In the modern world, higher education is transitioning from enrollment mode to recruitment mode. This shift paved the way for institutional research and policy making from historical data perspective. More and more universities in the U.S. are implementing and using enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, which collect vast amounts of data.…

The value of qualitative assessment approaches has been underestimated primarily because they are often juxtaposed against long-standing quantitative traditions and the widely accepted premise that the best research produces generalizable and statistically significant findings. Institutional researchers avoid qualitative methods for at least three…

A discussion of methods for measuring college faculty workload first reviews course load analysis, the traditional method used to define, measure, and report faculty workload, then suggests some data alternatives and related issues faced by institutional research offices. Suggestions are offered for locating existing workload data, compiling a…

This document defines a wide range of measures of the outcomes (results or impacts) of postsecondary education institutions and their programs and suggests procedures for acquiring the data needed for each measure. The outcome measures described are ones identified by a survey of institutional and state-level decision makers as providing the…

This article focuses on describing how institutional researchers can use qualitative cultural assessments to better understand the role that their campus cultures play in shaping individual and group behaviors and experiences. A special emphasis is given to the implications of institutional diversity in the processes of designing and conducting…

The Student Outcomes Assessment Program (SOAP) at Pima Community College (PCC) in Arizona has six major components: (1) the use of success indicators to assess the college's success in achieving its mission; (2) a classroom assessment mini-grant program designed to support faculty research with a direct effect on learning; (3) the use of general…

A statewide system of reporting faculty workload for the 18 Maryland state community colleges is described, and study findings on faculty workload are presented. Data are collected for full-time teaching faculty who are tenured or on continuous contract. Major findings include: 89 percent of faculty workload is spent in formal classroom…

Program evaluation at Waukesha County Technical Institute consists of two phases: a review of student enrollment, job placement, and program costs, which occurs every two years; and a comprehensive review of program content, student job performance, and instructional effectiveness, which occurs every five years. A schedule for conducting program…

W. John Minter and Howard R. Bowen's annual report on "Financial and Educational Trends in Independent Higher Education, 1978" is examined. Problems in data reporting by college administrators that skew financial assessment reports are noted. A rating questionnaire for institutional quality is appended. (Author/LBH)

This study reviews selected aspects of the evaluation process for the American Council on Education-Kellogg Project on Leadership and Institutional Transformation. Attention is focused on developing an understanding of institutional transformation and the "lessons learned" about the various methods and strategies used. Institutions were…

Equal pay for equal work by persons of equal qualifications is the concept behind laws against race and sex discrimination in salaries in the United States. However, determining the existence and extent of discrimination is not a simple matter. A four-step procedure is recommended that attempts to uncover the existence of discrimination and begins…

Efforts to assess quality of academic life at Vanderbilt University (Tennessee) resulted in a plan to merge qualitative and quantitative measures and uncovered political, logistical, and fiscal issues in collection and use of the two kinds of data. Although qualitative databases are costly, they are also very useful in different ways. (Author/MSE)

This report emphasizes the importance of two types of assessment: (1) authentic assessment, which encompasses a holistic or comprehensive view of student performance, and (2) assessment of institutional effectiveness, or outcomes assessment, which is a process of measuring how effectively a college executes its stated mission. While Hudson County…

As more emphasis is placed upon institutional research that provides information relating to long-term strategic planning, as well as to short-term operational considerations, program evaluation techniques that merely analyze past or current budget and enrollment statistics will become increasingly inadequate. Such techniques are based on data…

Greenfield Community College (GCC) established a participatory management process in 1978 which incorporates: (1) a reorganized governance structure; (2) data collection activities; (3) a mechanism for establishing and implementing institutional goals; and (4) an evaluation component for the entire management process. The new governance structure…