Robert G. Cope's report on strategic planning models and techniques among higher education institutions is reviewed and found to shed light on the concept and processes of strategic planning. (MSE)

Describes LONESTAR, a longitudinal tracking system developed for a consortium of Texas community colleges in response to a new state mandate on remedial education. Looks at the features of LONESTAR that respond to short-term reporting requirements and facilitate long-term tracking of students. (DMM)

Colleges and universities will be reshaped somewhat as they change their approach to the increasingly complex and critical issue of faculty resource management in the next 10-15 years. The challenge for institutional researchers in this context is less to predict the future than to help shape it. (Author/MSE)

Five issues that emerge in institutional research when studying diversity on campus are identified: (1) the researcher is part of the change process; (2) in framing research questions, focus on the institution; (3) combining qualitative and quantitative methods can provide greater insight; (4) diversity touches all institutional elements and…

Findings and methodologies from recent research on college faculty workload are reviewed and implications for higher education policy are suggested. It is noted that although such studies have not resulted in demonstrable change in allocation of faculty work, they have focused attention on enhanced learning, and that the research has yet to…

A university president advises policy analysts to understand the realities of institutional administration, including the power and influence of the board of trustees, time constraints, importance of ceremonies and symbols, administrative accountability, dangers of the rumor mill, problems in implementing policy recommendations, and the tendency…

Increasingly, higher education institutions are using Total Quality Management (TQM) as a vehicle for delivering cost-effective programs and services. The TQM philosophy is that quality can be improved by ceaselessly improving the processes that support the institution's mission. TQM is applicable to institutional research and planning as well as…

Four different higher education case studies are offered as contexts for exploring the implications of the draft code of ethics prepared by the Committee on Standards and Ethics of the Association for Institutional Research and of the strategies for ethical decision making. (MSE)

Agencies in at least a dozen states are seeking information about college faculty workload, including number of student contact hours, reflecting concern about faculty productivity and quality of undergraduate teaching. The issue is considered delicate, but both internal and external pressure to account for faculty time and salaries are mounting.…

To effectively communicate agendas and goals, new college presidents need to acquire cultural perspective on their institutions, seeing the campus as a lived experience, interpreting its themes, and deciphering its shared meanings and symbolic processes. This allows him to experience the continuity of the institution and become part of it.…

A new model for administration of institutional research in small colleges is proposed as an alternative to the traditional centralized program model. Application of the model for two years suggests that its decentralized but integrated approach responds well to the institution's internal and external research needs. (MSE)

Major categories of national higher education data are outlined and descriptions and sources are provided for over 50 databases. Categories include institutional descriptors, enrollments/completions, student demography, student longitudinal data, financial aid, institutional financial support, tuition/fees, faculty/staff salaries and benefits,…

Examines educational history to discover the process by which curriculum became a universal idea and how the concept of the classroom was invented. Argues that universal ideas and inventions such as the classroom result in the creation of dominant institutional categories that exert a powerful influence over what can or cannot be done by…

Reporting occupies a central place in institutional research but is ongoing and never completed. With automation and data management, the proportion of time spent on either routine or ad hoc reporting should decline. This function need not draw unnecessarily from resources for more interesting work. (MSE)

Evaluates the success of the Cornell Tradition Program, designed to encourage current undergraduate aid recipients to give back to the university after graduation. Results indicate institutional efforts can have a positive impact on the long-term giving behavior of alumni. The Input-Commitment-Environment-Output model used shows promise as a tool…