While concern for efficiency and productivity and the use of systems terminology are not new, the intensity with which the jargon is used is relatively new. Unfortunately, the technological terms have frequently become distorted and value-laden through attempts to apply them to compelling economic and political issues. As a result, administrative…

Based on personal experience of a non-university executive, suggestions are offered for management planning within the university. They include the premise that planning is essentially concerned with controlling and influencing the direction of change and that frustration often derives from difficulty in obtaining or influencing the direction of…

The methodology is reviewed and recommendations offered regarding alternative administrative structures. A more systematic study of the literature is advocated, along with the establishment of a reference group of administrators to act as advisors to the research team. The research must be focused on more than one department. The systems approach…

Initial objectives of this pilot study were to: define the effectiveness and structure of administration in institutions of higher education; explore and identify measures of administrative effectiveness and structure; test the practicability of such definitions and measures against on-going processes at Sussex University; direct, coordinate, and…

The paper describes the design of an Experience Based Career Education program (EBCE) in West Virginia, a program designed to provide high school juniors and seniors with systematic and coordinated experiential learning. The basic design strategy consists of a matrix that establishes workable relationships among elements of the system design,…

This module of a competency-based staff development training package is concerned with computer assisted reporting in a guidance, counseling, and placement program. The first goal of this module is to provide the participant with general knowledge of the process necessary to develop an effective computer information system. The second goal is to…

A synopsis of the 1973-74 annual report for the Del Mod System is presented. The activities described were conducted by the University of Delaware, Delaware State College, Delaware Technical and Community College, and the Department of Public Instruction. Activities of field agents, several local district projects, and individual teacher grants…

The document presents immediate and long range plans for the systematic injection of Symbolic Integrated Maintenance Systems (SIMS) and Fully Proceduralized Job Performance Aids (FPJPA) materials into the current technical order system and the inclusion of job-oriented training matched to FPJPA into the training system of the Air Force. The text…

A project to determine the level of development complexity necessary to produce cost-effective instruction is described. The project is designed to investigate alternative levels of instructional development complexity, how these different levels affect spending, varying degrees of student achievement associated with each level, and the time…

The problem of public school education in today's environment is presented, and a case is made for restructuring public school organizations and/or management processes along the pattern of an open systems approach. The closed system of operating allows externalities to impact on it, and there is a continuing emphasis on reacting. With the benefit…

This paper presents a nontraditional definition of competency and describes in detail a comprehensive model for the development of competency-based curricula based on that definition. The model was developed through the anasynthesis procedure and was validated through application in the development of competency-based curricula for three programs…

When programs or projects involve a complexity of personnel and activities, it often becomes an administrator's headache to keep the program on course. Some type of program operational guide (often referred to as work plans or management manuals) should be developed to assist program staff with management of the implementation process. An analysis…

This bibliography surveys the literature in the developing field of forecasting, which incorporates policy-formation, planning, decision-making, and the policy sciences in general. Entries are organized into five separate sections. The first section, Alternative Futures, surveys the general literature on the future, including many historical…

This technical manual is intended for the use of those familiar with data processing who wish to understand the internal operations of the PEAPOL system (Program Evaluation at the Performance Objective Level). This automated system is described, including ten specific computer program descriptions with flow charts. Designed to allow vocational…

When one engages in organizational diagnosis, it has been suggested that greater understanding of the organization can come through: (1) an identification of all the channels conveying material and information, and (2) a description of the means by which this communication influences the behavior of the organization. A networks/system approach is…