Institutions of higher education are facing a number of challenges as they compete in the new global economy. Many of these institutions face increasing internal and external challenges, all of which involve additional expenses at a time when resources are diminishing. With growing financial uncertainties caused by fluctuating financial markets…

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)

Colleges and universities have survived a decade of financial exigency because of the resilience they developed. The primary problem to be confronted in the 1980s is still inflation, not declining enrollment, but inflation in the next ten years will not be as bad as recently. References and other resources on response to financial exigency are…

Contending that the dominant issues confronting higher education are legal, economic, and technological, the author analyzes their specific forms of rationality and argues that although solutions will require better understanding of these forms, a broader perspective is needed that does not submerge the intellectual, cultural, and humanistic…

For private colleges, the greatest and most secure arena for revenue production is offered by a more aggressive admissions program. (Editor/IR)

A survey of 25 Quebec university department chairmen concerning the management of budgetary austerity found that administrative responses are generally perceived as reactionary and short-sighted, but long-term solutions proposed by chairmen are based on conflicting views of the overall role of the institution. (MSE)

The authors state that to ensure an organization's financial solvency, its administrators and faculty members must work cooperatively to solve problems and make decisions. They discuss perceptual blocks; building faculty participation; and producing income and reducing costs via personnel mix, student-faculty ratio, and raising tuition and fees or…

Responses of colleges and universities to declining revenues and enrollments were investigated, based on a 1983 survey of 334 four-year institutions. Scalogram analysis was employed to determine whether there was a hierarchy of institutional responses to enrollment/revenue decline and whether declining and nondeclining institutions can be…

This brief statement offers 10 questions for consideration by American Dental Association (ADA) officials and others concerned with the burdensome indebtedness graduates often incur for their dental education. Questions ask for assessments in such areas as school operating costs, tuition, school support, loan forgiveness, and how the ADA can help…

Problems concerning finance, faculty, and educational programs faced by George Peabody College for Teachers during 1937-1945 are examined, along with the solutions. Attention is directed to: circumstances surrounding problem identification, the background of each problem, who had responsibility for formulating each solution, other…

This first in a series of problem-solving exercises challenges readers to examine a small college faced with declining enrollment, decreasing financial support, and industrial pollution. Background information is provided and includes enrollment trends, finances, and characteristics of the administrators, faculty, students, and trustees.…

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)

This paper addresses the need of institutions located within Africa, particularly institutions of higher education, to fulfill the task of generating and applying knowledge relevant to solving the economic, food, and health problems that plague the continent. The paper examines the nature of African universities and the historical context in which…