Universities generate a mass of data related to students and the courses that they study. As such, "data work" using digital technologies and digital systems is integral to educational administration within higher education. Drawing on in-depth interviews with administrative and managerial staff in an Australian university, this article…

Most universities use Information Systems (IS) to perform their daily administrative activities (student enrollment, data files, accountancy, etc.), and an integrated Learning Management System (LMS) to support teaching and learning. However, although a lot of effort has been put into deploying these computerized systems, the data that they…

This report includes a brief profile of the seminar and a series of comments by the participants. The profile reviews some of the major points that came up during the seminar: a summary of what is known or almost known about Management Information Systems (MIS); some of the core concepts which provide the basis for MIS research, development, and…

The purpose of the seminar, which brought together users and developers of analytical models and associated management information systems, was to explore in depth the problems and possibilities of such systems for higher education institutions, and to review the current "state-of-the-art." The papers in this report are: "Evaluating the…

Data administration (DA) is a position that has emerged with the growth of information technologies. A review of DA literature confirms that, although DA is widely associated with database management systems (DBMS), there is no standard DA job description, DA staffing and location within the organization vary, and DA functions range in description…

A set of detailed questionnaires was developed to test a number of hypotheses related to the definition and measurement of practical measures of effectiveness of administration in institutions of higher education. The questionnaires served as the basis of a set of case studies undertaken simultaneously in 19 volunteer institutions during…

Data and information needs of college administrators are discussed, along with the uses of information to support decisionmaking. Difficulties in applying information technology to the administration of higher education are briefly reviewed. Data and information are discussed both in definitional and functional terms. Data are defined as either…

It is recognized that growing management information systems will require increased user involvement in acquiring, maintaining, and manipulating essential institutional data. A technique called Service/Requirements Analysis has been developed for incorporating user input into system design and development. (MSE)

Administrators, faculty, and staff should have electronic access to records needed to perform their jobs, and students should have access to their own records--course registration and addresses. User-directed analysis and reporting are discussed and the security and audit issues are examined. (Author/MLW)

University information systems are designed to make decisions easier and to provide good information for administrative tasks. Data do not by themselves produce better decisions, and more data can make agreement on issues more complicated. When collegial decisions are made, the precise impact of data and models is uncertain. When there is no…

Data on levels of computer-related expenditures for two-year colleges are presented. The data show institutions whether their computer-related expenditures, as a percentage of total operating expenditures and in dollars per credit headcount student, are high, medium, or low relative to expenditures of other similarly sized institutions. (MLW)

An integrated student information system (ISIS) at Trinity University (Texas) is described with attention to how data are entered and how data are extracted for purposes of institutional research. The structure of the original ISIS files, the extract files, and the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) files is examined. An outline is…

Two recent developments in management information system technology and higher education administration have brought about the need for this study, designed to develop a methodology for revealing a relational model of the data base that administrators are operating from currently or would like to be able to operate from in the future.…

Trends affecting information systems and decisions of college administrators are traced, and specific types of technologies currently available are reviewed. Information systems support routine operations decisions or planning and policy decisions. The primary advantage of computerized information systems is rapid access to data and rapid…

To estimate computer needs at a higher education institution, the major types of users and their future needs should be determined. In a large or complex university, three major groups of users are typically instructional, research, and administrative. After collecting information on the needs of these users, the needs can be translated into…