The primary purpose of this investigation was to identify and describe the current role of the executive vice president in higher education. The subpurposes of the study were to determine (1) the duties of the executive vice president, (2) the decision-making responsibilities associated with the position, (3) the degree of agreement between presidents, executive vice presidents, and written documents regarding the duties of the office, and (4) the extent of numerical increase or decrease of the position. An analysis of the findings led to the following conclusions that (1) there is close agreement between presidents and executive vice presidents regarding the duties and requirements of the position of executive vice president; (2) there is little agreement between presidents of differing types and sizes of institutions and between vice presidents of such differing institutions; (3) a majority of institutions have written job descriptions for the position but few of these documents actually describe the position with detail; (4) this study also generated a composite job description; and (5) finally, demonstrates that the position of executive vice president has grown at a significant rate over the past decade.

This study was initiated to assess the effectiveness of a special orientation program with the purpose of reducing the anxiety of entering freshmen and easing their adjustment to the campus environment. The criteria of evaluation were retention, satisfaction, and academic achievement. The 468 subjects were first-time freshmen from outside Tarrant County entering Texas Christian University in the fall of 1980. Half of the subjects participated in the experimental program, Operation Welcome, and the other half served as a control group. Those in Operation Welcome were grouped in teams with eight other freshmen, two upperclassmen serving as a big brother and big sister, and a local alumni family. Each of the freshmen in the program received letters of welcome prior to leaving home and participated in special events upon arrival on campus.

The problem of this study was to identify student, faculty, academic administrator, and government educational official perceptions of and preferences for the goals of higher education in Imo-State, Nigeria. The purposes of this study were (1) to identify the major goal areas of colleges in Imo-State; (2) to determine the perceptions and preferences of student, faculty, academic administrators, and government educational officials; (3) to determine whether there are significant divergences of perception and preference among the respondent groups with respect to the goal areas; (4) to develop projections of the probable priorities for goal trends of higher education in Imo-State, based upon the expressed perceptions and preferences of the subjects. In addition, the study involved determining the differences in judgement among and between the groups regarding both perceived and preferred goal areas, through a one-way analysis of variance and Scheffe test.

The problems with which this dissertation is concerned are undergraduate student attrition and ways to reduce it. This study describes the problem of undergraduate student attrition by presenting an overview of the extent of such attrition. As a result of this study, the following conclusions, among others, are advanced: 1) Approximately 50 per cent of those who undertake a baccalaureate degree program complete their programs within four years. 2) Attrition data provide a measure of efficiency of higher education. 3) Undergraduates who do not complete course or degree requirements in either attendance or academic performance contribute to and constitute a measure of waste in the economic sense of (a) the labor of teachers, (b) the use of classrooms, laboratories, and equipment, (c) the failure of colleges and universities to achieve educational objectives, and (d) the competent individuals who never enter college. 4) Attrition is a distinct, interactive process. 5) Institutions of higher learning are responsible for changing their characteristics and environments when such variables adversely affect congruence of otherwise qualified and competent students. 6) Texas' senior college presidents who were surveyed believe that an extremely important variable in reducing attrition is the establishment of a relationship between the student and …

The problem of this study was the status of classified staff decision making participation in policy determination, administrative practices, and working conditions in Texas public junior/community colleges as reported by their presidents and those persons, chief personnel officers, on each campus who have responsibility for classified staff employees. The conclusions to the study, with respect to Texas public junior/community colleges, were (1) the classified staff employees may not be aware of the total college goals, (2) classified staff employees may have little motivation to perform their jobs effectively, (3) future turnover rates among classified staff employees could increase, (4) the classified staff employees' input appears to have a low priority in the area of decision making, (5) classified staff employees may be seeking jobs with open participation in decision making, and (6) the exclusion of classified staff employees from participation in decisions could lead to formal bargaining in the future.