The Memphis Restructuring Initiative (MRI) was an attempt at comprehensive school reform in Tennessee that ended with a whimper. Its downfall seems to involve some sort of "schismogenesis" or "inversion," in which many teachers violently reacted against being overworked and overwhelmed, culminating in the easy discarding of 8…

Statewide coordinating agencies are examined concerning their role in determining whether or not to establish new institutions, branch campuses, or professional schools, as well as in deciding which institutions to reallocate or eliminate and which research and public service activities to institute. The historical background and purpose of…

The contemporary context and some recent trends affecting college program reviews or evaluations, current options in purposes and practices, and impacts on programs and institutions are discussed. It is recommended that the process be viewed as a contribution to the general knowledge base for campus constituencies rather than as "right answers"…

Common causes of program failure are failure to meet expectations; presentation method; lack of interaction time; failure to adhere to schedule; lack of applicable information; poor service; lack of assistance in implementing new ideas; failure to account for cultural diversity; content already known; and failure to give presenters information…

Factors affecting program participants' failure to learn as expected include (1) carelessness in details; (2) confusion over program goals; (3) lack of commitment from management, participants, or trainers; (4) lack of clarity and courage; (5) lack of cultural sensitivity; and (6) disagreement between educators and learners about what is to be…

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…

Academic program review is analyzed in regard to purposes, process, schedule and timing, criteria, and decisions. Attention is also briefly addressed to the organizational entities that oversee the process of state-level program review. The purposes of program review are linked to budgeting decisions, mission delineation, and potential program…

Developed by the Academic Senate Educational Policies Committee, this document focuses on program discontinuance issues faced by local academic senates. Addressed foremost is the need to identify key factors for developing a fair, equitable, and faculty-driven program discontinuance process. Although college districts are required by current…

Proceedings of the 1980 conference of the Southern Association for Institutional Research (SAIR) are presented. The conference focused on problems and perspectives for institutional research in the 1980s. Contents include: reports of preconference workshops and sessions, reports of conference sessions, abstracts of contributed papers, and…

The retrenchment experiences of a variety of institutions--large and small, public and private--are described and evaluated using an extensive spectrum of case studies sponsored by the Southern Regional Education Board. Part One discusses challenges of retrenchment (James R. Mingle) and strategies for the 1980s (David W. Breneman). Part Two,…