Showing papers on "Retrenchment published in 1979"

Scarcity and Environmental Stress in Public Organizations: A Conjectural Essay.

Abstract: Some observers, including many "doomsday" futurists, have contended that a pre dominant characteristic of future society will be extreme scarcity. Viewing this as sumption of extreme scarcity as pl...

Retrenchment, loose structure and adaptability in the university*

Abstract: This article focuses on the structural components of adaptability during retrenchment in five universities. The works of Simon and Glassman on loose structure are combined, adapted to organizational settings and operationalized to arrive at propositions relating looseness to adaptability. The propositions are then examined in light of case study data. On examining the data, it is clear that the hypothesized benefits of loose structure did not generally occur. Problems of organizational retrenchment have become increasingly salient in the past few years as cities totter on the edge of bankruptcy and schools and universities struggle with recurrent deficits. The extent of the problem and the mechanics of organizational shrinkage have attracted much interest. Beyond the practical concerns, retrenchment poses some interesting theoretical questions.

Avoiding the demise of geography in the united states

Abstract: This is the second of two articles about challenges that confront geography departments in a changing academic environment. College enrollment trends and tightening budgets are placing geography programs in jeopardy because the discipline is not considered by society to be indispensable. Departmental survival in a period of retrenchment may depend upon successfully demonstrating utility and quality, identifying unfilled niches in individual institutions, developing new interdisciplinary organizational arrangements, or finding ways to strengthen geography's position in governmental definitions of useful academic training.

Access to the Federal Courts: An Analysis of Burger Court Policy Making

Abstract: The issues of access to the federal courts and the policy implications of recent Supreme Court decisions have been the subject of much taxonomic and doctrinal analysis, particularly in light of the pattern of retrenchment and restriction that the Burger Court has displayed. This analysis attempts to ascertain what factors have motivated the Burger Court Justices in their policy choices. Through the use of cumulative scaling we find that none of our hypothesized influences explain the access choices of the Court as a whole. The Justices, rather, march to the beat of individualized drums-a varying admixture of administrative-legal influences, political attitudes, and/or an overall access attitude. Each Justice's admixture is specified.

Fiscal retrenchment and urban policy

Abstract: The federal government has long assumed the role of making up the shortfall between increasing demands on the part of urban residents, and decreasing revenues accruing to municipalities. This role is today challenged by an economy beset by stagflation, and a concomitant lack of trust in the efficacy of any governmental action. Perhaps the term 'lean society' best reflects the present trend. This volume brings together contributions focusing on the conceptualization, characterization, and the possible impact of the 'lean society' on our cities.

Federal Courts and the State Budgetary Process

Abstract: Judicial activism already is an important influence on the state budgetary process. Today, almost 50% of the largest agencies in eight survey states operate judicially mandated programs. Given the force of this development, it is somewhat surprising that so little thinking about public budgeting reflects the new role of the courts. It seems likely that the rise of an activist judiciary: (1) transfers power from elected execu tives and legislators; (2) frustrates retrenchment; (3) opens up new opportunities for budgetary games; and (4) both demands creative public management and narrows the range of administrative discretion.

Burden of the Seventies: The Management of Decline.

Abstract: For a long time, everything in American education went up: en rollment, buildings, budgets, expec tations, public support In the Fifties, when we couldn't put up classrooms or train teachers fast enough for the baby boom kids who were our entries in the brain race against the Russians, we groused about it but loved it All that growth, all that enterprise, all that bigness It seemed that it would go on for ever It didn't, of course Public school en rollment declined by half a million be tween 1971 and 1972, the beginning of a loss of five million students ? 11% ? over the following decade It was the end of the era of expansion and the beginning of the era of retrenchment, although at the time no one really understood the enormous implications of the turnabout in statistics For a while, much of the education establishment simply pretended it wasn't happening Schools of education con tinued to churn out the same number of graduates; the determinedly self-serving ones even lowered their entrance stan dards to increase enrollment if it meant more state or federal funding Only after it had become general public knowledge that a teaching credential was often a ticket to the unemployment line did the more responsible teacher preparation in stitutions begin to counsel students about limited opportunities They weren't the only ostriches A 1972 report, The Supply and Demand of Teachers and Teaching, found that state education agencies lacked enrollment data and didn't use the data they had And as late as 1974, one survey found, school superintendents either were keeping themselves ignorant of demographic pro jections or underestimating future de clines Their long-range commitment to capital budgets and tenured staff obvious ly didn't make the downhill figures any easier to look at It was the exceptional district that not only faced up to the new demographics but began long-range plan ning to prepare for the financial and psychological disjunctures of decline There was little initial agreement among the soothsayers about what the decline would mean to the schools Some welcomed the new era with optimism, figuring that fewer students would automatically free an increasing amount of funding for educational enrichment, smaller classes, and other improvements aimed at quality The economic realities of the Seventies rapidly squelched those hopes Even in districts with big enrollment declines, costs continued to rise According to the National Institute of Education, in 43 states it now costs nearly 50% more to operate primary and secondary schools than it did in 1971 While the average school enrollment dropped 23% between 1971 and 1976, the average cost of edu cating children increased 56% There were many reasons ? the way state aid for mulas work, the implementation of new federal laws for the handicapped and the bilingual, the cost of desegregation ? but mainly it was the rise in teacher salaries and general inflation that made schooling fewer children cost more The National Center for Education Statistics reports that public school expenditures rose in constant 1975-76 dollars from $47 billion in 1965-66 to $671 billion 10 years later, and projects they will reach $769 billion in 1981-82 Taxpayers saw lower enrollments not so much as an opportunity to improve schools as a way to keep money in their own pockets Schooling costs so much per child, the theory went, and fewer children would mean fewer tax dollars But even without the built-in increasing costs of education, this proved a vain hope It soon became clear that gearing down is not the reverse of gearing up Shrinking a school system is a ragged process that allows for few savings in the initial stages "An overall district loss of several hun dred students does not automatically decrease the number of teachers needed, particularly when the loss is distributed across the district with only one or two students fewer per classroom," according to the Education Commission of the States "The need for support personnel ? secretarial and custodial services ? re mains the same It costs just as much to heat a building half full as it does full" A 1978 publication of the National School Boards Association lamented: "Children don't 'disappear' in neat class-sized groups year after year" The gurus of decline say it takes about 10 years for a district to realize any substantial saving from retrenchment after enrollment decline

The marriage of presidents and boards

Abstract: Governing boards and presidents may have new strain in their relationships as retrenchment sets in. A new board structure is proposed along with joint review.

Evaluating motor fuel conservation policies at the community level

Abstract: At the community level, numerous policies have been suggested in order to conserve transportation energy. As a guide for planners, this article demonstrates how these policies may be evaluated against certain criteria so that achievable alternatives can be defined. The scope of the article is limited to an appraisal of conservation measures affecting ground transportation in an urban setting. Transportation is increasingly dependent on petroleum fuels-currently relying on petroleum for 95 percent of its energy in the United States. Depending on future consumption rates, world crude oil reserves could conceivably be depleted between 2019 and 2032. Crude oil imports have exceeded domestic production in the United States since 1976, and the magnitude of oil imports is having serious consequences for the nation's balance of trade that is affecting the dollar's strength in foreign money markets and the domestic economy. Some communities are undergoing population and industrial retrenchment, while others are experiencing rapid growth. Communities differ in land use patterns as well as in their development of and dependence on public transportation. This article describes the conservation planning process for motor fuels and attempts to be sensitive to community diversity.

Conclusions and Further Readings.

Abstract: In this book we tried to provide an intelligible overview of the problems of Model Selection and Error Estimation by focusing on the ideas behind the different Statistical Learning Theory based approaches and simplifying most of the technical aspects with the purpose of making them more accessible and usable in practice.

Proposition 13: Is the Worst Over for Community Colleges?

Abstract: The passage of Proposition 13 in June 1978 by a 65 percent vote has stirred more anxiety among California community-college educators than any event has since the beginning of World War II when enrollment declined precipitously. And little that has happened since that fateful June day has relieved the anxiety. In fact results of the November election have turned anxiety to alarm for Governor Brown is interpreting them as a mandate to keep government expenses down and to lower taxes-in essence a confirmation of the June vote. Proposition 13 limits the property tax to one percent of the assessed valuation as of 1975-76; limits yearry increases of assessed valuation to two percent; and to head off easy substitution of new sources of revenue, requires a two-thirds vote of the Legislature for any new tax. Many interpretations of the meaning of Proposition 13 have been voiced. Every public agency affected by the adverse vote wants to believe that had voters made a choice about agencies to be cut it would not have been included. Unfortunately for them, Proposition 13 does not evaluate the relative importance of the various public agencies and services. Bluntly and realistically, a report from the State Chancellor's office stated: