Provides examples of successful student affairs research, evaluation and assessment efforts, looking at how the collaboration between student affairs research and institutional research can be increased and improved. Focuses on the importance of: understanding the student and the educational environment; using outcome-driven assessment; including…

A student affairs researcher and institutional researcher discuss how their perspectives and approaches are both similar and different and how collaboration has enriched their work together. Focuses on: the political climate within which research exists; the mission and goals of the research; use of theory; research methods; reporting and…

Considers whether information about outcomes can improve what and how things are done on campus, and whether improvements provide information that can help make important changes to strengthen programs and services. The University of Missouri-Columbia addressed these questions and this paper provides some of the answers they discovered.…

Much progress has been made in efforts to conduct, support, value, and use the scholarship of teaching and learning in higher education. Nevertheless, to further enhance student learning, many challenges remain. (Contains 1 table.)

This chapter demonstrates how institutional researchers at institutions of higher education can use economic theory for enrollment management. (Contains 4 figures.)

The authors construct and respond to several questions about changing administrative costs for new Research I Universities, a group of institutions that might be expected to incur new costs as a result of their new status. Using IPEDS data, the study provides mixed support for the claim that universities reaching the pinnacle of research…

This study examines the variables that are the most strongly associated with institutional prestige and reputation and presents an exploratory model. This research expands earlier efforts by including more recent data on larger populations of public and private universities, as well as on liberal arts colleges. The analysis draws upon data from…

While many studies have examined nonresponse in student surveys, little research investigates why some schools achieve higher student survey response rates than other schools. Using hierarchical linear modeling, we analyze survey data from 321 institutions that participated in the 2003 National Survey of Student Engagement to understand how…

The Breakthrough High Schools (BTHS) project involved 25 high schools nationwide, each with a student population of at least 50% under-represented minority students and a minimum of 50% of students qualifying for free or reduced-price meals. And yet, at least 90% of all their students graduated from high school and were accepted into a…

This report sets forth the National Endowment for the Humanities' goals and objectives and highlights its related accomplishments for the year just concluded. Also included in the report is information on the Endowment's finances and operations during the year.

Facilities that self-police under the Environmental Protection Agency's Audit Policy are eligible for reduced penalties on disclosed violations. This paper investigates whether self-policing has additional consequences; in particular, whether self-policing reduces future enforcement activity. Using data on U.S. hazardous waste enforcement and…

Findings from an analysis of the characteristics and services of community rehabilitation providers (CRPs) in the early years of the 21st century are presented. Services provided by CRPs can be categorized along two dimensions: purpose (work, nonwork) and setting (facility-based, community). The number of individuals with disabilities present…

This report is designed to keep you up-to-date on APA's priorities, ongoing activities, and annual special events. This issue contains APA Directorate reports, the President's report, and the Treasurer's report.

The value of qualitative assessment approaches has been underestimated primarily because they are often juxtaposed against long-standing quantitative traditions and the widely accepted premise that the best research produces generalizable and statistically significant findings. Institutional researchers avoid qualitative methods for at least three…

The construct validity of scores on the Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire (SACQ) was examined using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The purpose of this study was to test the fit of the SACQ authors' proposed four-factor model using a sample of university students. Results indicated that the hypothesized model did not fit. Additional…