Environmental scanning is used as a supplement to or systematic part of college and university planning, to direct movement toward major opportunities and away from important threats. Opportunities and threats can and should be monitored in areas such as annual giving programs, personal solicitations, direct-mail solicitation, phone-a-thons,…

One individual's experience as dean, provost, and president at different universities suggests that a dean's success depends on choosing appropriate key goals for the school, then persisting until they are accomplished. Other important elements include a regular, formal review process, explicit agreements about returning to full-time teaching,…

The plan of the University of North Carolina at Asheville, constantly evolving with conditions and campus aspirations, emphasizes the strategies of focused programing, campus site planning, adherence to guiding concepts, and cultivation of external support. (MLW)

Use of energy-conservation technology and utility rebates can yield millions of dollars in savings and significant environmental benefits. The University of Rochester (New York) will halve its energy use within five years. Its experiences with consumption management, supply management, and student involvement may be useful to other colleges.…

Case studies of 37 two- and four-year colleges and universities and their responses to financial stress, show that the most successful: recognized the need for more effective resource use, promoted long-range planning, identified priority programs and trimmed others, attracted capable managers, improved fund-raising, and required greater trustee,…

The environmental adjustments required to make campuses responsive to the needs of older persons are seen as tending to fall in the realm of environmental management. Security, orientation, sight, sound, ambient temperature, seating, time, transportation, lounges, and campus residence halls are some environmental needs which are discussed. (MLW)

This chapter provides an overview of the literature on organizational learning and the learning organization, sets out key concepts in each area, and reviews the way that organizational learning and the learning organization have been applied within higher education.

The evolution of the Mt. Hood Community College (Oregon) effort to analyze institutional policies affecting high-risk students is chronicled from the early 1980s to the present, from the initial findings of program ineffectiveness to program improvement. Chronicle includes successes and limitations of several early-change strategies, and factors…

The Commonwealth of Virginia overcame an environment of each institution for itself to craft an accountability process oriented around state needs.

Missouri's two-tiered higher education funding program addresses state-level accountability demands while rewarding campus-level improvements in teaching and learning. The context and evolution of the program are described, characteristics of the state-level and campus-level planning efforts are outlined, and issues in implementation and future…

An experiment of the Tennessee Higher Education Commission is outlined that allocated up to 5 percent of an institution's annual state funding for awarding on the basis of demonstrated accomplishment in five performance areas. A project funded by the Kellogg Foundation to increase the use of student outcome information in institutional planning is…

To develop a set of effective performance indicators, three campuses of Texas A&M University collaborated: a large research university, a historically black institution, and an urban campus undergoing major changes. Evolution of the project and the strategies used to develop core indicators while addressing the different institutional missions…