Considering accountability, affordability, and access through the experiences in Chile, East Asia, Australia, Croatia, and the United States offers a clear reminder that trends and issues in higher education are often more similar across national contexts than they are distinct. Across higher education, institutions and systems are responding to…

Problems associated with low response rates to surveys are considered, drawing from the literature on the methodology of survey research. A series of analyses are presented which were designed to examine the efficacy of Astin and Molm's procedure to adjust for nonresponse biases. Data were obtained form the Cooperative Institutional Research…

In the context of the debate about quality and its assurance and assessment in higher education, a study was undertaken of professional regulatory bodies (PRBs), and their involvement in British higher education. The study involved a survey of 92 professional and regulatory bodies, in-depth interviews with group representatives, discussions at a…

This book is a functional study of colleges and universities and is intended to aid: (1) those responsible for the documentation of these institutions including archivists, records managers, administrators, historians, librarians; and (2) those responsible for documentation within other institutions such as banks, hospitals, governments, etc. For…

The background and function of a Student Opinion Survey Program at the University of Kansas are described, and suggestions for the development and implementation of polling programs are offered. At the University of Kansas, the technical expertise of staff and students was tapped to provide a credible survey program. Departments and other offices…

The level of awareness, knowledge, and current practices regarding strategic marketing within institutional research (IR) offices were studied for colleges in the Rocky Mountain region. Of the 18 responding offices, 9 indicated that their institutions utilized a marketing approach to planning. Of these 9 offices, 56 percent reported formal…

Decries the present trend to equate bigness with quality, even in research efforts, and to favor large research projects at the expense of independent investigators and small institutions. (PB)

Longitudinal data from seven institutions demonstrate the utility of comparative trend analysis of teaching loads. (Editor)

A survey of state government action regarding faculty workload and utilization shows the extent of legislative and executive department concern. (Editor)

Argues that institutional research efforts to ascertain faculty workload will continue to fail because of basic methodological and conceptual fallacies. (Author)

A group of external consultants conducted a review of the political science programs at the institutions within the state university system of Florida and made recommendations based on their findings. Their research focused on three questions: (1) How well does the department integrate itself into the university's mission? (2) How well does the…

An initial review of philosophy and religious studies programs in the state university system of Florida was conducted in 1983-84. This is a report of the five year follow-up review conducted to assess the progress made in response to the original recommendations and to report on current program status. A systemwide overview with recommendations…

A "formal information inventory" survey method was used to help educate a university campus about outcomes assessment while identifying assessment activities already being undertaken. The survey was sent to 102 individuals identified as being responsible for, or having knowledge of, any assessment activities within a department or area,…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a token monetary incentive for improving response rates to a mail questionnaire with a difficult to survey postsecondary student population. The results demonstrate that by using a monetary incentive, a substantial improvement in response rate can be achieved at a reasonable cost per…

Recent Australian and New Zealand studies on college student workload are reviewed. Most of the studies have viewed workload questions in the broader context of arrangements for teaching, learning, and assessment. A Monash University, Australia, study assessed the total amount of work done by students, the distribution of study time between…