Trade-off analysis, a powerful and precise research technique, can help an institution determine the direction in which it must move to change its position within the competitive market space. (MSE)

Most assessment efforts suffer from being externally imposed on reluctant institutions. Factors that appear to influence the effectiveness of the various kinds of assessment attempts, their purpose and design, and their relationship to the ongoing health and prospects for institutions are discussed. (Author/MLW)

A regional survey of 141 higher education institutional research offices investigated the following aspects of program administration: research and analysis staff size; educational preparation and experience; location in the organizational hierarchy; functions and tasks; and role in assessment. Four different types of offices are described.…

Discussion of the introduction of quality assurance into Spanish universities gives a brief recent history of the university system, describes first experiences in quality assessment during the 1990s and their results, and explains the structure and outcomes of the 1995 institutionalization of a national program for institutional evaluation.…

Evaluation can provide the assessment information for considering program change as well as be integral to the program design and pilot test of any new institutional intervention. (Contains 4 tables.)