Describes an Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research initiative to enhance the review process for its training awards using a new tool based on the ProGrid decision-assist software. Implementation resulted in several modifications to the review process in the areas of definition, rationality, fairness, timeliness, and responsiveness; the…

Outlines research showing different ways that information is used in the decision-making process at high levels in organizations. Patterns of executive information use are described, including conceptual, instrumental, tactical, symbolic, and political use; and implications for the design of information systems that support decision making are…

Discusses why Indiana University finds using separate maintenance management, geographic information, and computer-assisted design and facilities management systems is more practical than integrating all three into one package. The central features of the system are discussed. (GR)

A microcomputer-based system to analyze both historical funding and current resource allocation patterns helped to prepare for an anticipated budget crisis at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The system also included a module which permitted decision makers to test resource allocation alternatives. (Author/MLW)

Pepperdine University's decision support system provides: (1) user access to data through terminals; (2) the availability of retrieval modules and languages that allow the managers to structure ad hoc reports; (3) access to models through a national network; and (4) training, encouragement and consultation through coordinators. (Author/MLW)

An interview with John F. Rockart focuses on the use of information technology in executive decision support systems, how such systems differ from conventional management information systems, and their application on college campuses. (MSE)

This whitepaper outlines the development and use of the Zing team learning system (TLS) and suggests this tool represents a new breed of collaborative tool for the development of useable knowledge arising from group learning and problem solving. A key feature of this tool is that it scaffolds the learner's use of the thinking and decision making…

For educators to be successful in teaching students to step up and become tomorrow's innovators, they must become innovators themselves. Enter school leadership. This article provides 10 practical steps any superintendent, principal, or other administrator can take to help make that happen: (1) Go on record; (2) Model innovation; (3) Pollinate;…

Decision Support Systems (DSS) are automated information systems designed to aid administrative decision making. A literature review on the design, implementation, and evaluation of DSS, suggests that evaluators act as liasons between designers and managers, identify and collect data for DSS, and evaluate DSS. (Author/EGS)

College and university information is poorly developed for the purpose of making strategic choices and management guidance. A strategic triangle, with critical success factors at each vertex, can help model appropriate information. (Author/MLW)

The University of Southern California has implemented a decentralized management philosophy. Implementation of this approach to management is facilitated by making accurate management information available to decision-makers in their offices in real time. (MLW)

The key to the success of decision support systems will be the way that institutional researchers integrate the variety of specific and personal systems into a viable and coordinated institutionwide system. (Author/MLW)

The evolution of decision support systems (DSS) has enabled computer and information technology to assist the management process of decision making. Decision support systems are designed to look forward in time, to forecast outcomes of uncertain events. A 70-item bibliography is included. (MLW)

The administrative user services instituted at Loyola University of Chicago, which provides administrators with immediate access to computing at low cost, is described. After preliminary training and file initialization, users are responsible for their own data processing. (Author/MLW)

Discusses the need for management information and decision support systems in libraries, and identifies inertia and confusion as the main contributors to the lack of successful implementations. An attempt to initiate a decision support system at the University of Nebraska at Omaha is described, and both problems encountered and benefits gained are…