The University of Minnesota's response to financial cutbacks due to unexpected reductions in state revenues is discussed. The public higher education system and each state agency submitted alternative retrenchment budgets. The University of Minnesota proposed three approaches for cuts at the 12 percent level: across-the-board reduction; closing…

The development of free tuition policy at the City University of New York is traced, focusing on four phases of the policy cycle: initiation, implementation, evaluation, and termination. This study was intended to add to general models of the policy termination process now in circulation. (MLW)

The themes of the 1982 annual conference of the American Association of University Professors are outlined. They include the importance of planning, selective versus across-the-board retrenchment strategies, definitions and problems of financial exigency, program reduction, and affirmative action claims. (MSE)

As colleges cut men's athletics to provide more opportunity for female athletes and comply with federal mandates, male athletes are feeling shock and frustration. Since 1982, over one-third of colleges sponsoring wrestling have dropped their programs and men's gymnastics teams have decreased by half. Still, one study indicates only 10% of…

Oregon State University and Southern Oregon State College have responded to state budget cuts with fundamental changes in academic programs and departments. Reductions are being made according to state guidelines for eliminating programs, rather than skimming broadly. Faculty are angered about personal and scholarly losses. (MSE)

Program discontinuance at colleges and universities is often linked to issues of program demand and quality. However, neither low demand nor low quality is sufficient for program discontinuance without a judgment on the criterion of the centrality of the program to the institution's core mission. Colleges' retrenchment and survival mechanisms…

A University of Maryland at College Park administrator offers his perspective on a recent retrenchment process that resulted in program closings. He describes the dialog between administration and faculty and credits the faculty with important support and participation in difficult decision making. (MSE)

It is argued that, when a university's resources are insufficient to undertake serious, responsible change in education, the institution should close its school of education and put its resources into high-quality programs elsewhere. Perpetuating low-quality education programs is seen as an insupportable alternative. (MSE)

The Program Status Research Study examined the status of local programs for students with high abilities and reasons given by key personnel for program status. A mail survey to 2,900 local personnel in 19 states (divided into four groups according to economic health and the existence or non-existence of a state mandate to provide services) yielded…

Rowan College of New Jersey has adopted an "enterprise model" for strategic planning that is seen as central to attaining the mission of the college during a time involving a substantial decline in state support. Rowan pursued a strategy termed "growth by substitution." This new process was cast in a more entrepreneurial mold…

Issues faced by institutions in many countries in a time of declining funding and increasing demands on higher education are discussed, including national and local academic planning approaches, institutional responsiveness to societal and industry demands, and problems inherent in program discontinuance. (Report of a May 1982 international OECD…

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 nationwide process in the Netherlands is discussed in which a number of specific disciplines were concentrated in one or a few Dutch universities. The decisive roll of political arguments and consequences for future government and academic planning are addressed. Both universities and government believed that ongoing retrenchment could no longer…

Planning issues for colleges seeking to maintain quality in institutional programs in the face of retrenchment are analyzed, based on a literature review. An extensive bibliography on the following topics is provided: quality (ratings, rankings, reform, institutional goals, and educational outcomes); retrenchment (enrollment decline, faculty,…

The processes used by the University of Washington to meet severe budget reductions mandated by the state are described. A planning philosophy of smaller size and higher quality was adopted, and program elimination occurred consensually, with faculty and student participation. (Author/MLW)