This article focuses on the role of think tanks in education governance in Portugal. We are interested in contributing to a literature that discusses the emergence of new intra-national spaces of policy, and examines how the actors operating in those spaces work and influence education policy. This article is based on an empirical study conducted…

In December 2014, the Coalition for the Future of Detroit Schoolchildren (CFDS) was formed to make sweeping educational reform recommendations regarding the provision and governance of public education in Detroit. Spearheaded by community organizations, labor unions, and business interests representing an array of stakeholders in the Detroit area,…

Committee N on Representation of Economic and Professional Interests and Committee T on College and University Government (both of the American Association of University Professors--AAUP) issued a statement on collective bargaining and the part it plays in shared governance in colleges and universities. (MLW)

This paper reports a series of events that occurred at Anderson College (South Carolina) as a result of conflict between a college academic policy which allowed students to withdraw from a course without penalty up until the 12th week of a 16 week semester, and a regulation of the state approval agency for veterans education which required that…

This paper examines three recent studies of patterns of public participation in educational decision-making conducted by Peshkin, Schaffarzick, and Zeigler, briefly analyzing each study in terms of three models of public policy formation: (1) the traditional democratic or formal bureaucratic model, (2) the technological or empirical bureaucratic…

The Waubonsee Community College Ad Hocracy model of governance incorporates the concept of a streamlined, flexible organizational structure which allows for voluntary participation in problem-solving and decision-making. Central to this model is the concept of open meetings which provide for the consideration of all views and the reaching of…

A successful college merger is often conditioned by geography, previous cooperation, complementary instructional programs, academic excellence, and common political interest. Suggestions when considering a merger are offered. A case study of a failed merger between Detroit Institute of Technology and Wayne State University is presented. (MLW)

Blue ribbon commissions in the United States from 1965-1983 are discussed with attention to what makes a commission effective, the history of blue ribbon commissions, features of a commission, whether these commissions are useful on campus, and criticisms of blue ribbon commissions. Factors that contribute to the effectiveness of a blue ribbon…

Blue ribbon commissions in the United States from 1965-1983 are reviewed, and two commissions are covered in-depth. Attention is directed to: nationally-oriented blue-ribbon commissions, state-level commissions, blue ribbon commissions on campus, and factors that make commissions effective. For purposes of the study, a blue ribbon commission was…

A General Policy Systems Theory is outlined and its application at a university in regard to governance in the face of retrenchment is described. The way that this model of nonrigorous but holistic research supports the Purpose, Target, Results (PTR) strategy and is in turn more useful than either operations research/management or science/systems…

Every month in every neighborhood in Chicago, residents, teachers, school principals, and police officers gather to deliberate about how to improve their schools and make their streets safer. Residents of poor neighborhoods participate as much or more as those from wealthy ones. All voices are heard. Since the meetings began more than a dozen…

Critical aspects of crisis management in U.S. higher education and the historical development of the education system over the last 100 years are reviewed. It is proposed that crisis strategies in higher education have largely revolved around the use of a stratification strategy and the establishment of ideological hegemony. Historical periods…

A longitudinal, comparative case study examines the impact of enrollment decline on and the response to it by 15 suburban school districts in 2 metropolitan areas. Data were collected during 1978-81 through interviews, observation of public meetings, documentary and statistical sources, and case histories developed for each district from 1964-81.…