Choosing a consultant to help with a computer system will have more impact on an office than any other decision made during the year. The major advantage of hiring computer consultants is that they bring in-depth expertise to the organization. Some basic rules for choosing a computer consultant are provided. (MLW)

The author states that the educational community must provide programs that assure students they will be able to learn how to use and control computers. He discusses micro labs, prerequisites to computer literacy, curriculum development, teaching methods, simulation projects, a systems analysis project, new job titles, and primary basic skills…

A simple approach to cost-benefit analysis of industrial training is presented that uses easily obtainable data. Results regarding the social rate of return to company training suggest a shift of resources from individuals to companies. Comparisons between returns to company training and to institutional training are also presented. (MD)

The Murphy Elementary School District in Phoenix, Arizona has cut food service costs and improved community relations by cooking and baking from "scratch" and utilizing the staff's ethnic cooking skills. (MLF)

A project to improve Pan American's recruitment efforts in student markets already being served, rather than seeking new markets, is described. The project had two target groups: students accepted but not enrolled, and students who had left the university in good academic standing before graduating. Favorable results were achieved at low cost.…

Discusses costs related to providing computer assisted instruction (CAI), considering hardware, software, user training, maintenance, and installation. Provides an example of the total cost of CAI broken down into these categories, giving an adjusted yearly cost. Projects future trends and costs of CAI as well as cost savings possibilities. (JM)

The human resource accounting method serves to measure the value of human assets along with financial and physical assets. Several variations of this approach are discussed. (DF)

Profile of fee-based information services offered by the Information Exchange Center of Georgia Institute of Technology notes history and background, document delivery to commercial clients and on-campus faculty, online and manual literature searching, staff, cost analysis, fee schedule, operating methods, client relations, marketing, and current…

Describes in detail the system by which the American Institute of Physics produces primary journals, a database of secondary information, and secondary information products through multiple use of originally input material in order to realize savings. Uses for the data, work flow, and file structure and conversion are highlighted. (EJS)

Takes issue with the preceding article on the National Preventive Dentistry Demonstration Program. Argues that while the program's report has made a useful contribution to public health planning, its results are not valid as a reference for cost or effectiveness data for school-based dental health programs. (KH)

"Satelliting" or transporting food in bulk from one school kitchen or from a factory-like kitchen to smaller schools can help school districts reduce cost, improve efficiency, maintain quality, and standardize products. (MLF)

Contract food management can contain food costs and, with the contractor's team of food service professionals, provide creative programs that teach nutrition and add interest to school meals. (MLF)

Some of the most important facets of the business to be considered are compensation policies and procedures; benefits programs and insurance premiums; taxes; recruiting, training, and management development; affirmative action; and turnover and outplacement. (Author/IRT)

For over fifty years, speaker after speaker ? university presidents, business leaders, Presidents of the United States ? have praised our system of higher education as the finest in the world,but even as we bask in the afterglow of past achievements a starker reality is emerging on the horizon. For the first time in decades the United States no…

Today's publicly funded psychiatric inpatient institutions focus increasingly in stabilization and relapse prevention, readying patients for community reentry. An increasing emphasis on consumer satisfaction and professionals' accountability for efficient outcomes has coincided with growing cost-consciousness. Therapists must strive to tailor…