Institutions that have organized and centralized their data enjoy an obvious advantage in grappling with strategic planning and other issues. As the drumbeat for accountability, planning, and demonstrating effectiveness to internal and external stakeholders intensifies, the stature and importance of institutional research offices on most campuses…

This chapter describes techniques and projects that most institutions need if they are to be viable in an increasingly competitive labor market. The authors assert that institutional researchers who increase their involvement in workforce development initiatives can become more valuable to their institution.

This article sketches a research agenda for the further study of community college student transitions. Specific techniques are depicted as are potential data sources that can be used to pursue that agenda. The role of student tracking systems in transition research is discussed as well as the applicability of national surveys to the study of…

This chapter discusses how workforce development initiatives vary widely across governments and institutions, and how institutional research can help bridge the gaps between them. (Contains 1 note.)