Outlines specific needs for a comprehensive research effort, describes the present status of research in the community colleges of Illinois, defines the comprehensive nature and role of community college institutional research, and considers the implications for the selection and in-service training of researchers. (DC)

The portfolio approach to evaluation can be a useful method of screening and comparing educational programs in terms of their productivity and potential. In the field of investments, portfolio analysis consists of identifying the relative strengths of assets in terms of the dimensions of return and potential for growth. College programs can be…

Information is presented from a study examining the characteristics of Sam Houston State University (SHSU) undergraduate students with respect to their age and grade point average (GPA). It was hypothesized that there was no significant difference between the GPAs of traditional and nontraditional students at SHSU. The 398 individual subjects were…

This comprehensive report summarizes the results of the Instructional Locations Away from the Main Campus Survey, Fall 1989. The five tables of data contained in the report are as follows: Table I presents summary information on the 471 instructional locations away from the main campus that were reported; Table II presents detail information by…

This paper presents a comprehensive case analysis of formal environmental scanning processes in three different institutions of higher education. The study focuses on how environmental scanning activities are organized and used to support institutional planning and decision-making. Special emphasis is placed on describing how environmental…

A national project in the Republic of South Africa (RSA) to facilitate and coordinate institutional research efforts and the research activities at individual universities is described. A proposal for a comprehensive research project on higher education in RSA is included. One project at the University of the Orange Free State (UOFS) is designed…

Although college students may provide the data for many studies of educational institutions, the viewpoint of students is often excluded from the interpretation of these data. The social scientists and educational researchers who examine colleges and universities are adult/professionals and more likely to identify with other adult/professionals…

The economic benefits of nonresident college students on the West Virginia economy were assessed. Estimates were made of the approximate effects of tuition and fees, visitors' expenditures, and student living expenses. During the 1985-1986 academic year, the 10,091 nonresident students enrolled in West Virginia higher education institutions…

The use of a robust statistical technique to implement a decentralized faculty allocation procedure at a medium size public university is discussed. The least median of squares (LMS), a regression technique introduced by Rousseeuw, was used instead of the usual least sum of squares, or least squares. The LMS technique was used to assist in the…

The Objective-Based Assessment, Planning, and Resource Allocation System (OAPRAS) that was developed and implemented at Middlesex County College is described. The integrated self-assessment planning and budgeting system was developed in 1981. The central purpose of OAPRAS was to link resource allocation decisions to the prioritized objectives that…

Conference papers calling for newer constructs in organizational theory to explicate problems in understanding educational organizations were content analyzed to explore paradigmatic assumptions and to demonstrate a fit between assumptions. Papers supporting the use of qualitative methodologies were also analyzed. The papers were from the 1983…

The wide variety of management approaches (zero-based budgeting, decision support systems, etc.) that have emerged in recent decades are reviewed. The questions of whether strategic management is simply another fad, and whether it can work in colleges and universities, are discussed. The development of strategic management is traced, both in…

Relevant macroeconomic perspectives to improve investment planning and managing of resources in colleges and universities is discussed. Five sections are as follows: (1) simple relationships between expenditures and giving (simple costs and returns); (2) conceptual refinements: predisposition and capacity (effects of predisposition, effects of…

The status of part-time faculty at Ferris State College during the 1984 fall quarter was investigated. A total of 53 part-timers completed the survey, which was based on the concerns of members of the Ferris Professional Women's organization. It was found that part-time faculty members were likely to be female, 36-50 years old, married, with a…

Georgia State University underwent an accreditation visit believed to be unique in postsecondary education. Eleven agencies sent their committees to the campus during one week in May 1977. The evaluators from these agencies totaled 72. The coordinated approach was aimed at reducing the institutional burden by saving time, effort, and money, while…