The differences between evaluation of academic units and evaluation of administrative units are discussed, and the development and implementation of a procedure for administrative unit evaluation at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is described. (MSE)

The need for information services offers institutional researchers with experience in systems design, data management, and analysis an opportunity to study the key issue involved in providing this service to the campus administrative community. The case of the University of Kansas is described. (Author/MLW)

Effective management and sound education require the development of sophisticated departmental budget models and processes. Efficient methods of resource allocation compatible with institutional organization, goals, and needs have not yet been put into effect. (Editor/LBH)

Various budgeting patterns and strategies are currently in use, each with its own particular strengths and weaknesses. Neither cost-benefit analysis nor cost-effectiveness analysis offers any better solution to the allocation problem than do the unsupported contentions of departments or the historical unit costs. An operable model that performs…

This proceedings contains papers from the 2002 annual conference of the Northeast Association for Institutional Research, a meeting devoted to assessment in the 21st century and the challenges that face institutional research. The papers are: (1) "Putting Community College Enrollment Trends in Perspective by the Use of Census Data and Market…

The theme of the 2001 annual conference of the Northeast Association for Institutional Research was Institutional Research: Leadership through Excellence. These proceedings represent the intellectual content and insights shared during the conference. The papers are: (1) The Rocky Road to Graduation: An Academic Career Flow Model for Tracking…

The goal of this paper is to show how one political science department at a small midwestern university (Millikin University, Decatur, Illinois) used good assessment practices identified by the American Association for Higher Education (AAHE) and others to effect improvement. The paper argues that these principles can be followed and produce…

This book presents summaries of 16 papers presented at a conference on increasing the amount and usefulness of research on alumni relations. Following an introductory paper, "On the Art and Science of Surveying Alumni" (Donna Shoemaker), the papers are: (1) "Targeted Research Gets Results. Comprehensive Research on Alumni Relationships: Four Years…

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 success of an institution in recruiting students is directly related to how well it projects its own uniqueness. (GB)

The author feels that everyone who is engaged in research for purposes of public debate and enlightenment is entitled to protection from government coercion. (Author/PG)

Institutional research too often neglects essential self-study of the educational process. (Editor)

This study investigates educational research productivity in institutions of higher education in the United States based on contributions to American Educational Research Association annual meetings and 14 leading educational research journals over a seven-year period: 1975-1981. Data were analyzed along two dimensions: total productivity and…

Facility analysis, an examination of a higher education complex, its buildings, and their relations in the systematic self-appraisal of the present and future competence of the institution and its ability to perform its mission, is discussed. (MLW)

Developing a rational scanning process that reaches a balance between what is needed and what is possible within the limitations of an institution's resources is discussed. The different kinds of scanning, which kind to use at each stage of the process, and why are described. (MLW)