Purchasing in the Edmonton, Alberta, Public Schools focuses on delivering service that is driven by and sensitive to the customers. Purchasing Services respond to site-based decision making, and the Distribution Centre--a central stores operation--ensures the district the best value for dollars expended. (MLF)

The Italian education system was built on Napoleonic and Prussian models, with considerable power vested in the central government and many formal and legal controls. In 1994, after a 20-year failed experiment with governing school councils, the Minister of Education proposed reforms based on notions of autonomy. The current minister also favors…

Reviews changes introduced to Australian public education over the past decade, comparing them against the "free, compulsory, and secular" education acts implemented in every Australian colony during the late 19th century. The principles and social values underlying the establishment of public education have been significantly eroded.…

Examination of the government role in labor force development in Singapore, Taiwan, and South Korean identified strategies and structures enabling the "East Asian Miracle" of economic development, including strong states with high autonomy regarding capital and labor, super-ministries linking institutions, and strong central control of…

Examines interconnections between accountability, power, and control within the British education system, focusing on the 5-18 education. Although some of the structures and processes are very similar to those of the U.S. K-12 system, the British national system is highly centralized and highly market-driven, with a strong emphasis on parental…

Austin Community College (ACC) is undergoing reorganization in an attempt to create a "single college" organizational structure to replace its current "campus with five competing colleges" model. By doing so, ACC hopes to create an atmosphere in which short and long range planning efforts are aimed at the overall good of the…

Educational reforms implemented in Sri Lanka in the early 1980s are examined in this paper, which focuses on three broad areas: restructuring reforms; the principal's role; and school-community reform. The research project was carried out by Basic Research and Implementation in DevelopinG Education Systems (BRIDGES) of Harvard University…

In spring 1983, a study was conducted to compare the business and industry linkage structures of Pennsylvania's community colleges with the structures advocated by researchers and administrators in the literature. Surveys were sent to presidents and superintendents of all 30 Pennsylvania community colleges, requesting information on the types and…

In response to a May 1983 Association of Research Libraries (ARL) survey, 94 university library members (90% of this category of ARL membership) provided information and documents about current library branches, changes during the last 5 years, and current and planned automation activities. It was found that 63 respondents (68%) considered their…

The author analyzes the problems of state agency and institutional interaction in efforts for statewide coordination of colleges and universities. He discusses institutional autonomy, government involvement, accountability, and national pressures, concluding that some conflict can be constructive in producing a system of checks and blances. (JT)

Noting that institutional trustees have less authority as a result of the collectivistic trend, the author forcasts continued growth of statewide higher education agencies and discusses the problems of statewide coordination. He suggests ways in which local boards should cooperate with state agencies to bring about improvement in governance. (JT)

The college admissions process has grown increasingly burdensome, expensive, and morally corrosive and ill serves the college-bound student. The idiosyncratic college application form is a product of the isolated planning of the college admissions profession. Each student has to complete a different application form for each college to which he or…

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…

A key issue facing college and university executives is the best way to organize to provide information services to faculty, staff, and students. Three experienced university executives addressed this issue at the forum on information technology described in this document. They looked at the following topics: how their own institution chose to…

This paper introduces and explores new counterpressures in educational governance, the central theme of this symposium. Drawing on research in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, but giving particular attention to Australia, New Zealand, Britain, Canada, and the United States, this paper provides an…