Job stress among institutional researchers and approaches to managing or coping with stress are considered. In considering different types of stressors and stress reactions, it is noted that stress from all sources is cumulative and cannot be ignored during the workday, and that both pleasant and unpleasant happenings can result in stress. One…

The use of Higher Education General Information Survey (HEGIS) data and a software program to compare public university expenditures is discussed. Financial expenditures at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, (UNC) and other public universities were compared using 1981-1982 and 1982-1983 HEGIS data for public university members of the…

The most advantageous relationship between computer technology and institutional research is considered. Three potential problem areas are discussed: those associated with a central data processing center, those germane to minicomputers or terminals within the institutional research office, and those nondiscriminating types which cover both…

Students entering the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as freshmen in 1967-72 were followed for approximately six years after their initial enrollment to determine the number who received their bachelor's degrees from the institution. For all six freshmen classes combined, 49.9 percent received their degrees within four years, 64.8…

An induced course load matrix (ICLM) can be a valuable tool for examining the educational process at most postsecondary educational institutions, but the complexity and bulk of the ICLM computer printout is a hindrance. Experiences in using an ICLM at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are described. Examples from an ICLM printout are…

The relationship of students' certainty about academic and career plans to student retention and persistence to graduation was investigated. The effect of race was also considered. In fall 1979 a survey was administered to 3,277 freshmen entering a major, public, research university. Respondents indicated reasons for choosing a college, their…

The way that the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, has tried to depoliticize minority admissions through the use of predicted graduation equations that are race specific is examined. Multiple regression and discriminant analyses were used with nine independent variables (primarily academic) to predict graduation status of 1974 entering…

Student retention at the University of North Carolina--Chapel Hill is examined using different student levels (freshman, transfer, masters, professional, and doctoral) as a basis for comparison. Intrainstitutional data have the advantage of being readily available and they highlight the difference among levels within the institution. Understanding…

Four themes appear consistently in discussions of college and university institutional research in the twenty-first century: accelerating change, need for information access, need for better comparative data, and the dilemma that occurs when institutional research offices are required to provide both policy analysis and technological competence.…

A longitudinal look at the entering freshman classes of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill during the years 1966, 1970, 1974, 1978 is presented. Comparisons are made with entering freshmen at all universities participating in the annual freshman norms surveys sponsored by the American Council on Education and the Cooperative…

The usefulness of equations to predict graduation from college was studied using data from the 1974 freshman class of a major research university. The following predictor variables were assessed using multiple regression and discriminant analyses: sex, race, residency, major, high school rank, high school size, Scholastic Aptitide Test scores, and…

Data collected in a fall 1975 survey of the spring 1974 graduates of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH) were used to analyze the effects that various student characteristics have on the selection of post-college activities by bachelor's degree graduates. A 25-percent stratified, random sample was used with a response rate of…

All May 1977 graduates of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill were surveyed about their future plans and general impressions of their educational experiences. The response rate was about 46 percent and representative of the school's population, except that blacks were significantly underrepresented among respondents. Overall, about 23…