Cost vs. Value: Academic Qualifiers to Traditional Institutional Measures of Productivity. SAIR Conference Paper.

An analysis of college programs that extends beyond cost comparisons and that may improve academic decision-making is described. The framework is based on the program cost elements presented by Gonyea and Harper (1978). A hypothetical college of urban affairs is used to illustrate the program cost elements. The program includes four constants: program, students, faculty, and costs. If the four constants are translated into categories of values, emphasis may be directed to the following four academic qualifiers: programs with special meaning, programs with potential for growth, programs with regional/national prestige, and programs with "valued" faculty. A continuum is presented that describes each program by the average credit hours taught by full-time faculty. When this continuum is balanced with a program distribution that considers actual program costs, a different pattern emerges. It is concluded that there is a need to augment traditional criteria and cost measures with "value need" assessments, since budgetary decisions and program continuance are at issue. Program decisions involve the following principles: a creative approach to evaluating the role of the institution as it relates to community need; a subject weighting of quality and potential; and the institutional role in motivating both the community and the institution to address needs that might improve the quality of life in the community. (SW)