This paper discusses gross economic and demographic trends in rural and urban America during the past 30 years, the kinds of competitive advantages enjoyed by urban and rural regions, and insights offered by the new regional economics concerning exploitation of those advantages. The importance of agriculture has declined in rural areas, while that…

This report presents an overall health summation of 21 programs offered at Honolulu Community College (Hawaii) during 2000-2001. The programs profiled are: (1) Auto Body Repair and Painting; (2) Aeronautics Maintenance Technology; (3) Administration of Justice; (4) Automotive Mechanics Technology; (5) Boat Maintenance Repair; (6) Carpentry; (7)…

The population of immigrants to the United States is both growing and changing, and entering an economy in transition. A recent study focused on their impact on access to higher education and on the institutions themselves, including efficiency of operation and campus diversity. Unresolved issues include need for English language skills, student…

The Public Health Service's Office of Research Integrity, charged with investigating allegations of research misconduct, is addressing charges of inefficiency by speeding up inquiries and reducing the backlog of cases. However, concern persists about the quality of investigations and the agency's power. Some feel the agency relies too heavily on…

Examines the implementation of an alternating day schedule in middle school. It is suggested that block scheduling provides an effective instructional alternative to the traditional six- or seven-period format, creating a relaxed atmosphere while decreasing stress and improving attitudes of both students and teachers. Blocks provide a gradual…

The University of South Carolina/Columbia responded to the concerns of a small group of students by establishing a permanent office of waste reduction and recycling. Students, faculty, and staff worked together to obtain a grant and matching funds to create a recycling system that reduces waste disposal costs substantially and uses existing campus…

Implementation of the University of Virginia Medical Center's computerized system for mandatory recordkeeping of physician orders is discussed, focusing on administrative issues: delays, costs, disruption of work routine and behavior, and the need to bring in a senior management team. Recommendations are made for institutions with similar…

Critics have condemned the state higher education coordinating board model as excessively bureaucratic, unresponsive to market demands, and indifferent to legitimate campus aspirations. Systems that prevail are those that collaborate in setting a statewide agenda; earn political support; present clear, meaningful missions; manage and resolve…

A study analyzed the institutional cost structures of Turkey's postsecondary vocational education system. Appropriate controls for institutional quality, discretionary allocation of staffing resources, degree of technical instruction in the curriculum, and regional variation are included. Average and marginal costs per institution are examined…

In recent years, state legislatures, state education departments, and advocacy groups in more than thirty states have sponsored education adequacy studies, which aim to determine objectively the amount of funding needed to provide all students with a meaningful opportunity for an adequate education. Based on a detailed analysis of judicial and…

This study examined the nature of teaching expertise at the postsecondary level. Using the prototype view of teaching expertise set forth by Sternberg and Horvath (1995), which focuses on domain knowledge, efficiency, and insight, the teaching portfolios of 16 award-winning teacher educators from one of the largest colleges of education in the…

This paper assesses the impact of business practices on higher education institutional research activities. Institutions who have been implementing total quality management practices are gradually adopting a new method, process redesign, which focuses more on how to achieve improvements using less costly research methods and procedures. This study…

This manual is designed to provide primary health care program managers with guidance on how to use cost analysis and cost-effectiveness analysis as tools to achieve better understanding and management of resource flows. Although it has been prepared primarily for program managers at national, regional, and district levels, other health…

This technical paper is one of three produced by a large-scale effort aimed at implementing a new approach to measuring productivity, and using that approach to assess the impact of feedback, goal setting, and incentives on productivity. The productivity measurement system was developed for five units in the maintenance and supply areas at an Air…

To draw comparisons for assessing transportation costs and developing recommendations for legislative action in New York, this study compares school transportation policies and practices that may be related to differences in transportation costs in eight states having the largest public school enrollments for 1980. Data were obtained from existing…