This survey of 331 institutions of higher education found that attributes of the postindustrial environment--scarcity of resources, competitiveness, and turbulence--are negatively associated with the effectiveness of four-year colleges and universities. Participative decision making, domain offense strategies, and political decision processes…

In order to study the effect of student ratings of teaching effectiveness upon personnel decisions, six promotions documents were created varying in research productivity, teaching excellence, and whether a report of student ratings was included. Research and teaching ability both affected the judgments; student ratings had relatively small…

Since computerized information systems have not been able to satisfy the growing need for management information by higher education administrators, an alternative approach is described. It places the needs of decision-makers before those of systems developers and outlines a process for the collection, evaluation, analysis, and interpretation of…

This study expands traditional college investment decision-making models to include measures of social and cultural capital as proxies for expectations, preferences, tastes, and uncertainty. The model is then used to compare four-year enrollment decisions among African Americans, Hispanics, and whites, using the National Educational Longitudinal…

A well-designed plan for the evaluation of teaching can serve purposes of both improving instruction and making administrative decisions about pay, rank, and tenure. Five approaches to the evaluation of teaching are presented, which are consistent with six principles derived from an analysis of current research and practice. (Author/MLW)

The environments that seem to have the most impact on higher education are identified: demographic, economic, political, organizational, social, and technological. Insights from studies of institutions that were not successful in coping are presented. The part strategic planning can play in enabling institutions to cope with pressures is…

A grounded theory that identifies the conditions that facilitate the effective implementation of federal mandates is presented. The theory was generated by utilizing the constant comparative method to examine institutional implementation of Title IX. The theory has major implications for individuals concerned with the effective implementation of…

A multiple case study design was used to gather search committee members' perceptions of the decision-making process characterizing three academic deanship searches in one university. Results suggest that searches have both structured and anarchic aspects and that neither the structured nor the anarchic decision making, by itself, contributes to…

Argues that an adaptive-generative development framework, based on constructivist learning principles and knowledge of organizational dynamics, can be helpful in managing the introduction of academic change in higher education institutions. A strength of the model is its capacity to help decision makers identify concerns and engage academics in…

Improving the quality of classroom, academic, and management decisions through more intelligent and systematic use of student data is addressed. Kinds of student-data users are classified, variables of student attitudes and behavior relevant to each user are identified, and relevant published instruments are listed. (Author/JMD)

An examination of the structure of academic governance at six unionized four-year institutions--two public universities, two state colleges, and two private liberal arts colleges--shows that faculty unionization is one contextual factor, of many such factors, that affects change in the formal and informal decision-making structure. (Author/JMD)

Over the past four decades higher education institutions have faced increasing complexity related to governance (Berdahl, 1991; Birnbaum, 1988; Kezar, 2000; Leslie & Fretwell, 1996). In particular, institutions now face even greater competing priorities and demands to engage the community, business, and industry; to solve social problems and…

It is believed that the courts have intruded on the prerogatives of academics to use peer evaluations in personnel decisions. An analysis of academic discrimination cases in the federal courts demonstrates that judicial review is deferential to peer judgments and appears to have little impact on colleges' faculty personnel policies. (Author/MLW)

Presidents and governing boards of institutions of higher education are shown to be leaders mainly in title and visibility. Internal limitations by technical staffs and the external power of accrediting agencies and state and federal governments are discussed. (Article originally published in 1972.) (AF)

A study to investigate the impact of financial aid on a student's decision to attend a public as opposed to a private institution of higher education is discussed. The findings indicate that financial aid is an effective mechanism for providing equality of educational choice. (Author/MLW)