Comparison is inherent to system and state coordination activities and is valuable for overall review and for identifying differential needs. A variety of factors affect interinstitutional comparisons, and close cooperation between boards and institutions can increase the effectiveness of the process. (MSE)

While the electronic fact book will not replace the paper variety used by colleges and universities to disseminate institutional information, there are a number of uses for the electronic format, which accommodates both quantity and currency of information. Considerations in producing an electronic fact book are discussed, and a seven-day process…

The college or university fact book may be the single most important document it publishes, indicating that the institution is open to scrutiny by its many constituents, providing data concerning institutional mission and effectiveness, providing a basis for internal and external evaluation, and reflecting the institution's success or failure in…

Five categories of student outcomes in graduate and professional education are identified: timely degree completion; knowledge of the discipline; preparedness for professional practice; preparation for research and inquiry; preparation for teaching. A framework for assessing each is offered and various methods for collecting data on student…

Data from a national faculty survey and other research on faculty motivation give insight into the difficulty of categorizing faculty work and productivity into discrete categories. The studies examine how time is experienced by faculty and used within the academic culture. Implications for definition of workload are examined. (MSE)

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…

A framework for analyzing and classifying cost factors in higher education is presented. Costs are located in three sources (individual colleges and universities, the higher education community, and the socioeconomic and scientific-technological environment), and within each source, are a result of either cultural or material conditions. (MSE)

A college's administrative services and support units must give attention to improving quality and service just as instructional units do. Greater efficiency and productivity among noninstructional units can have a significant impact on institutional feasibility. Cost reduction is most effective when there is a common understanding of core…

The study of academics and athletics presents several methodological problems. Athletics research requires knowledge of numerous definitions and an understanding of the political environment in which sports operate, as revealed by an analysis of several models for calculating graduation rates, because these issues shape research outcomes.…

The derivation of discipline cost indexes, developed to permit accurate interinstitutional comparisons of relative costs among disciplines, is explained using expenditure data from five peer institutions. How the indexes have been used in one research university's budget allocation process is then described. (Author/MSE)

A procedure for smoothing proportions of a double-entry expectancy table is described. The product is a nomograph from which can be read expectancies from combinations of values of two predictor variables. Use of the procedure in admission of first-year college students, based on students' high school class rank and standardized test composite…

Strategies for the college institutional researcher to use in responding to an unethical request for information or research are outlined, including techniques for developing an effective personal administrative style, basic principles of strategic communication, and the ultimate option of resignation. (MSE)

Student culture exerts significant influence on many aspects of college life by determining the kinds of people with whom one spends time and the values and attitudes to which one is exposed. To encourage attitudes and values consistent with the institution's educational purpose, cultural elements must be discovered and understood. (Author/MSE)

Characteristics of enrollees in the Michigan Education Trust, an advance tuition payment plan, during its 1988 and 1989 open enrollment periods are examined and compared with those of the state's general population and the 1988 entering class of freshmen in its public universities. (Author/MSE)

Evaluation of the impact of prospective students' contacts with the institution is an objective of the admissions research agenda at Tufts University (Massachusetts). An annual survey gathers information on individuals who make inquiries but do not submit an application and on the parents of matriculating students. (MSE)