President Obama is right to draw attention to the soaring cost of a college education in America. However, his proposed solution will not only fail to fix the problem but is also likely to compound it by blunting the competition that is needed to shake up the world of higher education. President Obama proposes to slow tuition growth by…

Maryland's state postsecondary education system is described, along with actions to address state needs, and institutional roles and missions. The types of institutions are distinguished and information is provided on enrollments for individual community colleges, state universities and colleges, and private institutions. Planning assumptions are…

Appropriate and inappropriate uses of the strategic planning concept are identified, and significant literature on the subject is reviewed that gives both conceptual and practical guidelines. Included is a series of very simple to more complex planning models that colleges and universities can adopt or modify, depending on their circumstances, to…

Seven papers from the 1988 CAUSE conference's Track I, Policy and Planning, are presented. They include: "Developing a Strategic Plan for Academic Computing" (Arthur S. Gloster II); "New Technologies Are Presenting a Crisis for Middle Management" (M. Lewis Temares and Ruben Lopez); "An Information Utility: The Light, Gas,…

Nine papers from the 1988 CAUSE conference's Track II, Managing Technologies Integration, are presented. They include: "Computing in the '90s--Will We Be Ready for the Applications Needed?" (Stephen Patrick); "Glasnost, The Era of 'Openness'" (Bernard W. Gleason); "Academic and Administrative Computing: Are They Really…

The choice of the Oregon Health Sciences University to change its status from public to private is discussed, focusing on the reasons for the change (decreased public funding, health care market competition, bureaucracy), the political process of building support for legislation, key features of restructuring, challenges faced, and lessons…

A reexamination of recommended reforms for public college and university governing boards, outlined in an Association of Governing Boards policy paper, suggests that borrowing approaches from private higher education will not necessarily solve the challenges facing private education. Issues discussed include the board's role and functions,…

Environmental scanning activities in higher education were described in forums at the 1986 annual meetings of the American Association for Higher Education (AAHE), the Association for Institutional Research (AIR), and the Society of College and University Planning (SCUP). The forums were held to determine the extent of environmental scanning…

This study examined institutional support for service-learning within the framework of service-learning as a part of the national agenda for higher education since the late 1980s. This investigation addressed three concerns: (1) how campus administrators support (or fail to support) service-learning on their campus; (2) how different groups (e.g.,…

Strategies for change in higher education are offered in an attempt to better cope with the changing environment facing higher education (i.e., diversity of students, declining enrollments, and retrenchment). Section I (Planned Change Theory and Research) examines strategies for change, the ivory tower image, and educational and organizational…

Seven papers from the 1988 CAUSE conference's Track III, Financial Impact and Considerations, are presented. They include: "Providing Applications Development Services in a Competitive Environment" (Donald E. Heller and Mary Ellen Bushnell); "The Cost of Not Staying Current" (Jack T. Tinsley and Betty R. Nyer); "Project…

Six papers from the 1988 CAUSE conference's Track VIII, Academic Computing Strategy, are presented. They include: "Achieving Institution-Wide Computer Fluency: A Five-Year Retrospective" (Paul J. Plourde); "A Methodology and a Policy for Building and Implementing a Strategic Computer Plan" (Frank B. Thomas); "Aligning…

Issues concerning the financing of higher education are considered with reference made to Maryland's status. It is suggested that money is a critical issue, that good management is needed to assure the best and wisest use of fiscal resources, and that the fiscal outlook for the future indicates that higher education planners must examine…

Seven papers from the 1988 CAUSE conference's Track V, Impact of Departmental Computing, are presented. They include: "An Approach to Departmental Computing Support" (Cedric S. Bennett); "DEANS--A Fully Integrated Academic Network System" (Eloy Areu, Albert Klavon, and Robert Munn); "Departmental Systems for Administrative…

Seven papers from the 1988 CAUSE conference's Track VI, Outstanding Applications, are presented. They include: "Designing DB2 Data Bases Using Entity-Relationship Modeling: A Case Study--The LSU System Worker's Compensation Project" (Cynthia M. Hadden and Sara G. Zimmerman); "Integrating Information Technology: Prerequisites for…