The growing literature on academic departments and their chairmen is evaluated from both a theoretical and a research perspective. Issues deserving greater attention are identified, and specific research is proposed to assess the viability of the departmental structure. (LBH)

This paper argues that establishing a research agenda to study the changing nature of postsecondary institutions as organizations is best done by examining their organization-environment interface, and it suggests an agenda based on historical perspective; a contingency model, or framework, of the organization-environment interaction; and a…

The practice and profession of institutional research and the Association for Institutional Research, which emerged in the 1950s and grew and consolidated in the 1970s in response to the changing concerns of higher education, face fragmentation and uncertainty in the 1980s. (Author/MLW)

Understanding the climate and culture of the campus is essential to improving organizational effectiveness. Institutional researchers will be influenced increasingly by research in this area, by improving their awareness, defining important dimensions of the institutional culture, establishing benchmarks for future reference, actively undertaking…

In the interest of understanding the role of Chief Planning Officers (CPO) in gaining broad support for planning within an institution of higher education, this paper used a national survey of administrators to examine that role. This study, conducted by the National Center for Postsecondary Governance and Finance, involved a survey of 3,333…

Interinstitutional researchers face a variety of complex issues that need to be understood and dealt with to ensure the benefits of their involvement. Some issues are reviewed and future concerns are addressed. (Author/LBH)

Based on a national survey of college administrators' (n=3,333) views of planning, this study investigated the relationship between having a chief planning officer to coordinate planning functions and perceptions of and attitudes toward campus planning. Results suggest the presence of a planner increased perceptions of more rational and…

Institutional research that examines the influence of organizational and administrative factors on student learning may be critical in improving educational performance. The role that institutional researchers might play in reducing semantic confusion and enhancing understanding of how colleges and universities improve student learning is…

The implications of the new environmental realities of postsecondary education governance/management and telematics for institutional research as a practice and profession challenge the Association for Institutional Research to take a more proactive leadership strategy. (Author/MLW)

This study aimed to provide systematic empirical evidence for how postsecondary institutions support and promote the use of assessment information in academic decision making. A survey instrument, Institutional Support for Student Assessment, was developed as an inventory of external influences on student assessment; institutional approaches to…

Proposes that the nature of institutional research has expanded as colleges and universities adapt to new challenges and conditions and that institutional researchers need to become knowledge industry analysts. Reviews the history of institutional research and identifies 21st century challenges, such as changing patterns of diversity and academic…

Using a theoretical model of institutional culture, organizational climate, and faculty motivation, a study examined how faculty (n=1,123) and administrators (n=381) in 10 colleges differed in their perceptions, whether differences were affected by institution type, and to what extent faculty and administrators had different implicit models of…

This paper focuses on the void in the literature on the methodology of institutional research and examines the complex process of interaction that occurs when an institution engages a faculty member or academic unit to assume primary responsibility for conducting a research project on behalf of the institution. A case study of a study conducted by…

This paper reviews and synthesizes the literature on institutional support for student assessment, offering an organizing framework for using this information to shape institutional policies, processes, and practices in ways that lead to both improved student performance and institutional functioning. The framework, first, involves the overall…

University-based postsecondary research centers are discussed and issues of concern to these researchers are reviewed. A coalition of university researchers is viewed as important for combatting the lack of attention to higher education research. Two models for a coalition are discussed. (SF)