Evaluates the literature on journal pricing that emphasizes three types of price discrimination practiced by publishers. Concludes that the monopoly power of commercial publishers and a third party payment system are the cause of increasing journal costs. Recommends incentives to journal users, adoption of equitable pricing systems, and employing…

Education Research Service 2002-2003 salary survey compares salaries of school business officials with those of other administrators and teachers. Salaries school business officials receive are influenced by three factors: Geographic region, enrollment size, and per-pupil spending. (Contains 11 tables.) (PKP)

Presents an expenditure structure organized into nine elements that help reveal the educational strategies behind a school's use of resources. Structure also includes a set of resource indicators. When school budget data and resource indicators are organized according to the expenditure structure, strategies such as class-size reduction and a…

Attempts to provide useful data concerning higher education costs by instruction level. Analyzes case study results to determine the ratios between unit costs of providing instruction at lower-division, upper-division, and graduate levels. Considerable care must be exercised in developing and using cost ratios in funding or allocation formulas.…

Nine articles cover topics related to library financial resources: (1) escalating serials prices; (2) library budgeting; (3) entrepreneurship; (4) cutback management; (5) academic library budgets; (6) assessment of library effectiveness; (7) public library fund-raising; (8) capital investment; and (9) unit cost analysis at the Virginia Polytechnic…

Faculty members have a legitimate interest in the amount of budgetary appropriations devoted to salaries and the rank of those appropriations among other institutional priorities. Faculty must protect academic affairs from peripheral activities and must examine the manner in which priorities are developed. (MLW)

Describes the statistical paradoxes that arise when unit costs, averages, rates, ratios, percentages, or proportions are compared. The discussion covers the possible misinterpretation of library statistics resulting from these paradoxes, using as an example the Association of Research Libraries statistics on average expenditure per added volume.…

The dollar amounts of grants made by 50 large foundations in 1992, and their assets for the same period, are listed. The organizations are ranked by grant totals. (MSE)

Briefly traces the history of video pricing, emphasizing the pricing disparity for home and public performance use of videos. Provides advice in dealing with vendors and in shopping for reasonably priced videos: when to wait for prices to lower on public performance video or to wait for home video versions. (JKP)

Analyzes U.S. educational spending levels and sources, providing aggregate data for 50 states. Discusses spending disparities across districts and schools, using Schools and Staffing Survey data and highlighting California and Florida's spending disparities. Discusses how schools use available resources, based on research findings in Florida,…

Outlines a budget-preparation process for developing self-sufficient food-service programs: (1) establish department financial objectives; (2) prepare site-based budgets; (3) develop budget assumptions; (4) establish performance incentives; (5) document a site-based implementation plan; (6) incorporate performance incentives; and (7) summarize…

Campus landscape assessment is recommended as an important step in examining the college campus's appearance to the public, reducing costs, and guiding campus development. Six elements are outlined: analysis and inventory, arboriculture and horticulture appraisal, circulation appraisal, assessing maintenance and management, development of…

A survey of 360 teachers showed that many teachers are voluntarily using their own money to support their classroom work. On average, the teachers surveyed spent $444 annually; teachers nationwide may be spending more than $1 billion annually. Respondents' comments ranged from outrage and frustration with lack of available funds to acceptance of…

Discussion of discriminatory pricing by journal publishers and its effects on libraries focuses on six prerequisites for successful discriminatory pricing that are based on marketing theory. Strategies to eliminate some of these prerequisites--and therefore eliminate discriminatory pricing--are suggested, including the need to change the attitudes…

Discussion of problems associated with using bond funding for library acquisitions focuses on experiences at Louisiana State University. Topics addressed include books as collateral; partial payment problems; collateral-based restrictions; taxes; invoicing; delayed payment; and recommendations for how to prepare for bond funding of library…