The "Managerial Revolution" in Higher Education.

Recent innovations in the management of institutions of higher education represent a sharp departure from the traditionally conservative style of university administration. In a sample of state universities, the trend toward scientific management is illustrated by the emergence of offices of institutional research, the increasing reliance on quantitative data in policy analysis, and the use of computers in administration. Supporters of the new techniques contend that they will enhance the rationality of university decisions, while opponents charge that scientific management is irrelevant to most academic problems. New styles of management have had their most pronounced influence in institutions with recently acquired university status. In more established universities, scientific administration is attenuated by the simultaneous growth of faculty power and independence. But the new techniques have created an aura of managerial efficiency which aids all university administrators in their dealings with state legislatures and the public at large. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]