic features, and level of economic…

This report presents the findings of the Trial Audit Panel (TAP) after studying a range of documentation before and during the audit and discussing issues with a wide range of University of South Africa (Unisa) staff during their visit to the University in June 2007. The original intention was to produce two reports, one in the format and…