This guidance is for program and agency staff who have identified the need to develop a new data system or make major enhancements to an existing system. Key considerations are presented as questions to help guide staff through the initiation and planning process. The system initiation phase requires a broad team with the expertise and knowledge…

The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE), a unit within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), is responsible for advising the Assistant Secretary for Children and Families on increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of programs to improve the economic and social well-being of children and families. In collaboration…

Menu alternatives are substitute meals, whereas menu additions are dishes that complement the main meal. Both should be vegetarian dishes that are less expensive than the main offering and attractive to 20-40% of the camp population. By offering alternatives and additions, one can eliminate complaints, save money, and change eating patterns.…

Setting organizational or program objectives is seen as requiring three steps (brainstorming goals for the year, prioritizing them, and visualizing them as smaller, discrete tasks) and six principles (making goals group-specific, setting deadlines, being realistic and explicit, writing down goals, defining measurable steps, and creating…

Outlines four types of valuable information that camp directors can extract from their accident reports: the effectiveness of the camp's emergency action plans, links between minor accidents or near misses and major injuries, contributing factors leading up to an accident, and where the camp's safety record stands in relation to industry…

The Individualized Education Program (IEP) becomes a management tool when it is used to administer programs proactively. The IEP can have an impact upon program effectiveness and student competency development when a systematic process of assessment, goal setting, planning, and evaluation is followed. (SK)

Suggests techniques for planning and administering gifted programs, identifying gifted students, and gaining program acceptance. (JM)

Offers guidelines for risk management to campus entertainers and their representatives, including options for insurance coverage, types of insurance policies, and risk management for non-insurable factors associated with concerts and novelty events. (MSE)

This paper outlines purposes of program evaluation and provides practical information to help individuals from a wide spectrum of backgrounds use evaluation to move their program ahead in a purposeful manner. Wisely moving ahead requires an assessment of an organization's past and present as well as an examination of its assumptions about the…

A model for employability development is introduced to improve employability assessment and planning programs in rehabilitation and educational settings. The major components of an employability assessment and planning program are vocational choice, job acquisition, and job retention. The model offers strategies for empowering the consumer and…

A camp that is establishing a challenge course or climbing wall must ensure program safety. Discusses financial planning, selecting a contractor, adhering to standards for construction, inspections, staff training, screening of participants, and the administrative challenge of implementing and documenting proper actions. Sidebar discusses a study…

College public relations professionals offer advice to make the most of a small staff. Ideas include effective use of available technology, media services, and student intern and worker skills; use of external services; carefully planned dissemination of information; staff training in media relations; and setting priorities. (MSE)

People in an organization have explicit (codifiable) and tacit (noncodifiable) knowledge about customers, products, processes, programs, mistakes, and successes. The process of knowledge management within camp organizations includes creating and collecting internal and external information sources, knowledge exchange among staff, and supportive…

Campus activities planners are offered strategies to use to make the most of their time attending National Association for Campus Activities (NACA) conventions. Advice includes specific approaches for covering conference sessions and booths, gathering information, planning for campus performances, and having students learn from the convention…

This is a revised and updated version of an earlier published set of guidelines. As in the instance of the first edition, this volume contains contributions by some of the most capable consultants in the information processing field. Their comments are based on sound, proved judgment tested in day-to-day operations at installations throughout the…