The results of a study carried out to devise alternative systems of accountability for postsecondary education and its components, as well as to devise criteria and methods of evaluation to determine effectiveness and progress in meeting goals, are reported. The body of the report is a summary of subcommittee reports on the following:…

The analysis of costs of university activities from a functional or program point of view, rather than an organizational unit basis, is not only an imperative for the planning and management of universities, but also a logical method of examing the costs of university operations. A task force of the Committee of Finance Officers-Universities of…

Section 204 of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 directs the General Accounting Office (GAO) to make studies of the costs and benefits of existing programs. This document was developed to respond to this legislation through informational support to GAO and others interested in evaluating the effectiveness of Federal programs. It includes…

Computer-assisted instruction (CAI) has not been cost-effective, despite its instructional effectiveness. This financial failure can be attributed to many factors, including: oversell of CAI capabilities, poorly authored content, expensive and unreliable hardware, an educational bureaucracy resistant to innovation, and the decentralized nature of…

A study of the reserve materials collection at the Main Library from a usage and cost analysis perspective revealed that 93.7% of all items that circulated could have been circulated an equal number of times through the standard circulation procedure which allows material to be used for seven days. The remaining 6.3% of the material which…

This report reflects the status of conceptualization, progress, and partial implementation of a system of program planning and budgeting (PPB) at the University of Georgia (UGA). Emphasis is placed on detailed information flow necessary for implementation of a PPB system, how the data files existing at UGA will support further development and…

Two specific approaches of how to evaluate an information retrieval system are explored. The first is a mathematical model for use in studying how to minimize operating costs. The model provides a method for comparative evaluation between systems. The cost model divides the costs of a retrieval system into two components: system costs and user…

The problem of determining the quantity of classroom, laboratories and instructors to train sections of students attending numerous distinct courses in a school such as the Fleet Ballistic Missile School is considered. A procedure is developed for determining feasible schedules in order to graduate a fixed number of trainees over time while…

The Committee on Capital Financing of the Council of Ontario Universities set up the Task Force on Building Costs in June 1971 to analyze in detail comparative building cost data. The first phase of the study involved describing and comparing in detail the initial costs and design requirements of a group of university and non-university buildings.…

A defense-wide study in cooperation with GSA to: evaluate the availability and applicability of advanced microform and equipment to the Federal Catalog System (FCS) and Defense Integrated Data System (DIDS) publications requirements; recommend a type of microform and compatible reader for standardization throughout the DOD; and develop a…

Traditional approaches to the cost analysis of educational programs involve examining annual budgets. Such approaches do not properly consider the cost of either new capital expenditures or the current value of previously purchased items. This paper presents the methodology for a new approach to educational cost analysis that identifies the actual…

Examples of different ways to cut school construction costs without sacrificing either comfort or aesthetics. (Author/MLF)

The superior insulating characteristics of an exterior wall system has enabled a Massachusetts school district to realize a savings on electric heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning systems. (Author/MLF)

Methods for ranking journals to describe the cost effectiveness of journal acquisition are explored. (PF)

Depending on various factors prevailing in different countries, central transmission in collective consignments is not always the most economic method of dispatch of exchange materials, and particularly in the case of periodicals, not always satisfactory. (Author)