*STATE AGENCIES

A case study of the Wisconsin Coordinating Ccmmittee for Higher Education was the 1,;:tsis for an examination of the factors contributing to effective coordinating mechanisms between pubic institutions of higher education and their external supportive world (the pubic and the state leoslative and executive branches). Using questionnaires and in-depth interviews with state officials and educational leaders in addition to documented information, the folowing assumptions were tentatively supported: (1) A coordinating agency in higher education can deal more effectively with conect between the institutions and the government if representatives of the general public have a voting malority on the board. (2) The coordinating mechanism will function more effectively if its professional staff is both independent of the staffs of-the institutions and of the state administrative agencies. (3) The authority structure inherent in a scheme of statutory coordination can serve as a protector. rather than an adversary, of the substantive autonomy of institutions. (4) Coordination can function more effectively if the particular roles and functions of the participating groups are clearly defined, if adherence to these definitions is enforceable, and if provision is made for change and modification of the definitions. (AM) tvOrotill'