Describes the process of retrenchment at a medium-sized state university (pseudonyms used) for the purpose of analyzing the isomorphic pressures (mimetic, coercive, normative) surfacing during the process and the role played by rationalism in decision-making. Draws on the literature of organizational theory and change, and makes comparisons with…

Appropriate and inappropriate uses of the strategic planning concept are identified, and significant literature on the subject is reviewed that gives both conceptual and practical guidelines. Included is a series of very simple to more complex planning models that colleges and universities can adopt or modify, depending on their circumstances, to…

Methods that can be used by administrators to provide flexibility in dealing with the issue of high faculty-tenure ratios were investigated, based on a literature review and a telephone survey of 22 major public research universities. Analysis of methods cited in the literature and by surveyed administrators to enable flexibility in the…

Practitioner papers and research papers on higher education planning and budgeting are presented. "Before the Roof Caves In: A Predictive Model for Physical Plant Renewal" by Frederick M. Biedenweg and Robert E. Hutson outlines a systematic approach that was used at Stanford University to predict the associated costs of physical plant…