Given the centrality of leadership for school success, leader morale and effectiveness in tough times can't be overemphasized. The authors' work examined how principals and superintendents deal with and are affected by a significant economic downturn. They surveyed 93 principals from one large upper-Midwest metropolitan area and 100…

Problems in the usefulness of current financial assessment methods are examined and specific suggestions are made for assessment methodology and validation procedures. Expert ratings, if improved, could be a meaningful validation criterion. Self-assessment, while useful for individual schools, is not as useful for multiple institutions as…

The University of Michigan developed a planning process that takes an aggressive, self-help approach to budgeting. It involves many groups and levels of decision-making in a sometimes painful process that results in increased institutional self-reliance. (MSE)

The California Department of Education recently sponsored two studies on the needs of chronically ill children and their families. The most serious problem these children faced was feeling different. Parents were also concerned by inadequate funding, services, staffing, and staff awareness. Educators should increase their sensitivity, change…

To examine Philadelphia's 1977 school budget crisis, a chronology of events--from receipt of the proposed budget to final court approval--is listed. Many parties were involved within the school district and in the community. Frequently, one or more parties blamed other parties for creating the problem. Directors of each of the five service…

At the American Association of School Administrators' 124th annual meeting in February 1992, participating superintendents pursued improving public schooling design to achieve the results that communities are increasingly demanding. After detailing obstacles to success, speakers laid out workable solutions involving total quality management,…

Meharry Medical College, a predominantly Black institution, is tackling financial and academic problems that have plagued it in recent years. Meharry has received city approval of a plan to share teaching facilities with Vanderbilt University at the city's publicly owned hospital. (MLW)

Pennsylvania State University's early response to declining resources and its current planning and budget process are described. Attention is also directed to the fiscal outcomes of the process over the past 5 years and several of the strategies devised to promote qualitative concerns and respond to variable growth-decline situations. From 1971 to…

The experiences of presidents of small colleges in their role as crisis manager are discussed. Attention is directed to: problems confronting the presidents of threatened colleges; presidential actions necessary for institutional renewal; the personal characteristics of the successful crisis manager/president; and how presidential behaviors…

Single- and double-loop organizational learning are discussed in the context of higher education retrenchment. A model of the research university illuminates impediments to internal resource reallocation, program elimination, and integrative leadership, and suggests the need for alternatives to usual efforts to increase efficiency while retaining…

The efforts of eight private four-year colleges to deal with revenue declines in the 1970s are described. The major social, political, and economic developments that contributed to the decline and recovery efforts are briefly reviewed. Attention is directed to strategic management responses to the financial stress. The colleges, whose identities…

Trends in U.S. higher education, including the expansion toward and then withdrawal from the goal of universal educational opportunity, are examined. Problems are being experienced with regard to colleges and the commitment to flexibility in higher education, along with alternative education systems that operated parallel and complementary to the…

This guidebook was developed to aid mothers who are attending school or training programs and also have preschool or school-age children at home, to find new approaches to their complicated life situations. Based on the experiences of 215 women in Allegheny County Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh), the booklet describes some of the problems they faced as…

The efforts to survive of Cazenovia College, a private, two-year, residential, woman's college in Cazenovia, New York, are described, based on interviews, observation, and analysis of written materials. The college announced its closing in 1974 and subsequently reopened successfully. The college was assessed in terms of its efficiency in internal…