Learning Resources

Abstract: Universities, like other organizations, are affected by many interrelated influences and systems. In the early 1980s, because of its below average freshmen-to-sophomore year retention rates for an institution of its type, large developmental enrollment, and poor graduation rates, Louisiana State University and A & M (LSU) did not compare to other major state universities in terms of student success rates. Using a systems theory approach to analyzing the affect of inputs on outputs, this article describes the efforts that were made to transform the quality and completion rates of undergraduate students at LSU by changing the criteria for the admission of new freshmen.

Abstract: To be successful in our technological age, higher education institutions must be adept at managing the tension between the models of commodity and community.

Abstract: The authors describe why typical change efforts fail and define both the need and the process for creating change. They also emphasize the critical nature of learning as it relates to change and introduce the universal change principle—that learning precedes change. The role of culture in the change process is explored. The authors then walk the reader through a step-by-step change creation process, which is designed to support successful change efforts.

Abstract: Effective benchmarking demands continuous change with equal emphasis on identifying the goal and understanding why the goal is important. In this article, the authors suggest analytic frameworks that might be useful in moving benchmarking from a tracking and monitoring exercise to an organizational process that informs the strategic decision making of university administration.

Abstract: Spain has experienced a period of profound change affecting its political, social, and economic systems in the last two decades. These changes, in turn, have affected the higher education system considerably. Because they have taken place over a short period of time, these changes have created a dynamic situation. Although the consequences of most of these changes have been extremely positive, some unintended negative effects have also occurred. Both positive and negative consequences of the fast change are discussed in this article.