A new vision for institutional research is urgently needed if colleges and universities are to achieve their institutional missions, goals, and purposes. The authors advocate for a move away from the traditional service model of institutional research to an institutional research function via a federated network model or matrix network model. When…

In an age in which information and data are more readily available than ever, it is critical for higher education institutions to develop tools that can communicate essential information to those who make decisions in an easy-to-understand format. One of the tools available for this purpose is a dashboard, a one- to two-page document that presents…

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)

The use of computerized decision support systems in higher education for making tactical institutional decisions is reviewed, with attention to the kind of administrative problems that lie somewhere between programmed to nonprogrammed decisions and require a combination of computer support and administrative judgment. (MSE)

The evolution of executive reporting and decision support systems at the University of Hartford is described, including a definition of concepts, discussion of the decision support roles of the planning and institutional research office and computer service, a description of several systems already developed, and the strategies underlying…

Institutional strategic decisions require the participation of every individual with a significant stake in the solution, and group decision support systems are being developed to respond to the political and consensual problems of collective decision-making. (MSE)

A description of how the decision support systems at Pepperdine University are helping its office of institutional research and planning provide the support necessary to keep the university's administration well-informed in their decision-making role is presented. (MLW)

A powerful but straightforward computer-based approach to university resource allocation has been successfully integrated with group process techniques to assist top-level administrators in making difficult choices. (Author)

In order to explore possible impacts of changing information technology on the role of the institutional research analyst, three institutional research foundations, measurement, human information processing, and decision support technology are examined. (Author/MLW)

In the context of decision support systems (DSS) use, four perspectives on evaluating decisions (consensual, political, empirical, and rational) and four models of organizational effectiveness (human relations, open system, internal process, and rational goal) are examined for their implications for DSS implementation and evaluation. (MSE)

Advanced communication and computing technologies create new resources and new opportunities in expanded role relationships for institutional research. Approaches to impact analysis and the rates of future change are discussed. (Author/MLW)

Computer-based information systems have evolved from emphasizing data processing to providing full and flexible support for management. They have moved from providing mere data to providing a medium for representing knowledge wherein managers can analyze data, formulate ideas, structure arguments, and building models. (Author/MLW)

Social Judgment Analysis, a formal decision model, is used to develop a decision support system that provides documentation on faculty accomplishments to assist faculties in making personnel decisions that are systematic, explicit, consistent, and retraceable. (Author/MSE)

A system dynamics model for the pricing of tuition is presented, illustrating how such models enable decision-makers to anticipate cause-and-effect relationships and test alternative courses of action. (Author)