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…

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)

Understanding the link between futures research and strategic planning is crucial to effective long-range planning and administration. Current trends and the latest developments in the methodology of futures research are discussed. (MLW)

Libraries and computing facilities are important assets for achieving high-quality instruction and research, but most evaluations of them dwell on input rather than output. Consideration of a variety of issues, particularly when examining computer use, can help determine when the resources are not enough or are oversufficient. (MSE)

The office of institutional research can play a key role in creating a college's marketing plan. Designing survey instruments and evaluations to support new program development, employer-based education, and recruiting concepts are areas where institutional research can make important contributions (Author/MLW)

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…

Improved management systems can be developed for colleges and universities if assumptions are correct and a well-defined process is used. A life-cycle approach is suggested whose subsystems and implementation at Augsburg College, a small private liberal arts institution, are described. (LBH)

A discussion of the need for and possible approaches to evaluating student support services emphasizes the importance of using objectives, strategies, and traditional and nontraditional outcome variables for a thorough assessment. (MSE)

Based on research on management improvement efforts at developing colleges and universities, a model of evolutionary change in organizational structure and management practices is outlined, and change strategies considering both formal and informal management needs are proposed. The model assumes that management needs are intertwined with…

This article proposes that the task of providing useful information for deans and department heads has major implications for the role and preparation of college and university institutional researchers. Six areas for consideration are examined: local needs assessment, data integrity and interpretation, collaboration, skills and knowledge bases,…

The components of a complete and effective marketing plan for higher education institutions are summarized. It is suggested that a marketing plan embrace all elements of the total marketing concept, and include curriculum evaluation, a retention program, and a scheme for evaluating the strategy's effectiveness. A bibliography is included.…

The methods and considerations in determining computer needs of both academic and administrative computer users in higher education institutions are discussed. It is suggested that computer power in the future may require local distributed interactive computing networks and/or remote job entry to a large off-campus computer. (SF)