NURSING PROGRAM ADMINISTRATOR PERCEPTIONS OF INCENTIVES AND BARRIERS TO INTERINSTITUTIONAL COOPERATION (CONSORTIA, RESOURCE SHARING, COOPERATIVE PLANNING; MICHIGAN, OHIO, ILLINOIS).
Contributors: University of Michigan.
Published: 1985
Number of pages: 266
Subjects: Education, Higher.
Description: Higher education in America is distinguished by characteristics of competition and diversity among institutions. However, there is a growing tendency among educators to recognize new forms of college relationships including consortia, federations and interinstitutional cooperation.

A review of the literature in higher education related to interinstitutional cooperation suggests that interinstitutional cooperation exists in those organizations which are faced with scarce resources, interdependency with other institutions and state agencies, or declining quality. This study examined some factors related to nursing program administrators' perceptions of the incentives and barriers to interinstitutional cooperation. The administrators were asked whether their institutions were faced with issues of competition for scarce resources, maintenance of quality standards and interdependency, and how important these issues would be as incentives or barriers to institutional cooperation. This study postulates that differences in the administrators' perceptions would be a function of individual-group-setting relationships. Specifically, it was predicted that perceptions would differ for administrators of different programs (baccalaureate, associate degree and diploma), in public and private institutions, and in states with different types of coordinating systems for higher education. The relationship of administrator perceptions to economic constraints and opportunities (i.e., reduction in funding and market demand) and the mediating influence of patterns of communication between program administrators and state agency officials were also examined. An original survey instrument was constructed for this study, and mailed to the administrators of the nursing programs in three midwestern states. It was completed by 147 administrators, a sixty-nine percent response rate.

The hypotheses about group differences were tested through the use of Hotelling T('2), with analysis of variance applied to the testing of differences on individual items. There was some indication that administrator perceptions were related to type of program, with administrators of diploma programs somewhat more likely to see the need for articulation with other programs as an important incentive for inter-institutional cooperation.

Descriptively, a number of findings suggest the issues that nursing program administrators consider to be important incentives for interinstitutional cooperation. It is recommended that administrators of nursing programs investigate strategies for effectively addressing and dealing with these issues.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 46-04, Section: A, page: 0907.

Thesis (PH.D.)--THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, 1985.

School code: 0127.