English language sociological research on higher education in Canada from 1970-1980 is reviewed. Functionalists have tended to concentrate upon the task of describing the perceived functions of the educational system in the society and have usually considered major educational change as occurring in response to the requirements of the polity and…

Administrative systems renewal is not something the faculty will ever get excited about, but the authors believe there is much that can be done to render the academic community more receptive and even supportive. In this article, the authors use the implementation of their student information system (SIS) at the University of Saskatchewan (and a…

In conjunction with a survey of trends in university management in Europe, a North American comparison was undertaken. The national context for higher education in North America and the structural elements characteristic of its colleges and universities are considered, with emphasis directed to the elements of institutional structure that provide…

Balancing the vocational and educational components in technical institutions today is difficult, requiring that faculty and administrators have vision, political realism, moral integrity, and energy. To understand better the rationale which underlies present forms of nonuniversity, postsecondary college education, a study was conducted at three…

Many full-time MBA programs limit their effectiveness by clinging to functionalism. At best, they have made incremental changes to meet the market demand for MBA graduates. These changes, in most cases, have failed to integrate the various functional facets of complex business challenges. For insights into how to do so, many business schools need…

Since 1997, the Canadian federal government has introduced a variety of new incentives to enhance significantly the funding of university research in this country. While these funding initiatives have been welcomed by Canadian universities, they are accompanied by a heightened emphasis on accountability which dictates new eligibility conditions…