An examination of preferred institutional goals at Oregon State University and Western Oregon State College as perceived by the education faculties

Graduation date: 1984A new organization was created when Oregon State University (OSU) School of Education and Western Oregon State College (WOSC) Division of Education merged into the OSU-WOSC School of Education in the fall of 1982. Two education faculties from two different kinds of institutions (i.e., a large university and a small four-year state college) were combined. A literature review established the importance of goals for an organization, identified important goal studies, and identified the IGI (Institutional Goals Inventory) as a popular instrument for clarifying goal orientations. The instrument contains goal statements divided into 20 goal areas of four statements each, plus 10 additional statements totaling 90 statements in all. The IGI was completed by a randomly selected sample of education faculty at OSU and WOSC. Analysis of variance was the statistical tool. A comparison of "should be" (preferred) goal means were tested for significant differences between OSU and WOSC faculty. Goal areas and goal statements were ranked to determine priorities for future planning for the new organization. ss, From a total of 20 goal areas, statistical differences were found in only two areas: Research and Advanced Training. OSU faculty gave higher mean ratings to these two goal areas than WOSC faculty. Strong similarities between institutions were indicated when goals were ranked and put in order of priority. Seven goal statements were common to both institutions when the 10 goal statements with highest "should be" means were ranked. When five priority goal statements were ranked, three similar statements were listed for both OSU and WOSC. Recommendations for immediate action included using the goals study to help rank, plan, and establish direction for the new OSU-WOSC School of Education