Although institutional researchers devote a great deal of time mining and using student data to fulfill mandatory federal and state reports and analyze institutional effectiveness, financial and personnel information is also necessary for such endeavors. In this article, the authors discuss the challenges that arise from extracting data from…

The increasing data about institutions of higher education and the availability of this data are described and evaluated. The data bases need further development and coordination of standards, exchange guidelines, and accessing procedures to be most beneficial. (Author/LBH)

The expanding networks of computer hardware, software, and organizations for controlling them and the institutional data bases they access are described. Improvements are making the data sources accessible but raise some new problems for data managers and institutional researchers. (Author/LBH)

Problems of the college or university that center around the people who use the institution's computers are examined. It is suggested that effective use of computers in higher education depends on how well the users and providers understand the constraints and problems of each information system. (Author/SF)

Administrative computing in higher education and its implications for the management of colleges and universities are explored. The evolution of administrative computing is traced from the use of minicomputers to the implementation of a management information system. (Author/SF)

Advanced communication and computing technologies create new resources and new opportunities in expanded role relationships for institutional research. Approaches to impact analysis and the rates of future change are discussed. (Author/MLW)

Computer-based information systems have evolved from emphasizing data processing to providing full and flexible support for management. They have moved from providing mere data to providing a medium for representing knowledge wherein managers can analyze data, formulate ideas, structure arguments, and building models. (Author/MLW)

The politics of information on college campuses are seen in national, regional, and statewide concern with planning, management, and evaluation. Concepts, methods, and information-processing styles in each of these three institutional functions have been greatly influenced by political pressures in the past 15 years. (Author/MLW)

The impact of technical advances in computer hardware is examined. Size, cost, ease of use, expandability, and availability are discussed to help assess the impact of these advances on information systems. It is suggested that technology is making administrative computing economical and feasible. (Author/SF)

Internal institutional auditing can improve effectiveness and efficiency and protect an institution's assets. Many of the concepts and techniques used to analyze higher education institutions are qualitative in nature and suited to institutional research, including fiscal, operational, data-processing, investigative, management consulting,…

Proprietary software available to the institutional researcher is discussed. It is suggested that as more institutions use proprietary software, the institutional researcher may find that varying levels of involvement in the process of evaluating and acquiring such software can result in the availability of more useful facilities. (Author/SF)

Advancements and trends in administrative computing are discussed and their implications for management are examined. Trends in software and hardware development as well as cost and capability are also investigated. Sources of information on computer development, including publications and organizations, are listed. (Author/SF)

Concerns about published comparisons of colleges and universities are organized into a framework to guide further research. A systematic method for addressing specific issues about the guides is presented, and the environment in which the guides are used is examined. Research needed to assure that the guides make a valued contribution and are fair…

The Total Quality Management approach is used as a framework for a discussion of methodological issues related to diversity in higher education, including classification of race and ethnic information, data aggregation, and use of several key indicators (access to college, persistence, and student progress). (MSE)

College and university institutional researchers can use unemployment insurance wage and related files to describe and compare students' workplace status before, during, and after enrollment. However, some issues must be addressed, including data delays, uncovered employment and other work status, confidentiality of records, information…