This statement responds to the need for all higher education leaders to consider the perspectives of external voices while resisting purely political or ideological agendas. Long-standing and recent external challenges to the traditions of citizen governing boards of colleges and universities make it necessary to distinguish between broad, often…

This booklet contains two statements from the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB). The "Statement on Institutional Governance" encourages all governing boards and chief executives to examine the clarity, coherence, and appropriateness of their institutions' governance structures, policies, and practices. It presents…

Perceptions of college institutional research directors concerning the quality of executive decision making at their institutions were studied. Perceptions were assessed using a theoretical model of Groupthink developed by Janis, who postulates that a high amount of environmental stress should lead to a greater degree of…

In light of the complexity of the administrative conditions in higher education institutions, academic planners must prepare for the 1980s by increasing their understanding of the institution as a political system and learning to plan under conditions of economic adversity and intense political action. (MSE)

The implications of applying state sunshine laws to state colleges and universities are examined. Considerations of political pressure, loss of privacy for individuals, difficulty in obtaining candid evaluations, and the threat of competition are cited. (MSE)

The pool of candidates for urban superintendencies is dwindling, and those who take the jobs are likely to serve for only 2 or 3 years. This book explores contemporary conditions surrounding the urban superintendency and looks at the lives of 17 superintendents who were in office in large cities at the start of 1993. All were members of the…

Upheaval in Australia's university system in recent years can be attributed in large part to two influences dating to 1987: accession of John Dawkins to the Ministry of Employment, Education, and Training and the advent of federal regulation of industrial relations in education, which has undermined the collegial decision-making tradition. (MSE)

The integration of issues management into the institutional strategic planning process at Pennsylvania State University is discussed. The significance of issues management as an organizational process is also considered. Stages of the issues management process are: (1) scanning the external environment to identify strategic issues; (2) analyzing…

Appropriate and inappropriate uses of the strategic planning concept are identified, and significant literature on the subject is reviewed that gives both conceptual and practical guidelines. Included is a series of very simple to more complex planning models that colleges and universities can adopt or modify, depending on their circumstances, to…

This study of incumbent British Columbia school board members prior to election analyzes relationships between individual members' feelings of political efficacy and trust and their decisions to seek or not seek reelection. The 60 subjects, from 24 districts, represented candidates (those members seeking reelection) and retirees (members not…

This study of the school board agenda-setting role among 30 Minnesota superintendents interprets their perceptions in relation to environmental contexts, group demands, issues control, and district enrollment size. A microperspective of David Easton's political systems model provided the guiding conceptual framework. Respondents were interviewed…