This report, part of a project called "Redesigning Higher Education", argues that a set of fundamental changes underlies the growing number of critical difficulties faced by higher education in the United States. It finds the governance structures of American higher education inadequate to deal with a changing and increasingly cost-conscious…

Most public schools, out of financial necessity, have had to reduce costs while maintaining facilities and essential programs and remaining accountable for student outcomes. School downsizing can mean making painful decisions about program elimination and staff layoffs. This digest in Spanish offers suggestions for using downsizing to some…

Describes how budget cuts in many states are forcing public colleges to trim technology spending and require students to pay more for computer services. (EV)

The lessons from the corporate experience of the 1980s, carefully applied, can strengthen the university in support of its mission. Those experiences, sifted and shaped for higher education, can help with the difficult tasks of downsizing, rightsizing, restructuring, streamlining, and decentralizing that confront the university in the 1990s. (MSE)

Effective college planning in a period of reduced resources requires that a comprehensive long-range plan, based on consensus, be in place before budgeting begins, so essential resources will not be damaged. The starting point for planning is a well-stated conception of the institution and of its subsystems and their interactions. (MSE)

Recent growth in professional courses in continuing and community education in Britain is occurring at the same time as substantial reduction in funding and increased marginalization in local and federal government policy. (SK)

In the Netherlands, the exigency of financial restraint has prompted educational expenditure cuts. Concomitant to these has been a move toward decentralization, with self-regulation at the institutional level. This paper argues that the operation of market forces and the promotion of institutional autonomy requires financial independence.…

Managing communities in economic decline takes special management skills, including knowledge of the change process, conflict resolution, organizational decision-making and leadership styles, power-base utilization, and management theory. Planners should consider a multiyear time frame, clear mission, prioritized core services, reallocated…

Agricultural communication departments in all 50 land-grant universities responded to a survey indicating declines in funding, total staff positions, and tenure-track positions. They reported salary ranges for editors, writers, video producers, and graphic designers. Only 6% would strongly encourage their children to choose this field. (SK)

This report, one in a series about the priorities of the professoriate, presents a narrative summary of information received from 280 higher education institutions that responded to an American Association for Higher Education survey on tenure policies, practices, and trends. Provosts were asked to indicate whether their campuses had considered or…

This booklet for trustees of institutions of higher education offers guidelines for strategic financial decisions required in light of the financial challenges higher education faces in the 1990s and beyond. "Strategic response" is defined as a decision that requires changing a major policy, program, or practice and involves some risk. Five…

Drawing from journal, report, and monographic literature, this paper offers an analysis of community college funding in the 1990's. In the first section, various stories appearing in the "Chronicle of Higher Education" are highlighted, pointing to such financial problems as state deficits and shrinking educational budgets, no federal increases in…

This document presents the results of a forum on faculty evaluation that took place at the 1999 conference of the American Association of Community Colleges. Thirty-four persons participated in the dialogue, including 31 Deans, Vice-Presidents of Instruction or Students, and Presidents; and 3 faculty members. Participants were asked to respond to…

Describes the downsizing and restructuring occurring in many community colleges due to funding decreases and enrollment increases. Discusses the feasibility of keeping an open-door policy, and explores other options to downsizing. Lists steps to help colleges review their missions, arguing that they must move to find their market niches. (AJL)

Offers a practical framework for dealing with budget reductions in community colleges. Describes horizontal cuts, which occur across the institution and affect programs and services proportionally, and vertical cuts, which target programs or services to achieve deeper reductions. Describes planning and revenue enhancement possibilities. (12…