This chapter describes a framework to guide collaboration between institutional research and other campus offices. Three examples are then provided to illustrate how the framework was applied successfully to actual projects.

This chapter describes how data analysis and data-driven decision making were critical for designing, developing, and assessing a new academic program. The authors--one, the program's founder; the other, an alumna--begin by highlighting some of the elements in the program's incubation and, subsequently, describe some of the components for data…

Over the last few decades, college admission rates for Latinos have increased. However, the achievement gap between Latino students and other ethnic groups remains wide. Peer mentorship programs have shared in some degree of success in promoting the academic success of diverse and underrepresented student populations. Despite the growing…

For colleges seeking to improve student outcomes, new technologies often appear to hold the promise of transformative change. Across the country, colleges are using technological tools to enhance reform efforts related to how they teach, how they provide supports to students, and how they guide students through programs of study. In order for…

The President of the University of Cincinnati charged the Academic Coordinating Committee (ACC), a universitywide governance body, to conduct a comprehensive review of degree programs by designing a process with multiple outcomes: building an academically stronger university; ensuring consistency with the institution's capacity and academic…

The system office for community college institutional research (SOCCIR) plays a role in the drama of higher education that states must orchestrate to help community college systems operate effectively and efficiently over the long term. But how exactly does the SOCCIR enable a state to accomplish what the separate institutional research (IR)…

Many studies have been conducted on the internationalization of higher education. Yet little is known about institutional plans for internationalization. This article presents the results of a study conducted with the American Council on Education's Center for International Initiatives on the types, prevalence, development, implementation, and…

Distance education in its many forms had been around for decades, but the Western Governors University (WGU) was arguably the first "virtual university" (VU) in the United States, or at least the first VU that gained widespread attention from the press and public. After the governors in the Western Governors Association announced they would create…

The background and function of a Student Opinion Survey Program at the University of Kansas are described, and suggestions for the development and implementation of polling programs are offered. At the University of Kansas, the technical expertise of staff and students was tapped to provide a credible survey program. Departments and other offices…

Academic support systems are characterized as those activities that center around a dean's office--office automation/information systems, institutional research and electronic communication. The basic and design and implementation issues that are encountered in providing these support systems are examined. (Author/MLW)

This paper describes how various formal planning approaches were developed and applied at Pennsylvania State University. Phases (horizontal reduction, vertical reallocation, strategic planning, and strategic management) are identified as are principles including planning for change on the margins and continuity, providing for feedback, and…

A program focusing on recruitment of new freshmen at the University of Colorado at Boulder illustrates some major planning considerations in the development, implementation, and evaluation of a marketing plan. (MSE)

In 1991, Howard Community College (HCC), in Maryland, implemented an institutional effectiveness plan that attempted to apply lessons from the previous 10 years of college planning. This paper focuses on the problems and issues encountered during implementation of the plan and is designed to provide general recommendations for others establishing…

This paper describes the application of a Total Quality Management strategy called Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) to the projects and activities of an institutional research office at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. PDCA is a cycle designed to facilitate incremental continual improvement through change. The specific steps are…

The Office of Institutional Research's role in planning and operating an off-campus center for California State University (CSU), Hayward, is described. Although the center would promote enrollment of nontraditional students, the planning and operating decisions are applicable to other higher education activities. Needs assessment for the center…