In this article, the authors detail the major themes set out in the previous articles in this volume, tying them together using the framework of organizational intelligence. In his article about the nature of institutional research, Terenzini (1993) invoked the concept of organizational intelligence, arguing that institutional researchers must be…

When the history of American higher education is rewritten years from now, one of the storylines of the first decade of the twenty-first century likely will be the emergence of student engagement as an organizing construct for institutional assessment, accountability, and improvement efforts. The engagement premise is straightforward and easily…

In this paper, the author summarizes the role and contributions of the scholarship and institutional research about student engagement and its relevance for student development professionals and others committed to enhancing the quality of the undergraduate experience. The presentation is organized into four major sections. First, the author…

The value of qualitative assessment approaches has been underestimated primarily because they are often juxtaposed against long-standing quantitative traditions and the widely accepted premise that the best research produces generalizable and statistically significant findings. Institutional researchers avoid qualitative methods for at least three…

The Carnegie classification system has served as a framework for research on colleges and universities for more than 30 years. Today, the system's developers are exploring criteria that more effectively differentiate among institutions. One approach being considered is classifying institutions based on students' educational experiences. This study…

Examples of qualitative investigations of traditionally hard-to-measure college and university characteristics using multiple investigators are rare, despite their potential for in-depth understanding and broad comparisons of institutional contexts. A team approach to qualitative multisite research was found useful and effective in a 9-researcher…

Student culture exerts significant influence on many aspects of college life by determining the kinds of people with whom one spends time and the values and attitudes to which one is exposed. To encourage attitudes and values consistent with the institution's educational purpose, cultural elements must be discovered and understood. (Author/MSE)

The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) sits on the border of Mexico and the United States in the middle of the world's largest binational metropolitan region. For years, it struggled to compete with top-tier research institutions with far greater resources in a quest to become "Harvard on the Border." In the late 1980s, new president…

The view that organizational theory should be a required component of graduate preparation in student affairs is addressed. After defining organizational behavior, conventional models and nonorthodox perspectives on organizing are contrasted. Implications of nonorthodox perspectives for leadership are also considered. Suggestions are offered of…

Based on a year-long cultural study, undertaken for the 1994 merger of Bethany Theological Seminary (Illinois) and Earlham School of Religion (Indiana), this essay describes distinctive aspects of the two institutional cultures, identifies potential cultural conflicts, and discusses the implications and benefits of using cultural research to guide…

A study investigated indicators of student academic performance in six samples (n=911 each) of men and women students from 19 baccalaureate, 27 master's, and 29 doctoral granting institutions. Measures of achievement gains associated with three good educational practices (faculty-student contact, cooperation among students, active learning) were…