The investigator made a study of the history, philosophy, method, and operation of centralized purchasing as it now exists for the state-supported institutions in the State of Texas and other selected states (New Hampshire, Montana, Michigan, Nebraska, and Minnesota).

The purpose of this study was to determine if a gap analysis model (SERVQUAL) of service quality measurement could be appropriately applied to higher education. The researcher asked doctoral students from six doctoral-granting, state-supported universities in Tennessee to complete a service quality survey, comparing their experiences with their expectations, thereby giving a measure of gaps in educational service quality at their institution. The research design included five research questions, with five null hypotheses testing the relationship between students' expectations and experiences, between overall satisfaction and service gaps, and between overall satisfaction and certain demographic variables (age, gender, ethnicity, type of degree, and class load). Analysis of the data revealed gaps between students' expectations and their actual experiences with services delivered at their university. A comparison of mean expectation scores to mean experience scores revealed a statistically significant difference between the two scores for 25 of the 26 items on the scale. Expectation scores exceeded experience scores for all items. The researcher found a statistically significant relationship between only one demographic variable (age) and overall satisfaction scores. The researcher also found a statistically significant relationship between the gap scores for scale dimensions and some demographic variables. However, because of the strength of the relationship between the demographic variables and either gap scores or overall satisfaction, the researcher concluded that none of the demographic variables were of practical value in predicting gap scores or overall satisfaction. In addition, a statistically significant relationship was found between overall satisfaction and the composite gap score for the scale. This indicated that gap scores, as produced by this scale, can be a valid measurement of the overall satisfaction of doctoral students with the delivery of services by their university. Because the gap scores were inversely related to the overall satisfaction of doctoral students, this would seem to indicate that university programs designed to reduce the size of expectation/experience gaps, thereby improve service quality, would also enhance the overall satisfaction of doctoral students.

The purpose of this study was to determine: * the nature of a state governed, state supported and private school, and those involved in the financial events in the three types of schools; and * the financial management task of a state governed, supported and private school. In the literature study the nature of state governed, state state supported and private schools was discussed from a financial management perspective. Attention was paid to organisations involved in the financial management of the different types of schools. In the literature the financial management task of state governed, state supported and private schools was also examined, with special reference to: - the principles of education management regarding finances; - the budget of education management regarding finances; - financial record-keeping, reporting and analysis; and - financial resources. An empirical investigation was undertaken by means of a structured mail questionnaire to determine the state of the financial management task in the three types of schools. The most important findings originating from the literature study and empirical investigation, was the fact that state supported and private schools are managed strictly according to scientific management principles, which is to a lesser degree the case with state governed schools. In spite of the fact that principals of state governed schools gave a positive indication of sound financial practices in their schools, there are aspects like parent involvement, that need to be addressed when compared to state supported and private schools. At many state governed schools there is no parent involvement, making the existence of parent management committees impossible. This is in contrast to a large degree of parent involvement in school activities• at state supported and private schools. Although state supported schools include Model C-type of schools as well as farm schools, there is an important difference between these two types of schools, which is evident in the empirical investigation. In conclusion, recommendations for further research were made. / Skripsie (MEd (Onderwysbestuur))--PU vir CHO, 1996

The purpose of this study was to determine the use of the computer in higher education at state-supported senior colleges and universities in the United States. The following findings and conclusions are based on the information gained from the study. 1. The average number of years computers have been used by institutions of higher education is ten. The length of time increases with both the level of offering and the enrollment of the institution. 2. A greater emphasis is placed on administrative use of the computer than on other uses. 3. A majority of the institutions have one centralized computer center that provides services to all users. Also, the majority of the individual computer users are provided the services without explicit charges or are only charged for a part of the services. 4. Policies pertaining to the use of the computer are most frequently formulated by the director of the computer center and a computer usage committee. 5. The amount of money spent for each of the different categories for expenditures (administrative, academic, and research) increases with the level of offering of the institutions. 6. Sixty-eight per cent of the institutions now offer an academic program in computer science and offer bachelor's, master's, and doctor's degrees. Six per cent of the total students in the responding institutions are enrolled in computer science courses. 7. Although use for research was the first use of the computer in higher education, that use is now the least frequent. 8. The computer hardware systems used by institutions of higher education vary both in size and in manufacturer. There are more IBM computers being used than any other make. 9. There is no standardization of computer languages; the ten most frequently used ones are FORTRAN, COBOL, ASSEMBLER, BASIC, RPG, P L/1 , ALGOL, SNOBOL, GPSS, and APL.

This study of African-American seniors at East Tennessee State University, Middle Tennessee State University, and the University of Tennessee at Knoxville was conducted to solicit student responses about the perceptions of their schools, university services, and experiences at those institutions. The study employed quantitative data and descriptive analysis was performed. Data collected in this study described the demographic characteristics of the students and their perceptions, attitudes, experiences and level of involvement in the campus environment for African-American seniors. Data in this study indicated perceptions that Tennessee must be committed to increasing financial support to the universities. Universities must be committed to increase faculty and student involvement, create a culturally diverse environment and expand existing recruitment and retention programs.

Apibendrinant statistinius duomenis gauta išvada, kad teikiamų paskolų portfelis iš Valstybinio studijų fondo nuolat auga. Galima teigti, kad Lietuvos studentai drąsiai naudojasi teikiamomis fondo paslaugomis. Atlikto tyrimo duomenys parodė, kad daugiausia gautų paskolų Lietuvos edukologijos universiteto Socialinių mokslų fakulteto nuolatinių studijų formos studentai skiria mokesčiui už studijas. 72 proc. respondentų nežino apie Valstybinį studijų fondą ir jo veiklą, todėl tyrimo dėmesio centre buvo informatyvumo didinimas. Tiriamieji įvardino, kad sudėtingas yra informacijos apie fondą pasiekimas universitetų svetainėse, todėl, didinant Valstybinio studijų fondo efektyvumą, reikėtų pradėti nuo informatyvumo didinimo. Manoma, kad reikėtų didesnį dėmesį skirti ne tik studentų, bet ir abiturientų, informavimui apie Valstybinį studijų fondą bei ateinančių studentų galimybių panaudojimo aiškinimui. / Summary statistics obtained by finding the portfolio of the loans from the State Education Fund is growing. It can be stated that Lithuanian students safely use the provided funding. The survey showed that the majority of the loans in Lithuania University of Education Faculty of Social Sciences full-time studies students give the tuition fee. 72 % of respondents do not know about the State Education Fund and its activity. Therefore, the investigation focused on the informativeness criteria. The respondents mentioned that it is very difficult to find the information about the fund on university sites, thus increasing the efficiency of the State Education Fund Should start with informativeness increasing. It is believed that the administrative staff should pay greater attention to students or even graduates to inform about the State Education Fund, and future students opportunities for loan using.

The purpose of this study was to determine: * the nature of a state governed, state supported and private school, and those involved in the financial events in the three types of schools; and * the financial management task of a state governed, supported and private school. In the literature study the nature of state governed, state state supported and private schools was discussed from a financial management perspective. Attention was paid to organisations involved in the financial management of the different types of schools. In the literature the financial management task of state governed, state supported and private schools was also examined, with special reference to: - the principles of education management regarding finances; - the budget of education management regarding finances; - financial record-keeping, reporting and analysis; and - financial resources. An empirical investigation was undertaken by means of a structured mail questionnaire to determine the state of the financial management task in the three types of schools. The most important findings originating from the literature study and empirical investigation, was the fact that state supported and private schools are managed strictly according to scientific management principles, which is to a lesser degree the case with state governed schools. In spite of the fact that principals of state governed schools gave a positive indication of sound financial practices in their schools, there are aspects like parent involvement, that need to be addressed when compared to state supported and private schools. At many state governed schools there is no parent involvement, making the existence of parent management committees impossible. This is in contrast to a large degree of parent involvement in school activities• at state supported and private schools. Although state supported schools include Model C-type of schools as well as farm schools, there is an important difference between these two types of schools, which is evident in the empirical investigation. In conclusion, recommendations for further research were made. / Skripsie (MEd (Onderwysbestuur))--PU vir CHO, 1996