The project life cycle, a well-established concept in project management literature and education, is used to highlight the dynamic requirements placed on a typical project manager. As a project moves through the selection, planning, execution, and termination phases, the project manager and team are faced with different, vying areas of…

This paper discusses results from an evaluation of the UK-based Communities that Care programme. This "risk and protective" programme was set up in 1997 by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation with a central aim of exploring if such an approach could be successful in the UK context. Communities that Care puts into operation the "risk…

This paper puts forth a data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach to estimating higher education institutions' per-student education costs (PSCs) in an effort to redress a number of methodological problems endemic to such estimations, particularly the allocation of shared expenditures between education and other institutional activities. An example…

Recent federal initiatives and efforts within education and psychology professional organizations have contributed to an increased focus on scientifically based practices in education. Although interventions are available to educators, there is a need to enhance systems capacity through identification, selection, and implementation of appropriate…

Soft constraints hypothesis (SCH) is a rational analysis approach that holds that the mixture of perceptual-motor and cognitive resources allocated for interactive behavior is adjusted based on temporal cost-benefit tradeoffs. Alternative approaches maintain that cognitive resources are in some sense protected or conserved in that greater amounts…

A model is presented in which the division of library resources among competing interests is based upon considerations of economic efficiency. It is argued that allocation decisions should depend upon the prospective usage rate of materials, explicit value judgments about how much such use contributes to the university's goals, and costs. (Author)

The development of theories to explain decision-making requires a model that identifies the factors relevant to decision-making. Seven sets of explanatory factors--called the "seven analytical A's"--should be analyzed. They include (1) axiological factors, or those related to values; (2) ten axiomatic factors comprising socioeconomic,…

Described is a planning process that integrates program, budget and facility concerns and requirements in a way that provides University of Utah administrators with alternatives that encourage them to initiate controlled change. Outlined are eight strategies and processes that deviate from the traditional total (institution-wide) comprehensive…

The increasing complexity of educational operations make analytical tools, such as computer simulation models, especially desirable for educational administrators. This MA thesis examined the feasibility of developing computer simulation models of economic systems in higher education to assist decision makers in allocating resources. The report…

Procedures permit grouping departments on variables that provide an equitable basis for departmental funding. The series of steps is outlined whereby the financial significance of various process and role variables can be determined. (Editor/LBH)

In the current competitive economy, with welfare reform underway and increasingly limited public resources, Colorado citizens deserve assurance that tax dollars are receiving a maximum return on investment for public expenditures for child care. This report examines the state of child care in Colorado. Part 1 presents information on 1998-1999…

Presents the "public choice" model of resource management in organizations in non-market settings. Suggests changes in the model to account for the characteristics of public school districts, especially the differences among districts in their degree of focus on organizational goals. (Author/RW)

The development of a specific interactive computer model at the University of Kansas and its potential to promote administrative involvement in sophisticated model development and design of management information systems are discussed. An interactive computer model that relates the variables surrounding decisions involving faculty, funding, and…

The study focuses on the behavior of local school districts in allocating their budgets among teachers, other professional educators, support personnel, and nonpersonnel inputs. The results indicate that districts' allocative behavior at the margin is quite different from their average allocative behavior. (Author/EC)

If faculty and other groups are to play a significant role in the budget process, the administration should format the budget to invite discussion. A properly prepared budget can serve as an excellent means of consensus building on campus. A new technique known as "framework" budgeting is described. (MLW)