Five criteria for judging college or university performance indicators (PIs) used to guide strategic decision making are outlined. The criteria address: purpose; alignment of PIs throughout the organization or system; alignment of PIs across inputs, processes, and outcomes; capacity to accommodate a variety of evaluation methods; and utility in…

In response to the passage of the Goals 2000: Education America Act, states are actively working to bring their educational programs in line with the act's requirements. Steven A. Melnick describes initiatives under way in Pennsylvania at the local, regional, and state levels. Gary Farland takes a brief look at how Minnesota may draw on its…

Discusses developments in the three largest consumer online services, CompuServe, Prodigy, and America Online. Highlights include competition, strategic planning, service fees, access to information, graphics, price wars, content development, and interface improvement. (AEF)

Describes a developmental education program at an urban university that used a recursive, four-step model for strategic planning and assessment. Indicates the plan led to a more coherent institutional program mission, increased the effectiveness of the program's governance, and improved allocation procedures. (13 citations) (MAB)

Before implementing an instructional program in the Rowland (California) school district, planners must define success in terms of measurable student performance, calculates resources expended in relation to the expected benefits, and determine how long it will take the program to achieve the desired results. Baseline data are then compared to new…

Describes the implementation and development of a comprehensive Institutional Effectiveness process at El Paso Community College. Discusses both the four-step process (evaluation, planning, resource allocation, and implementation) as well as unit reviews, which analyze quality indicators. Contains two data tables and five figures. (JDI)

Experiences of a Michigan school district provide a case study for examining the political, economic, and community-relations issues embedded in a decision to privatize. Support can be achieved only if all parties feel they were given adequate attention during deliberations on the issue. (MLF)

Community colleges across the country are experimenting with strategies to raise faculty and staff awareness of the need for change and to engage them in the redesign process. This article describes the major forces driving the need for transformation, the organizational stress that sometimes results, and successful strategies for bridging the old…

Outlines the historical background of fundraising in community colleges, contrasting these efforts with those of four-year institutions, and discusses the matter of integrating resource development with institutional planning processes. Provides examples of successful community college development efforts, along with a discussion of several…

Vermont's Equal Education Opportunity Act of 1997 will radically increase the proportion of state money designated for public education and transform the entire state taxation system. Spurred by a court decision invalidating the state's school finance system, Act 60 establishes a statewide property tax for a general state support grant, includes…

Describes a project developed in Portugal to create a virtual enterprise that associates small, rural enterprises and allows the formulation of competitive strategies based on information technology. Highlights include entering a global market, use of the Internet, communication networks, motivations, and an implementation model for setting up an…

States that administrators must be innovative and responsive during the strategic-planning process, and draw upon a wide range of knowledge and expertise. Describes the Future Search conference, which brings together individuals from a variety of backgrounds to collect information and design a "road map" for the future, as a recommended…

Describes the role of the community college president as both a fund raiser and a development team leader. Argues that the development team (trustees, foundation board members, and resource development professionals) should work closely with the president to plan and implement strategies to secure external funds. (74 references.) (JDI)

Suggests that organizational effectiveness research has made considerable progress in empirically deriving a systematic framework of theoretical and practical utility in Australian higher education. Offers a taxonomy based on the competing values framework and discusses use of inter-organizational comparisons and profiles for diagnosis in…

Reports on current efforts in many states to develop new long-range plans for their higher education systems. Finds that at least two dozen states are using strategic or "master" plans in an effort to deal with rapid technological and economic change. Specific efforts in West Virginia, California, Virginia, Illinois, Pennsylvania, New York, and…