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The West Virginia Board of Regents, age 20, statewide governing board for higher education, died June 30, 1989 as a result of legislative termination. Like so many of its progenitors, the Board, an abstraction without constituencies or political proponents, was quietly written out of the State Code. There were no eulogies. In a retrospective search for the cause of death, the enactment, implementation, and termination of the Board were analyzed. The dynamics of the political processes through which the structure of higher education governance was modified during its two decades were documented. The political legacy and challenging cultural bequests of the Board were profiled. A political epitaph for the Regents included the following inscriptions. The governance structure of higher education in the great state of West Virginia is what the governor, the legislature, the campus presidents, and their creation(s), the board(s), perceive it to be. In its finest hours, structuring can be a political coalition, a partnership, dedicated to the public interest, striving for quality, access and excellence. In its darkest days, Structure can become a political target, an object of control, a source of rivalry and competition. Restructuring is a ritual within a highly individualistic political culture which reveres higher education as an instrument of government. Restructuring is invoked when one or more of the partners is shunned or shunted and, as a result publicly reveals that structuring is a political process. Then, structure must be sacrificed to restore trust, to revive public confidence in those entrusted with governance. Restructuring produces a new governance structure and reestablishes a process of structuring. / Ed. D.

The nature of the relationship between state government and higher education is problematic for both policy makers and students of higher education governance. The purpose of this study was to provide a better understanding of the position of Secretary of Education, one facet of the multi-faceted relationship between state government and higher education in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The problem of this research effort, therefore, was to describe the historical context of the cabinet-level position and the authority and major areas of responsibility of the Secretary of Education in Virginia. The research methodology used to execute the study was that of an exploratory field study. The investigation was conducted in five phases, with the data collected by means of: (1) reviewing legal and historical documents, and (2) conducting focused interviews. Within the context of the historical development of the Virginia cabinet system, including the position of Secretary of Education, and the intention of the incumbent Governor to test the recommendations of the Hopkins Commission, it was not surprising that the area of budget emerged as the major responsibility of the Secretary of Education in the Dalton Administration. The assignment of budget targets was designated as the primary area of responsibility for the Secretary of Education in order to accomplish the intent of promoting effectiveness and efficiency in state government, including higher education, and controlling its growth. The creation and subsequent development of the position of Secretary of Education, with its attendant oversight and budgetary responsibilities in relation to higher education, modified the "self-denying ordinance" relationship between state government and higher education in Virginia. The cabinet-level education position will remain inthe higher education governance structure without significant alteration of its statutory authority, including budget authority which is formally less than that granted to other functional area Secretaries. The probable future role of the position of Secretary of Education will include developing and implementing policy, especially in the area of budget, and providing executive oversight of the total education function in the Commonwealth of Virginia. / Ed. D.

占盛丽. / 论文(哲学博士)--香港中文大学, 2004. / 参考文献 (p. 189-203). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest dissertations and theses, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / Abstracts also in English. / Zhan Shengli. / Lun wen (Zhe xue bo shi)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue, 2004. / Can kao wen xian (p. 189-203).

The purpose of this case study was to determine which, if any, alternative in delivering baccalaureate programs in the state of Florida was the most cost-effective one. This exploratory study focused on gaining an understanding of the cost effectiveness of two baccalaureate programs offered at a Florida community college to two like programs at a Florida university using qualitative and quantitative methodologies. The researcher interviewed five community college and three State Department of Education administrators during the Fall of 2007 and analyzed expenditure and effectiveness data from 2003-04 through 2006-07 to determine the cost effectiveness for the programs at each institution. The study revealed that the university and community college programs were equally effective as measured by student graduation and test scores. The community college baccalaureate programs were more cost effective, however, using a formula of per-student state funding combined with student cost. Th e lower per-student funding and student tuition charged resulted in the community college baccalaureate being a less expensive alternative of offering baccalaureate degrees to the state and the students. Using Henry Levin's ingredients model of measuring cost effectiveness, the quantitative analysis of the study revealed that that the university programs were more cost effective in the early years, but the differences diminished over time. Using Levin's model for comparison, the researcher concluded that increased growth in the enrollment of the programs combined with the implementation of effectiveness measures comparable to those of the university would render baccalaureate programs at the community colleges more cost effective. / Conclusions based on the formula of state and student cost were based on factual data, while conclusions based on Levin's ingredients model were based on assumptions and estimates using a weighting factor along with an indirect cost rate for Proxim University. The study identified factors other than the cost effectiveness that could make the community college baccalaureate a more attractive alternative and concluded with recommendations for practice, policy, and future research. Differences in state and local laws, or economic, geographical, and environmental differences combined with the nature of this exploratory case study limit the generalizability of the results of this study. / by Edwin P. Bemmel. / Vita. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2008. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, FL : 2008 Mode of access: World Wide Web.

The context of this study is the introduction of a new national quality assurance system for South African higher education by an agency of the Department of Education. The purpose of the study is to conduct a critical policy analysis of the Council of Higher Education’s Higher Education Quality Committee’s policy formulation process. In doing so, the study seeks to understand how the quality of teaching and learning practice might be enhanced through quality assurance. In order to answer this question the study examines the literature on quality assurance in higher education and proposes a simple conceptual framework for mapping different approaches to quality assurance. The framework is based on a normative judgment that communicative action is more likely to result in the improvement of teaching and learning practice than instrumental action. Approaches to policy analysis and evaluation research are explored and it is argued that policymaking is a complex multi-faceted process requiring a pluralist research design. This is attempted in the study where a range of research methods are employed from within a critical social science paradigm. The study analyses data gathered at each of the policy stages: setting the policy agenda, policy formulation, policy adoption and policy reformulation, but stops short of researching policy implementation in any depth. The study is therefore classified as a formative, clarificatory evaluation. It seeks to evaluate the conceptualization and design of instruments for quality assurance, stakeholder contribution to policy development and stakeholder response to policy proposals. In particular the study seeks to uncover the different values, discourses and ideologies that stakeholders subscribe to in the policymaking process. The findings of the study show that the HEQC did attempt to work communicatively and consultatively with the higher education community and that it was, in part, due to its consultative efforts, that the final policy instruments were greatly improved. But the study also shows that the consultative process was only partially successful, with serious differences still existing between the HEQC and some stakeholder groups. Different stakeholder approaches to quality assurance are traced to deeper historical, cultural and ideological differences. The study suggests that these factors are likely to hinder the smooth implementation of the HEQC’s policies. The findings of the study also suggest that the challenge of designing a model of quality assurance that caters adequately for both the improvement and accountability purposes of quality assurance was not entirely met in this policymaking process. Furthermore, the study suggests that because the HEQC’s policies were, from the outset, conceived of as a means of furthering the state’s transformation agenda, its idea of quality and its quality assurance procedures are beginning to work ideologically. This has the effect of politicizing the implementation process and undermining the HEQC’s efforts to improve the quality of teaching and learning practice in South African higher education.

The emergence of the global economy has forced the Australian government to revise economic strategies and to seek institutional changes. Higher education's new roles in research and human resource development, have been manifested in university commercialization activities. Mindful that Universities are prestige rather than profit maximizers, this study applies Schumpeter's (1942) theoretical model for the survival of a firm under financial stress. The model's responses, extended to education by Leslie and Miller (1973), include new products, new markets, restructuring, increased productivity and new supply factors. University entrepreneurial activities have monetary and non-monetary impacts. The non-monetary costs and benefits of Australian university enterprise were studied by Leslie (1992) and Leslie and Harrold (1993). In this study, academics at Curtin University of Technology (Perth, Western Australia) were selected as entrepreneurial or non-entrepreneurial subjects and surveyed on the non-monetary costs and benefits of entrepreneurial activities affecting Curtin's teaching, research and public service mission. This data were analyzed and subsequently compared with data obtained by Leslie (1992). Differences in academic perceptions were found among the Curtin respondents by gender, academic status, discipline area, entrepreneurship and non-entrepreneurship, and entrepreneurial revenue importance. Using the Leslie data inter-institutional differences were examined and an order of entrepreneurial institutional types proposed, with Curtin University described as a frontier entrepreneurial university. The taxonomy of costs and benefits developed by Leslie (1992) was revised with the addition of personal social costs, stress, networking and professional development. An estimate was made of the dollar value of non-monetary items; non-monetary benefits were three times the dollar value of monetary benefits; non-monetary costs were less than half the monetary cost levels. The ratio of non-monetary costs to benefits was 1:3.5. Academics in the disciplines of engineering and science had more favorable perceptions of entrepreneurial costs and benefits than respondents in business studies. Health science respondents were described as having pessimistic perceptions. Future research may look at the levels of commercial revenue and investigate the effects of the amount of financial success or failure on the entrepreneurial efforts of academics. In university enterprise successes seem to foster success and the favorable perceptions of academics.

The problem of this study was the status of higher education in Haiti. The purposes were to analyze the organization, administration, and contributions of higher education to national development from 1958 to 1988 and to provide background information from foreign literature which might assist in the improvement Haiti's system of higher education. In an effort to locate information necessary to achieve these purposes, a computer search was conducted. A survey of available literature in French, Creole, and English and personal and telephone interviews were also conducted. The results of this study reveal that, in the past three decades, higher education in Haiti has merely functioned as a symbol of social prestige. Haiti's system of higher education exhibits no apparent direction, purpose, of long-term goals. With more than 90 percent of its professors part-time and ill-prepared, its curriculum unrelated to the needs of Haitian society, and its student body in revolt for the past three years, higher education in Haiti is urgently in need of radical reform. Any contribution made to national development by the system of higher education is weak at best. The small but oppressive elite group that dominates the economic and political realms in Haiti has proved to be a stumbling block to educational reform. The prospect of the establishment of an adequate system of education depends heavily on the establishment of a democratic government. The State University, which is the prominent instrument for higher education, must be reorganized and strengthened so that it can meet the basic academic standards of a university. This reorganization must include the redesign of the curriculum and the retraining of current professors. It is urgent that the qualitative aspects of higher education be given attention. Higher education should also develop a working relationship with industry in order to prepare individuals who are qualified to fulfill the country's technical needs.

Public Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are facing many challenges including state funding, competition, and maintaining the best possible graduation rate. This study: (1) examined the strategic plans and strategic planning processes to explore how, and to what extent, these tool are being used to address these challenges; and (2) explored the extent to which continuous process improvement is included in strategic planning efforts. A qualitative research design employing a grounded theory approach was used in this study. The researcher reviewed the perceptions of the participants at each of four selected public institutions regarding strategic planning processes, including their beliefs with regard to process improvement as a component of the strategic planning process. Perceived facilitators and detractors of strategic planning and its implementation were also examined. Finally, the researcher sought to design an improved model for strategic planning in higher education that takes continuous process improvement into consideration as a basic component of the approach to planning. The dominant theme that emerged from the data analysis concerned state funding, as performance-based funding offers an opportunity to acquire additional funds. Graduation rate was identified as a core component of student success. Competition from emerging sectors was not a specific topic of discussion during the strategic planning processes. Forty-one percent of participants indicated that some form of process improvement structure exists at their institution, often related to accreditation reviews and was outside of the strategic planning process. 53% of the responses to the question, “What do you believe would be the impact of having process improvement as an integral component in the strategic planning process?” replied that it would be good or beneficial if it were carried out in a meaningful manner. Twenty-nine percent of the 53% stated that process improvement efforts are often performed for it’s own sake, and that including process improvement in the strategic planning process should be done in a manner that adds value to the strategic planning process and the institution. Through the analysis of the approaches to strategic planning examined in this study, the researcher offers a new strategic planning model for HEIs grounded in the findings. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2018. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

This dissertation studies legal and institutional policies that help to reduce the barriers to educational attainment and employment. The first chapter examines the effect of availability of juvenile record laws on education attainment and employment using state statue revisions after the passage of the federal Second Chance Act. The second chapter examines enrollment patterns of students who drop out from community colleges and identify four typologies of college dropouts and important factors that contribute to college success. The third chapter estimates the impact of federal Pell Grant eligibility on financial aid packages, labor supply while in schools, and academic outcomes for community college students. The three chapters together shed light on how federal, state, and institutional policies can help reduce the academic and employment barriers for the marginalized population in the United States.