Findings of a conference that reviewed and evaluated design decisions concerning the Decision Support System (DSS) Demonstrator are summarized. The DSS Demonstrator was designed by the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems as an example of the way in which microcomputer technology can support and make more effective planning and…

Guidelines for colleges seeking to interface their diverse student and administrative databases are presented. The following key concepts are addressed that need to be understood before solving the problem of sharing and transmitting data between diverse databases: effective management of data from an institutional and a user point of view; the…

A brief case history describing a situation in which two administrative areas of a college joined to outline a program for the resolution of a budgetary control problem is presented. Adjunct instructional costs had been escalating but with the onset of city and state fiscal constraints it was essential that such costs be controlled. Part of the…

The revised organizational structure for computing at The Medical University of South Carolina, the planned computer and telecommunications architecture, and the current state of implementation of these projects are discussed. Recommendations concerning resource management, software, and hardware are presented. The college had several different…

The events associated with the demise of a software firm (AXXESS, Inc.), which supplied a software package to higher education institutions are reviewed. Attention is directed to what was learned that might be of assistance to other colleges using or considering third party software. Some of the topics include: particular crises, legal…

This discussion of the administrative uses of computers from the perspective of the school administrator is concerned with both the types and sources of information involved in school administration, and specific uses of this information. The paper focuses on those administrative tasks that can be effectively computerized in defining the role of…

One of six documents describing the Management Information System for Vocational Education (MISVE), this document is intended for MISVE managers and electronic data processing (EDP) operations staff who would be responsible for the implementation and maintenance of the MISVE on the computer. (MISVE was designed to provide users with an advanced…

An integrated data base system providing online services to purchasing and accounts payable, which was implemented at the University of Michigan, is described. The system was designed to use online IMS transactions for data entry and inquiry and IMS batch reporting programs. With the implementation of the system, departmental and vendor inquiries…

This paper examines the proposition that management information systems (MIS) for colleges and universities are not achieving their original objectives of supporting better management decisions by providing more and better information in a more timely manner. As a consequence, the MIS activity should be reduced in scope, and standardized to…

Technological innovation in the form of the introduction of a formal information system represents change to the people within the organization. This paper (presented to California Educational Administrators participating in the Executive Information Systems program of Operation PEP--Prepare Educational Planners) is directed to those managers who…

A series of observations is made regarding the potential impact of the Remotely Accessible Management System (RAMS) upon the administrative structure of the Pontiac, Michigan City School System. Nine major results of the district wide needs assessment are reported, and evidence is advanced to support the conclusion that modern educational…

The Montgomery County, Maryland Public Schools, working with Operations Research, Incorporated, developed a Pupil Master File (PLMF). PLMF is one of the several applications included within the Pupil Subsystem of the district's overall computerized School Information System. The PLMF is designed to provide: 1) a master file which enables users to…

This report describes a project designed to provide a cost effective centralized data collection, analysis, and retrieval system to handle all data on adult basic education (ABE) clients and staff personnel for all adult learning sites in Massachusetts for reporting, research, and evaluation purposes at local and State levels. This report is…

There are two basic approaches offered in current computerized transportation routing and scheduling programs: the mathematical programming approach and the intuitive optimization approach. Lists questions that an informed buyer should ask of the routing and scheduling company. (MLF)