Vice chancellors of public universities in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region face a myriad of challenges that require research- and data-driven decision-making. This paper presents a decision-making model for college and university leadership - The Two-Way Practitioner-Researcher Loop. This scholarship of practice has the…

This study sought to understand and improve effectiveness in institutional research (IR) by interviewing, observing, and analyzing resumes of IR practitioners who have been identified by their colleagues as particularly effective in having an impact on decision-making, planning, and policy formation. Ten themes for effectiveness in IR were…

Several benefits resulting from the relaxation of the tenure-system-freeze policy are described. A modification of the system calls for administrators to allow a certain quota of appointments into the tenure system each year, rather than making all new appointments outside the tenure system. The AAUP tenure policy is considered in this regard.…

A study at San Diego State University (California) investigated the decision-making process in 388 cases of faculty reappointment, tenure, and promotion (RTP) over a period of five years. It examined the degree of support for RTP decisions at six different decision-making levels and in nine colleges, particularly when "no tenure/no…

A study examined whether a patterned sequence of institutional responses to fiscal stress existed by analyzing the magnitude, sequence, and substance of decisions made by a variety of institution types. The results and their implications for planning are discussed. (MSE)

The University of California at Berkeley must appoint 1,543 new faculty between 1987 and 2006. Potential shortage of faculty and scarce resources has led to policy analysis of the management of faculty positions. The institutional culture of decentralized decision making and significant faculty involvement has led to development of a new…

Intended as a guide for university administrators, this manual discusses programs to help faculty members in the recognition of inventions and to increase the flow of their disclosure. The benefits of patenting are outlined and it is suggested that these benefits provide justification for initiating a program to increase disclosures. Important…

A report examining the conditions facing Williams College in the 1980s is excerpted. The committee was to emphasize strategies to serve two major institutional goals: maintaining a large pool of well-qualified applicants, and maintaining a faculty that is talented, well compensated and professionally committed. (MLW)

Lessons and strategies for the institutional researcher dealing with faculty reduction are reviewed: developing a database; defining circumstances necessary for retrenchment; developing policies regarding participation and program discontinuance; examining alternatives; reviewing role and mission statements, legal standards and procedures;…

A study was conducted to provide information on which to base alternative plans for an interim tenure policy for the University of the District of Columbia for the academic year 1978-79. Data were collected on 661 full-time, permanent faculty employed by the university. The data included sex, age, faculty rank, highest degree completed, annual…

Drawing on an institutional study of university faculty, an expanded institutional perspective designed to support and improve faculty and organizational vitality is proposed. Differentiated proactive policies and practices are recommended for different faculty groups. (Author/MSE)

The public debate on the activities of college faculty is discussed, and a new, more policy-relevant approach to studying these activities is offered. The approach requires looking at faculty work activities as integrated and holistic, rather than fragmented, and describing faculty in a way that reflects the individualistic nature of faculty work.…

This study aims to develop a strategic plan for Joliet Junior College (JJC) (Illinois), in order to address the needs and expectations of the college constituency. JJC is a public two-year college located 30 miles southwest of Chicago. Approximately 11,500 credit students and 17,000 non-credit students attend one of JJC's three campuses. Although…

In an effort to integrate existing data into decision-making processes, the School of Education at the University of Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania) began development of a comprehensive set of databases to be used in planning and administration. University strategic planning had begun in 1975 and continued with new impetus and revisions in 1984 and…

It was the purpose of a practicum to develop a policy for distribution of salary increases in the industrial engineering technology department, using modern wage and salary administration techniques and the management expertise of the faculty. The dean of the Southern Technical Institute and the department head jointly identified seven criteria…