DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE Charles B. Saunders, Jr., Acting Assistant Secretary for Education OFFICE OF EDUCATION John Ottina, Commissioner For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Stock Number 1780-01229 FOREWORD The nationwide trend to expand higher education enrollments, facilities, and resources-a phenomenon of the 1950's and 1960's-is veering in a different direction. Colleges and universities, instead of coping with problems linked to growth, will be faced in the coming years with such complexities as reducing expenditures and revising curriculums. They will also need to implement technological delivery systems now in nascent stages of development and use. Moreover, it will be essential that they concern themselves with extending postsecondary educational opportunities to adults of all ages. These so-called "new directions" in higher education will require as much, if not more, careful planning and coordination than were needed during the period of accelerated expansion. This comprehensive handbook, which emphasizes major planning problems and their solutions, should enable administrators and others to enhance the professional skills they will need for the successful management and operation of statewide systems of higher learning. Normally scholars research at their own pace, taking time to exhaust all sources of data and to ensure the validity of their findings. While Kent Halstead's book clearly reflects these characteristics of scholarship, unlike many other scholarly treatises it avoids the jargon of the discipline. The language chosen by the author will be easily understood by the working professional and the informed layman. Statewide Planning in Higher Education contains so much useful information that it is destined to become the standard reference for all persons engaged in any phases of planning that affect the future of colleges and universities. Those of us who have conducted original research in this field will find an accurate delineation of our major contributions. Both practitioners and students of planning will discover that they have been provided with a carefully synthesized presentation of procedures and methodologies supported by exacting research. No existing work contains this scope and depth in such a wide range of higher education planning topics. The fact that the content reflects the most recent and comprehensive thinking on the subject means that it has great potential for changing the outlook of practitioners: broadening their perspective, sharpening their technical expertise, making their planning effort more productive. The annotated bibliography further adds to the volume's definitiveness. iii Dr. Halstead comes close to exhausting the extant knowledge of higher education planning technology. If there are omissions or sketchiness of detail in certain areas, the reflection rests with the state of the technology itself rather than with the author. He has produced an exceptional work for which scholars, professionals, State officials, students, and interested citizens will be grateful for years to come. Lyman A. Glenny, Director, Center for Research and Development in Higher Education University of California, Berkeley PREFACE Twenty-five years ago the first serious effort was made by a State to plan comprehensively a statewide system of postsecondary education. During the intervening years a considerable amount of useful planning experience and expertise has been acquired-initially by trial and error, more recently by organized and methodical research. Although many valuable works have been published on the subject, there is no single comprehensive study dealing with the theories, analyses, and procedures involved. This book has been written in an attempt to fill the gap. There are three major reasons why a manual on statewide planning should be available: (1) An important undertaking in higher education, planning is of consequence to millions of students, teachers, and citizens. (2) As a continuing process, the subject is of concern to every State. (3) Since planning of this nature is a relatively new undertaking in many States, the considerable experience gained by previous practitioners can be of great benefit. This volume is addressed primarily to State planning officers and technicians, college officials, teachers, and others responsible for higher education planning. To that end, the point of view and the special problems of State planning officers have been kept in mind. It is also hoped that the material may serve to some degree as a reference, particularly to those whose previous experience has not been extensive. Although planners need to know something about a wide number and variety of topics, they often have little time to read indepth source material. Furthermore, the pace of State planning activities has been swift; the methodologies have often been obscured in final recommendations; and the relevance and contribution of each study have been difficult to assess. To be useful, information concerning the planning experience must be sifted and compressed, and an attempt has been made to collect and summarize in reasonably direct fashion the wealth of fact, experience, and opinion that currently exists on the subject. A high proportion of content in some areas is opinion, and includes that of the author. But the overall intent has always been to emphasize proven practices and verified knowledge. No attempt has been made to provide answers to all the problems that may arise in State educational planning. There has been, on the other hand, a genuine effort to identify the major areas of concern and their component parts, to indicate the factors that should be taken into account, |