A descriptive study of the organization and administration of learning assistance programs in U.S. senior institutions of higher education

The purpose of this study was to provide information about the organization and administration of learning assistance programs in the nation's senior colleges and universities, and to determine relationships among institutional characteristics, program funding and organizational practices and procedures of learning assistance programs. The study also sought to describe practitioners' opinions of current practices and future trends. A mailed self-administered questionnaire was completed by 216 administrators responsible for learning assistance programs in a stratified random sampling of the nation's senior colleges and universities. The response rate was 73.9%. The statistical Package for the Social Sciences was used to analyze data. Subprogram frequencies and crosstabulations were used to answer the research questions and to test the relationships among certain variables and selected survey questions. The main variables tested were (1) institutional characteristics, such as size and control, (2) organization and practices of the learning assistance programs, including goals, control, budget, staff, clients, services and evaluation, and (3) future trends anticipated in these programs. The major findings were that the majority of programs report to academic units, are more centralized, have yearly budgets under $250,000, have been in operation less than 10 years, and aim to improve students1 overall academic performance. Programs are usually staffed by faculty without academic rank and offer an average of 9.1 services to 579 students per semester. Programs are usually evaluated yearly or each semester for the purpose of improving the total program. Although funding shortages were cited as the major problem facing learning assistance programs, more than four-fifths expected their programs to expand or maintain their current status. Respondents expressed satisfaction regarding current practices and procedures. The following conclusions about learning assistance programs in senior institutions were reached based on the study's findings: (1) They are more likely to be controlled by academic units and to have academically oriented goals. (2) They have begun to achieve funding stability, although funding shortages are a major concern. (3) Their faculty have lower status and higher faculty- to-student ratios than their colleagues. (4) They provide a wide variety of primarily noncredit services. (5) They are expected to expand or maintain their current levels of operation.Education, College o