This study compares the instructional, academic support, and student services needs of international and American students at Portland State University (PSU), Portland, Oregon. Variables measured include the perceived importance of university-related services, and the level of satisfaction with services received. A questionnaire with 26 background questions and 41 service-related items for ranking and discussion was mailed to 225 undergraduate international students and 225 undergraduate American students, with a response rate of 52%. Responses were tabulated to ascertain demographic profile of PSU students, importance of university services to international students at PSU, current level of satisfaction of international students in regards to university services received, importance of the various university services to U.S. students at PSU, current level of satisfaction of U.S. students in regards to these university services, if U.S. and international students at PSU differ in the importance they assign to university services, if U.S. and international students differ in their level of satisfaction with services at PSU, relationship between perceived importance and level of satisfaction for U.S. and international students, relationship between perceived importance and level of satisfaction for international students, perceived reasons for dissatisfaction concerning service quality for U.S. and international students, and any suggestions these students have for improving the quality of services. Respondents' descriptive characteristics were reported and tabulated as background information. Frequency distribution, the chi square test of significance, and means were calculated using responses to queries about the service-quality items, and responses of international and American students were compared. Major findings included that there are many areas of agreement between international and American students. However, significant differences were found: 2 "need" items under instruction, 5 "need" items under academic support, and 13 "need" items under student services. Focus group interviews were also conducted. Researchers can use this additional data to develop theories about answers given; university administrators could use this information to develop programs to ameliorate perceived problems, or make changes in the quality or delivery of existing student services.

L'évaluation des universités est un processus par lequel une institution compare ses objectifs déclarés (ou ses progrès) avec ceux des années précédentes. La première approche de l'évaluation universitaire en Europe a commencé dans les années 1990, lorsque le processus externe d'assurance qualité a été adopté par le Conseil Européen des ministres de l'enseignement ainsi que l'évaluation des activités d'apprentissage dans les État membres. Mais l'activité de l'évaluation institutionnelle est considérée aujourd'hui comme le produit principal du processus de Bologne au sein de l'Europe. La qualité de l'enseignement supérieur en Europe est en effet suivie surveillée par différentes agences d'accréditation. La méta-évaluation de es organismes se fait par ENQA (European association for quality assurance in Higher Education). / University evaluation is a process by which an institution compares its stated goals or progress with those attained in preceding years. The first approach of university evaluation in Europe began in 1990s when the European Council of ministers adopted external quality assurance process to evaluate teaching and learning activities in the member state. The Bologna process further organized the activity of institutional evaluation across Europe. The quality of higher education in Europe is monitored by different quality and accreditation agencies. It is the European association for quality assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) that carries out the meta-evaluation of these agencies.

The dissertation focuses on information support for the strategic management of universities in the Czech Republic, using competitive intelligence as a framework. Qualitative and quantitative research methods - text analysis, questionnaire survey and conceptual modelling - have been used to achieve the goal of the dissertation.Current state of the topic is reviewed both from the global and Czech perspective, with a special emphasis on legal and economic environment in which Czech universities operate. Strategic and organizational aspects of the information support provided to university management are evaluated. Data necessary for the provision of information support are also discussed. The key role of university libraries in the information support for university strategic management is identified.Categorization of internal and external information sources forming the data base for the strategic management support and the conceptual model of the data base are the main results of the dissertation. Key words competitive intelligence, strategic management, information managment, university evaluation, public universities, information support, information systems, information systems integration, public management and administration, Czech Republic,