Presents abstracts of a sample of ERIC documents dealing with community surveys. Covers a labor pool resource survey; community needs assessment surveys; a community needs follow-up; and surveys of community attitudes toward a college's delivery systems and programs and toward continuing education. (DMM)

Report of a study of strategic planning, conducted by EDUCOM, a consortium of colleges and universities engaged in sharing educational technology applications, portrays information processing ideas, goals, and plans at 10 innovative colleges and universities. (Author/JJD)

The use of the institutional research function in higher education institutions in Australia is discussed. The importance of this function for active and long-range planning and information gathering is emphasized, and the organization of the information system--centralized or decentralized--is considered. (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)

Argues that community college survival requires reliable information about environmental factors, trends, and changes. Reviews the use of strategic planning and change strategies. Considers the best way to organize an information-gathering unit, where to place it in the school's organizational structure, and how to staff it. (WL)

Describes the reporting system implemented by Mercer County Community College (New Jersey) to account for the costs of responding to external requests for information. Outlines the procedures for assigning priority to data requests, filling the requests, and reporting costs. Provides samples of forms. (JP)

Cites and provides annotations for eight documents and five journal articles from the ERIC collection dealing with institutional research in the two-year college. (AYC)

Discusses the following factors influencing the role of community college institutional researchers: the current emphasis on proposal writing and grant management, fiscal constraints, mission expansion, marketing, program evaluations, faculty/administrator relations, institutional credibility and change, college planning, and issues of the 1980s.…

The planning process at Christopher Newport College in Virginia is described. The college has utilized an integrated planning system that incorporates qualitative and quantitative elements into a process that can adapt to the institution's unique social and political situation. (Author/SF)

Creative responses of the poorer higher education institutions to the demands of production under restraints of minimal resource allocation are described. It is suggested that similar cooperative arrangements and group efforts could help other institutions facing financial restraints. Sources for additional information are cited. (Author/SF)

Describes a method of evaluation which ensures maximum yield. Mentions common pitfalls in evaluation procedures and proposes Reality-Based Evaluation (RBE) as a safeguard against them. Outlines RBE and concludes that evaluation results must play an active role in bringing about change. (JG)

The vocabulary of sampling is examined in order to provide a clear understanding of basic sampling concepts. The basic vocabulary of sampling (population, probability sampling, precision and bias, stratification), the fundamental grammar of sampling (random sample), sample size and response rate, and cluster, multiphase, snowball, and panel…

The analysis of questionnaire data involves a sequence of planned activities beginning with questionnaire development and concluding with a report of the results of the study. Most questionnaires require the use of numerical codes to facilitate computer processing of results and to select appropriate statistical procedures for summarizing the…

School counselors need to know which methods work best with their students. One means of determining this is presented. Limitations exist in the generalizability of findings. A major feature of intensive experimental designs is that large numbers of students are not needed to conduct meaningful evaluation of an intervention. (Author/BEF)

An analysis of the structure, function, and government of departments, professional schools, and institutes or centers is offered. (LBH)