Suggests that bankruptcy occurs when creditors withdraw their support from a firm's top management team. Five characteristics measuring the relative status of top teams tested on a sample of 57 large bankrupt firms and 57 matched firms revealed that membership in political elites and board connections were negatively associated with bankruptcy.…

With interest rates low and endowment returns high, many colleges and universities are borrowing more than ever. This increasing reliance on bond issues and deficit spending will work if the economy remains strong. Investors appear to be eager to invest in private institutions. Colleges with more aggressive boards are using debt to reposition…

Argues that the new information technologies are opening a doorway to a new form of institution for higher education. Describes the author's own activities in nonprint publishing (online and CD-ROM), which would arguably not have aided in achieving tenure. Argues that academic institutions have important choices to make toward technologically…

Catholic schools' improved fortunes stem mostly from socioeconomic changes beginning in the 1970s and their role in the national debate over educational quality. A study assessing the state of Catholic education shows that Catholic common schools are becoming a system of proprietary schools that educate growing numbers of non-Catholic children…

Compares a 1970s-era Canadian high school's failure to sustain its innovative character with challenges faced by a similar, recently founded high school. Both schools experienced problems with leadership succession, staff recruitment and retention, expanding enrollments, district and policy context, and community support. Recommendations are…

Provides a historical perspective of the admissions office leading to the present integrative system of enrollment management. The main issue for admissions offices remains that of balancing quantity and quality. Today they can integrate ideas of the past with technology of the present. This use of data will help design curriculums and support…

This study empirically estimates a multiproduct total cost function and output relationship for comprehensive U.S. universities. Statistical results for 184 Bible colleges suggest that there are both economies of scale and of scope in higher education. Additionally, product-specific economies of scope exist for all output levels and activities.…

Depicts the community college as a postmodern organization, suggesting alterations required for institutional survival. Discusses the need for a clear institutional mission to deal with the fragmentation and inconsistency of the postmodern condition. Contains 39 references. (YKH)

To survive the 21st century, schools must internalize new technologies and expand their capacity for using technology to improve teaching and learning. They must adopt certain corporate change principles: examine mental models, think of a different way to think, and continuously improve and refine technology's role. (MLH)

The Black College and University Act defined an historically black college and university (HBCU) as one that existed before 1964 with a historic and contemporary mission of educating blacks while being open to all. An HBCU must either have earned accreditation from a nationally recognized accrediting agency or association or be making reasonable…

Organisational ecology and world cultural perspectives are used to analyse the struggle of the former East German textbook publisher Volk und Wissen after reunification. We argue that the normative expectations of Western Germany with respect to instructional materials clearly emulate world cultural principles, and so Volk und Wissen's transition…

This paper examines the role of formal and informal sources of information in a higher education governing board's decision to close its doors, merge with another institution, or continue to struggle for independent survival. Answers to the deciding questions were found in the shared experiences of governing board members as they confronted…

This report attempted to measure the impact of 2 years of budget cuts on the University of California and the California State University systems. The research involved review of a variety of budget documents, analysis of planning done to cope with budget cuts, and interviews with local campus and systemwide officials and knowledgeable sources in…

Uses data on 682 day-care centers (DCCs) operating in metropolitan Toronto, 1971-89, to examine how DCCs alter their organizational niches, defined by productive capacities and targeted resources, in response to competition, and resulting influences on their survival. Finds that evolution of the DCC population was a joint function of adaptation…

Some advice is offered to trustees who find themselves in the position of having to close an institution in the face of seemingly conflicting legal standards. (Author/MLW)