The Massachusetts Workplace Education Initiative (MWEI) was begun in 1985 as an inter-agency effort to bring adult basic education and English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) instruction directly into workplaces throughout the state. The impetus for the program was a concern for large numbers of workers who did not have the skills necessary to compete…

Difficulties experienced by Wilkes College (Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania) as a result of declining enrollments and shifts in student majors, and the resolution of differences between the administration and the faculty, are described in an essay. Related revision of institutional mission and peer-evaluation procedures are also discussed in an article…

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…

Effective ways to handle program discontinuance were studied based on experiences at 10 campuses. Two variables that were considered to be institutional approaches to financial difficulties are the degree of financial difficulty and the degree of control exercised by the institutional leaders. The study sample was drawn primarily from large public…

Examines the various frames within which debates, discussions, and dialogs occurred at a major midwestern university, concerning the disbandment of one of its departments. Stresses the importance of building a unified vision in the context of the common good. Contains 34 references. (JDI)

Academic staffing practices used at four-year colleges and universities are identified, and recommendations are offered for achieving staffing flexibility in the face of conditions such as scarce resources. In addition to considering faculty flow models (e.g., Markov models and simulators) as a management/planning tool to evaluate personnel and…

Proceedings of the 1980 conference of the Southern Association for Institutional Research (SAIR) are presented. The conference focused on problems and perspectives for institutional research in the 1980s. Contents include: reports of preconference workshops and sessions, reports of conference sessions, abstracts of contributed papers, and…

Some of the responses of colleges and universities to declining enrollments and diminishing resources are reviewed. Institutions have tried to reduce the size of their operations, reallocate resources internally, and retrench a number of faculty and programs. Several approaches to reductions, reallocations, and retrenchments in specific cases,…

In 1983, the Texas Board of Regents charged Prairie View A and M to become nationally renowned. The lack of high caliber students because of confused messages about courses (university vs. vocational/technical school), sub-standard library, and neglected campus buildings is discussed, and the creation of an honors college within is described. (MLW)

Texas educational legislation for 1991 required the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) to review the operations of, and the continuing need for, each of the four main campuses and five extension centers of the Texas State Technical College System (TSTCS), and to make recommendations concerning the facilities' continuation and/or…

The collective bargaining agreement between the University of Connecticut Board of Trustees and the University of Connecticut Chapter of The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) covering the period July 1, 1986-June 30, 1989 is presented. Items covered in the agreement are: recognition, exclusions, academic freedom, governance,…

The collective bargaining agreement between the University of Connecticut Board of Trustees and the University of Connecticut Chapter (1,410 members) of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) covering the period July 1, 1984-June 30, 1986 is presented. Items covered in the agreement include: unit recognition, exclusions, academic…

The purpose of this paper is to discuss Florida teachers' recommendations for improving the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) and to compare their recommendations with those of Florida administrators. Although teachers' suggestions varied as to the types and extent of remedies needed to improve the FCAT, some common themes emerged. The…

In 1992, in response to legislative mandate, Prince George's Community College (PGCC) (Maryland) conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of the its financial plan. Specifically, the evaluation focused on cost containment measures used to maintain low tuition and moderate future increases in student charges; cost per student of each academic…

The involvement of state agencies in program discontinuance in higher education was studied, based on the responses of 46 agencies. It was found that 32 state agencies were actively involved in recommending, initiating, or enforcing actual discontinuances. The following eight categories of obstacles to program discontinuance were identified: legal…