In the past 20 years, the number of international faculty members at American universities has continued to increase rapidly. This growth is evident in data showing that the proportional representation of foreign-born faculty easily surpasses that of domestic underrepresented racial/ethnic groups. The increasing presence of international faculty…

In this chapter, the author proposes a model for assessing institutional effectiveness. The Volkwein model for assessing institutional effectiveness consists of five parts that summarize the steps for assessing institutions, programs, faculty, and students. The first step in the model distinguishes the dual purposes of institutional effectiveness:…

Economic models of the way in which faculty allocate their time, and the behavior of labor markets, can help inform institutional research on faculty in a variety of ways. (Contains 3 tables and 3 figures.)

Discussing the definitions and perspectives regarding the notion of productivity in higher education, the author indicates that his effort has highlighted the inadequacy of our current ability to measure and analyze productivity, more specifically to determine and measure the value of the outcomes of higher education. (JT)

Increasingly, higher education institutions are using Total Quality Management (TQM) as a vehicle for delivering cost-effective programs and services. The TQM philosophy is that quality can be improved by ceaselessly improving the processes that support the institution's mission. TQM is applicable to institutional research and planning as well as…

Describes the purposes and roles of institutional researchers: (1) describe the institution, (2) analyze alternatives, (3) present the best case, and (4) supply impartial evidence, noting three dualities internal vs external demands; academic vs administrative culture; and institutional vs professional role that are particularly relevant. Also…

The computational methodology illustrated in this chapter provides higher educational planners at the federal, state, and institutional level with several alternative procedures for calculating productivity measures. Illustrations show that better institutional productivity measures can be constructed from existing data with a multidimensional…

Faculty performance and vitality are perennial issues that should be clearly linked to revitalized or reaffirmed institutional missions and to shared commitments to institutional excellence. It is suggested that there must also be institutional concern for faculty and the quantity and quality of students. (MLW)

Results of two empirical studies of factors affecting academic quality give insight into ways in which educational costs, quality factors, and institutional structure increase or restrict productivity. It is found that evaluation of academic productivity is complex because of difficulties in determining inputs and outputs. Useful improvement…

Comparing an institution's fund-raising cash proceeds with other institutions' is straightforward, using readily available data. However, measuring fund-raising productivity requires care in defining related expenses and resulting fund-raising achievements. Simplifying assumptions can be helpful. (Author/MSE)

The author contends that empirical analyses of productivity have placed much more importance on the availability of data than on the suitability of data. He recommends compiling evidence about the interface of the schooling system and society and then examining incentive structures and tradeoffs among alternative production possibilities. (JT)

On the assumption that student learning is the principal outcome of higher education, the author presents a model of individual choice (as opposed to a methodological approach that assumes some exogeneously determined goal), which incorporates the student in his role as consumer and producer of knowledge and the complementary faculty role. (JT)

Reports a study of state budgeting for higher education that reveals some reasons for the gap between theoretical concepts of productivity improvement and state and institutional practices. Includes discussion of state-level implementation of productivity concepts, constraints on institutional decision makers, and problems in the application of…

Contends that the application of principles and analytical techniques of economics shows higher education to be generally more productive than other private and public enterprises. Suggests how institutions that exploit productive opportunities, which increase the value of student-embodied abilities to create and produce, will survive and prosper.…

Measurement of faculty research performance is multidimensional, and no single type of measure can assess the full range of professional role performance. A variety of subjective and quantitative measures and weighting systems should be used together to minimize bias. (MSE)