Examines the involvement of consultants from the nonprofit National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS) in the long-term planning of public college systems, including those of West Virginia, Louisiana, Nebraska, Texas, and Kentucky. Traces the development of NCHEMS from its establishment in 1969 as a federally supported…

Campus 2020: Thinking Ahead asked British Columbians to imagine the future of higher learning and to create a plan that will help us get there. This report is that plan. This report is the first comprehensive look at higher education in British Columbia in 45 years. It charts a course for the future that builds on the strengths of the past. While…

The proportion of active foreign language teachers working in cooperative or collaborative efforts is very small. Foreign languages have lagged behind other disciplines in this area. Consortia, or groups of postsecondary institutions agreeing to work together toward specific, long-range goals, date back to medieval times, but few have emerged over…

Issues in strategic planning for higher education are examined in the context of institutional climate, governance, management considerations, the collegial tradition, conflicting objectives, and the disciplines. It is proposed that management for change begins with the rebuilding of a sense of community in the institution that will foster…

This fourth annual publication looks at five trends that threaten Arizona's future: (1) a talent shakeup where well-educated young professional and highly skilled immigrants leave the states; (2) the Latino education dilemma, manifest by the fact that only half of Arizona Latinos obtain a high-school diploma; (3) a fuzzy economic identity…

Cross-impact analysis is a recent innovation in the field of futures research. Its main purpose is to allow planning groups to consider the mutual interactive effects of related forecasts, trends, or events in a systematic way so that planning can be more effective. (JN)

Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis is the first public institution to implement Responsibility Center Management (RCM), a comprehensive decentralized, incentive-base financial management system. RCM has strengthened academic planning, budget management, general accountability, and multiyear fiscal planning. Organizational…

A college governing board can become more directive without resorting to micromanagement. This requires a strategic plan providing focus and direction, a disciplined monitoring of the plan, a close working relationship between trustee committee chairs and administrative counterparts, and an atmosphere encouraging trustees to ask the right…

It is proposed that schools of social work typically respond reactively and defensively when workload demands increase relative to available resources. Strategic planning is offered as a tool for increasing faculty's and administrators' sense of vitality and empowerment. Conditions, tasks, outcomes, and pitfalls of successful strategic planning…

The links between research and development (R&D) and business planning were investigated through interviews with R&D and business executives in nine industrial corporations. Results show planning is generally program or project oriented, with little evidence strategic planning is the norm. Suggestions for improving R&D planning are…

Illustrates the uses of operations research (OR) in higher education administration by reviewing the higher education system's most significant operational problems: resource allocation, financial planning, budgeting, formation of student project groups, scheduling and classroom allocation, student registration, tuition and fee structure…

A framework for strategic planning within academic departments is outlined. Elements include analyzing the strategic situation of all constituencies (department, institution, competitors, students, student employers), development of mission statement and departmental objectives, development of strategic market-target and curriculum options,…

Presents the results of a 1991 survey of 118 community college presidents, which elicited details about how their colleges were organized five years prior to and in 1991, as well as their preferred organization structures for the future. Reports variations in structure by three college size categories (enrollment levels) and indicates significant…

Financial planning is the key to providing a high-quality instructional plan. A 5-year financial plan is typically updated by looking at district financial history, future instructional plans, staffing requirements, and revenue projections. Planning assumptions must be clearly understood by the financial team and the community. (MLH)

Purpose: Retirees in traditional pension plans must generally choose between single life annuities, which provide regular payments until death, and joint and survivor annuities, which pay less each month but continue to make payments to the spouse after the death of the retired worker. This article examines the payout decision and measures the…