The depths of the impact of COVID-19 on nearly every aspect of our personal and professional lives was becoming painfully clear in May and June of 2020. While institutions of higher education had implemented crisis/emergency plans in the immediate onset of the pandemic, and largely extended those efforts into summer terms, the fall 2020 term…

Before communicating any information, institutional researchers should answer four diagnostic questions: Who's asking? What for? What's the proper medium? What happens next? (MSE)

The potential uses of futures techniques for institutional research and planning are examined. The important historical forces that have led to this point in the development of institutional research and planning are outlined, and the current status of futures research is discussed. (MLW)

Most decisions are made not by individuals but by groups. Knowing how the group process works and how information enters it can improve the quality of decisions, and can enhance the institutional researcher's role as data supplier and lead methodologist. (Author/MSE)

College and university information is poorly developed for the purpose of making strategic choices and management guidance. A strategic triangle, with critical success factors at each vertex, can help model appropriate information. (Author/MLW)

The key to the success of decision support systems will be the way that institutional researchers integrate the variety of specific and personal systems into a viable and coordinated institutionwide system. (Author/MLW)

Three institutions' planned change strategies that introduced a comprehensive array of new approaches to planning, management, communication, information and analysis, and staff development are discussed. The larger purposes of these planned change activities--educational change and institutional vitality--await future evaluation. (MLW)

Tips for college policy analysts include these: acknowledge personal biases; be flexible and inclusive; be realistic but creative in framing recommendations; build an outspoken advisory team; anticipate repetition; see the broad picture and detail; understand that implementation is the key to good policy; and do not surprise the president. (MSE)

While microcomputers may be easy to acquire and put into use, advance consideration of some pertinent issues will ensure that they are used successfully for planning and management support. (Author/MLW)

Microcomputer technology is direct, personal, and well suited for the task of decision support. Learning to use it constructively and effectively to improve higher education management is the challenge of the immediate future. (Author/MLW)

The effective communication of desired information between the generator and the user requires one to accommodate variances in decision-making style, behavior, and context. The premise that decision making in organizations follows the classic rational model is discussed. (Author/MLW)

Issues in the evaluation of the college planning process are examined, and 13 questions to be addressed in assessing both strategic and operational planning functions are presented, including criteria for evaluating (1) the decisional aspect of planning, (2) planning data, and (3) the process. Evaluation methods are also discussed. (MSE)

Broad understanding of an institution is fundamental to strategic planning, and information and communication are integral parts of this understanding. An institutional fact book used at Georgia State University is discussed both as a basic information system and as a practical communication vehicle. (MLW)

Two general models for bringing about change--the structural model and the people model--are described. Team leadership and team building are seen as people-oriented approaches to change that also affect the structure of an organization. Both targets of change--people and structures--should be approached in tandem. (MLW)

Efforts of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst illustrate the use of cost information in decision-making. The Instructional Cost Index can be used to determine the unit costs of instruction and, combined with information from an induced course load matrix system, can provide data on the costs of programs. (LBH)