While the electronic fact book will not replace the paper variety used by colleges and universities to disseminate institutional information, there are a number of uses for the electronic format, which accommodates both quantity and currency of information. Considerations in producing an electronic fact book are discussed, and a seven-day process…

Selecting computer tools requires analyzing information requirements and audiences, assessing existing institutional research and computing capacities, creating or improving a planning database, using computer experts, determining software needs, obtaining sufficient resources for independent operations, acquiring quality, and insisting on…

Literature about the roles of college deans and department heads is reviewed, issues confronting these administrators are discussed, and their information needs are examined. A guide to the categories, types, and sources of useful information is provided. (MSE)

Information about students needed by college deans and department heads is identified, including data on cultural diversity, gender and age distributions, work and community experiences, educational experience, the extent to which programs serve students who are not majors, employment and continued education patterns, employer evaluation of…

The costs to colleges and universities of establishing a data-sharing exchange are examined, and it is argued that in most cases, the financial costs are minimal when compared to the potential opportunity cost of making decisions without access to good comparative information. (Author/MSE)

Priority given to enrollment management at the University of Hartford (Connecticut) has created demands for better information about prospective student markets, admissions selectivity, enrollments, student adjustment, retention, and graduation rates. The planning and institutional research office used fourth-generation software, microcomputers,…

Although different in nature from academic activities, college fund raising also requires planning and management. To develop more responsive executive information systems, development officers must take the lead, ask the right questions, and work closely with campus institutional researchers, registrars, enrollment managers, and computer…

In higher education, facilities data are essential for long-term capital and financial planning and for testing assumptions underlying anticipated policy change. Executive information systems should incorporate life-cycle considerations (planning, construction, renovation, and management) and resource linkages (describing interrelationships of…