Organizational adaptation and types of adaptation needed in academe in the future are reviewed and major conceptual approaches to organizational adaptation are presented. The probable environment that institutions will face in the future that will require adaptation is discussed. (MLW)

This paper reviews and synthesizes the literature on institutional support for student assessment, offering an organizing framework for using this information to shape institutional policies, processes, and practices in ways that lead to both improved student performance and institutional functioning. The framework, first, involves the overall…

A framework and a derivative course of action to higher education institutions as they move through transition from an industrial to technological society are presented with reference to Alvin Toffler's "The Third Wave." The concept of equilibrium/disequilibrium is the theoretical basis of the framework. Three models demonstrate the…

Purpose: We present the concept of the Green House, articulated by William Thomas as a radically changed, "deinstitutionalized" nursing home well before its first implementation, and we describe and discuss implications from the first Green Houses in Tupelo, Mississippi. Design and Methods: Green Houses are small, self-contained houses…

A systems model, developed by David Easton, is used to provide some clarity to many of the issues involved with collective bargaining in American higher education. The model serves as an illustration for understanding how decisions are made, and as a conceptual frame of reference to analyze the political situation. The issues surrounding…

Drawing from a review of the literature and on-site observations, this paper sets forth a comprehensive framework for organizational renewal within the community college. Part 1 focuses on the adaptation of organizational life cycle theory to community colleges. Building upon a broadened definition of human development and the related hierarchy of…

After summarizing research into the sources and correlates of teacher stress, this article defines and proposes a model of work-related stress in school, incorporating current concepts and research findings. Strategies for coping with the buildup of environmental stressors are developed for application at various administrative levels within the…

The Rural Educational Environment (REE) is a complex mixture of demographic and economic forces that interact to impact the rural school corporation. The condition of REE financial and human capital indicates REE health and may influence student performance on standardized tests. This paper proposes an ecosystem model of the impact of financial,…

The authors outline how the University College (UC) model can serve as an effective vehicle for others.

The paper provides a framework for identifying trends in planning in Latin American universities for the last 20 years. Identification of the planning trends is based on two main dimensions: the purpose of the relationship between universities and the external environment (organization-centered versus society-centered), and the degree by which the…

This study examined the adaptation of institutions of higher education in the United States and Europe to changing socioeconomic factors and proposed a theory of adaptation in higher education which stresses the need for new forms of governance, management, and leadership structures. The study analyzed six university structures, each with a…

This report presents the results of a qualitative research study at three small independent colleges/universities on how literature-based strategic planning models compare with actual practices. Four critical aspects of strategic planning were identified: first, dealing with the future; second, understanding the organization's external…

The needs-press model, as operationalized by the Stern Activities Index (AI) and the Organizational Climate Index (OCI), was examined for its usefulness in evaluating and measuring organizational climate in a school setting. According to the model, needs represents personality and press represents the environment. This research was designed to…

Classroom interaction may be described in terms of communication events, i.e., sequences of teacher-pupil communicative behaviors separated from preceding and succeeding sequences of behaviors by natural boundaries. Communication events may be institutional (related to managing the classroom and meeting the expectations of the institution), task…

Tribal college-state university collaborations were examined through interviews with 36 faculty and administrators from 9 tribal colleges in North and South Dakota and 4 state universities involved in collaborative efforts. The collaborative process was influenced by contextual, individual, organizational, collaboration, and empowerment factors.…