The recommendations of a national committee on the organization, quality, and efficiency of Australian universities are reviewed. They cover accountability, flexibility, and efficiency of operation. Implications for the future of universities, especially small ones, are discussed. (MSE)

The use of strategic planning in Australian higher education institutions is compared with that in manufacturing corporations, including the similarities and differences in approaches taken. In the context of recent questioning of the use of strategic planning in industry, the validity of its use in higher education is also discussed. (Author/MSE)

University autonomy in Australia is examined: why institutional independence is important, how it has eroded since the late 1960s, factors leading to the erosion, and possible university responses. Concern is expressed about the universities' ability to withstand further government encroachment. (MSE)

Some of the errors in educational planning that arise from manpower forecasts are examined using the Australian doctors manpower plan, 1975-91 as an illustration. The large variation in results that can occur through the substitution of alternatively feasible coefficients is shown. (Editor/LBH)

The creation of three new institutions in Australia is examined for evidence supporting or refuting theories that new institutions tend to be dominated by academic or administrative interest groups. (MSE)

A study compared China with the United States, Canada, Australia, and Austria on two aspects of college planning: planning capability consisting of human factors (commitment, participation, coordination) and technology; and planning capacity consisting of system openness and options, decision making, planning authority, and other administrative…

The applicability of a general management development model to Australian higher education is examined in the contexts of a university, a multicampus college, and a large urban institute of technology. The model identifies a dynamic relationship between an institution's structural characteristics and its management needs. (MSE)

The University of Queensland's use of organizational theory to incorporate student evaluations of instruction into annual faculty evaluations and tenure and promotion decisions as a means of planned institutional change is discussed. (MSE)

Australian universities have entered a "steady-state" period in which enrollments and funding are being held with limits predetermined by government. The Tertiary Education Commission, as the federal system authority, sees a need for change in: nature of student population, funding, staffing, and procedures for coordination and…

Australia's Cooperative Research Centres Program, a system of 52 research and development (R&D) units, links researchers from public and private sectors, helping industry and scientific community coordinate research efforts. The program represents 6% of the national R&D effort and spans six major R&D and industry sectors. (MSE)