Institutions that have organized and centralized their data enjoy an obvious advantage in grappling with strategic planning and other issues. As the drumbeat for accountability, planning, and demonstrating effectiveness to internal and external stakeholders intensifies, the stature and importance of institutional research offices on most campuses…

The HELP (Higher Education Long-Range Planning) system enables an individual without any prior experience in the field to understand and apply the technology of computers and simulation to management information systems. (Editor)

Colleges and universities, it is suggested, can enhance their effectiveness by adopting a systems approach to organizing, planning, decision-making, and evaluating. A decentralized, participative model that emphasizes systematic planning and management by objectives is presented. (Author/MLW)

This paper describes an emerging model for a comprehensive staff and organizational development program as a continuous and integral activity of the college, and discusses the role of the office of institutional research in such programs. A comprehensive program includes instructional development (instructional evaluation, diagnosis,…

A public relations model provided the basis for the five-step ROPES college fund-raising model: (1) research on the institution, the funding opportunity, and the publics targeted; (2) objective setting for both office output and program impact; (3) programming to meet those objectives; (4) evaluation of the effectiveness, not just efficiency, of…

A series of workshops were offered for vocational education administrators and researchers to train them in institutional research methods in a systems planning context. The basic purpose of the project was to provide an opportunity for vocational educators to become familiar with (1) research methodology; (2) to train vocational educators to…

Viewing curriculum as an academic plan permits development of parallel course and program planning models that are dynamic, conceptually related to student learning, and familiar to institutional planners. Opportunities gained by using the academic plan umbrella for curriculum are described. (Author/MLW)

A time sequence of recruitment activities was developed using high school data to represent the total, potential, and actual student markets for Pennsylvania State University. High schools with similar characteristics were grouped according to potential recruitment yields. Under the assumption that college decision-making behavior approximated the…

Effective utilization of community agents in the marketing process of community colleges is discussed. It is suggested that community-based marketing improves the college's outreach capability and encourages development processes within the community. The various stages of developing community-based processes are explained. (Author/SF)

This paper describes a multi-faceted approach to improving student retention at an urban public university. It is noted that the students at this institution are older, working people; few live on campus and participate in what would be considered traditional student experiences. The paper examines the physical setting and external environment;…

The need to focus upon the organizational factors and consequences of a technological innovation is discussed and the outcome of the pilot implementation of the Academic Unit Planning Manual (AUPM) are reported. The primary intent of the AUPM, a tool developed at the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS), is to assist…

This paper defines a conceptual model for institutional research in the community college and identifies sources of information, programs, and services that provide data necessary for implementation of the model. The model contains four specific subsystems: goal setting, program development, program review, and cost effectiveness. Each subsystem…

Current concepts and realities of comprehensive planning act as a backdrop for a discussion of the types and sources of information required to support components of institutional planning processes. Information to support components of the planning process are outlined in relation to practical opportunities and to the intent, commitment, and…

This paper describes the development of a system for assessing transfer program outcomes (TPO), using the effort at Oakton Community College (OCC) as an example. While originally designed to provide timely information on senior institutions as experienced by transfer students, TPO appeared to do considerably more. System highlights included more…

A systematic needs assessment model that may be useful to program planners in designing student personnel services is examined, and its implementation at East Central University in Ada, Oklahoma, during the 1979-80 academic year is described. The focus of the model is on identifying groups of students with similar service delivery needs through…