In Fall 2011, staff at the University of Minnesota Libraries-Twin Cities undertook a project to measure how often, and in what ways, students used the Libraries' services. Partnering with the University's Office of Institutional Research, the team investigated ways to match library service usage to individual accounts while retaining patron…

In this paper we analyze the relationship between charter school authorizers and student achievement. We perform this analysis using a 10-year panel dataset from Minnesota, a state that permits four distinct types of authorizers--local school boards, postsecondary institutions, nonprofit organizations, and the Minnesota Department of Education.…

This article reports the findings of an evaluation of the faculty development component of the Faculty for the Engaged Campus initiative. For this component, the Community-Engaged Scholarship Faculty Development Charrette was attended by 20 university teams from across the United States, and six teams subsequently received 2 years of funding and…

This chapter describes the system office for community college institutional research for the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities. What makes this System Offices for Community College Institutional Research (SOCCIR) somewhat different from the others reviewed in this volume is that the Minnesota system IR office has responsibilities for both…

The University of Minnesota Extension conducted a social network analysis (SNA) to examine its outreach to organizations external to the University of Minnesota. The study found that its outreach network was both broad in its reach and strong in its connections. The study found that SNA offers a unique method for describing and measuring Extension…

This chapter describes the National Student Clearinghouse and discusses opportunities and challenges for tracking community college students. It also presents a system perspective on using clearinghouse data to promote more comprehensive student and graduate tracking. (Contains 2 tables.)

When Minnesota conducted its experiment on countering rising tuition by increasing aid to needy students, the necessary research involved institutional researchers and student aid officers at both the campus and state levels. The approach appears to have had largely favorable consequences. (Author/MSE)

Summaries of the design, planning, and implementation of performance funding programs in Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Washington reveal the challenges and opportunities of this reform approach. Performance measures and objectives and the history of the program in each…

Concern about the quality of public colleges and universities and the effectiveness of mechanisms for governing and financing them have led states to launch reviews of their higher education systems. The experiences of four states (Arkansas, Kentucky, Michigan, and Minnesota) are described. (MLW)