| At the 1959 request of the Legislature, the Master Plan Survey Team drafted a Master Plan which was to serve as the basis for policy making in the public system of higher education in California. The Plan was to cover the period 1960-1975, an epoch of radical political, economic and demographic change in the United States and, in particular, in California. The 1960 Master Plan, however, lasted until 1984 when it was to receive its first major review by the Commission to Review the 1960 Master Plan.;Critics of academicians have raised several issues which seriously question the feasibility of long range planning and the orientation of academicians to be reactive to crises, rather than oriented toward planned change phased along a reasonable time span.;The period to be governed by the 1960 California Master Plan was lengthy and the context in which it was drafted and implemented, turbulent. This dissertation evaluates the adaptability of the Master Plan in light of these factors and in the context of the literature associated with the study of academic management.;This historical case study involves two research processes: (1) trend analysis of historical data in economic, social, political and demographic areas; and (2) analysis and reconstruction of the history of the Master Plan through documentary and oral history.;The present study found that it is inaccurate to characterize the 1960 Master Plan for Higher Education in California as openly adaptable to the demographic realities of the environment from 1960 to 1984. Further, at the writing of the 1960 Master Plan, the legislature was amiss in assigning responsibility to an agency for keeping the Master Plan in a constant state of review and renewal.;Planning efforts that do not recognize the close interrelationship between planning and socio-political change are not likely to result in significant improvements. |
