Select Higher Educational Institutions Research Articles

Customer requirement constructs: the premise for TQM in education

Amidst the tremendous pressures faced by educational institutions, both from internal as well as from external forces, the higher educational institutions in India, as elsewhere in the world, have begun to understand and accept the significance of customer‐centered philosophies, with the answer to such pressures being in “delighting the customer”, which is the rule for survival in the long run. “Delighting the customer”, is one of the core elements of total quality management (TQM), which emphasizes the service relationship between an organization/institution and its customers. A number of success stories about incorporating TQM principles in the educational setting have been reported. In TQM, the focus is on the customer. Ultimately, the objective of TQM is to build an institution that produces products or performs services, which fulfill customer requirements, and thereby delights them. Such customer requirements thus, form the very premise for TQM. So it is important not only to identify the numerous and varied customers of the educational system, but also to identify their requirements and satisfy them. The importance/degree assigned to such requirements or their constructs may vary across customer groups and also amongst the institutions themselves. The paper presents the results of an empirical study conducted on select higher educational institutions to assess the importance/degree assigned to the various customer requirement constructs across the various internal and external customer groups. Starting with a theoretical background, an empirical study is presented with analysis and results.

Identification of Elements of Total Quality Management for the Educational System: A Study of Select Engineering and Management Institutions in India

The higher educational institutions and in particular such institutions imparting professional education are faced with demands for greater responsiveness and accountability, which has manifested itself in the form of competition amongst such educational institutions, to provide for services better than their counterparts. The answer to such pressures lies in quality, especially if they have to compete with each other to satisfy their stakeholders, gain the edge and survive in the long run. Dosed on a theoretical foundation, this paper is an empirical study conducted on select higher educational institutions to identify the various quality elements/components for an Educational System. Starting with a theoretical background, an empirical study is presented with analysis and results. The study is exploratory and diagnostic in nature and has been confined to the internal as well as external customers of select engineering and management institutions awarding graduate and post-graduate professional degrees/diplomas. The study has helped identify the various quality elements/components that have been grouped under three factors/constructs, which have been termed as management system, technical system and social system.

Book Review: Promise and Dilemma: Perspectives on Racial Diversity and Higher Education

Promise and Dilemma: Perspectives on Racial Diversity and Higher Education by Eugene Y. Lowe. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ. 1999, 206 pages. $29.95, Cloth, ISBN 0-691-00489-7. Reviewed by Clifford P. Harbour. In March 1996, annual Princeton Conference on Higher Education was held on campus of Princeton University. Sponsored by Princeton and Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, conference focused on several challenges facing American colleges and universities at close of twentieth century. Presenters addressed issues of racial diversity and affirmative action in student admissions at two conference sessions. Three years later, Princeton University Press published a collection of some of their papers in Promise and Dilemma: Perspectives on Racial Diversity and Higher Education, a 206-page volume edited by Eugene Y. Lowe. Lowe's anthology includes articles on race-based affirmative action in student admissions, diversity, and promotion of high academic achievement by non-Asian minorities. Considered collectively, articles in Promise and Dilemma describe an antinomy in contemporary higher education as institutions struggle to reconcile their more recent commitment to social values of diversity and pluralism with their longstanding commitment to individualistically oriented values of merit and fairness. Although Lowe's stated purpose is to examine current status of affirmative action and diversity in selective higher education, articles have significant implications for community colleges. The opening article by Lowe briefly summarizes history of affirmative action and racial diversity at selective higher education institutions. It also introduces articles by L. Scott Miller, Neil Smelser, Chang-Lin Tien, and others. Lowe observes that traditionally American colleges and universities have been concerned with providing students an education that will enhance their lives and well-being of their communities. The promise of selective higher education, simply stated, was this: Students who gained admission and worked hard to complete their studies could reach earthly and secular promised land-material success and intellectual enlightenment. (The Biblical analogy is quite intentional for Lowe, an Episcopal priest and religion scholar.) Of course, many Americans could not reach promised land because they were not welcome in higher education. According to Lowe, unequal distribution of educational opportunities in past now presents institutions with a dilemma. Colleges and universities are inextricably bound up in history that roots them, while, at same time, they seek to transform individuals and serve their host communities (p. 7). This dilemma was apparent, Lowe observed, in 1978 United States Supreme Court case, Regents of University of California v. Bakke, and 1996 Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decision in Hopwood v. State of Texas. Each of these court cases offered evidence that a commitment to individualistic values like fairness and merit in student admissions process could not easily accommodate a commitment to social values like diversity and pluralism. In Bakke racebased affirmative action was given tepid approval (Glazer, 1979; Regents of University of California v. Bakke, 1978). In Hopwood, it was flatly rejected (Hopwood v. State of Texas, 1996; Olivas, 1996). Lowe concludes his article with assessment that, progress towards inclusiveness has been impressive, but much hard work remains (p. 41). According to Lowe, hard work must begin with college and university presidents. These leaders must make diversity a real priority on campus. Once campus leaders demonstrate a clear commitment to this social value, institutions can begin to move beyond the dilemma into a deeper appreciation-and belief about-the promise of diversity in our institutions of higher education and in our lives together (p. …