Colleges have access to more data than ever before, and to unlock its full potential, the right culture, processes, and technologies are needed. Given the pressures now facing campuses, the demand for evidence-based approaches to strategy have intensified. As a result, more attention has been placed on the importance of the relationship between…

We conducted a systematic literature review of 111 empirical studies published between 1969 and 2018. We found that research does not exponentially grow in comparison to research on higher education or leadership; empirical research emerging in the 1980s does not completely replace non-empirical inquiry. Studies from English-speaking authors…

When Geoffrey Sherington and I set out on our project on the Australian Public University, which culminated in "Sydney: The Making of a Public University" (2012), we wanted to move away from the emphasis of conventional institutional history on chancellors, vice-chancellors and governing councils in order to explore the university as a…

Organizations are thought to adopt or evolve to an organizational strategy that will improve organizational effectiveness. Familiar strategies in the business world include a production strategy, low cost strategy, and market orientation strategy. In the world of higher education however organizational strategies may take a different form such as…

When John B. Simpson, president of the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo, compares the campus over which he presides to its public-university peers, the contrast can be unflattering. Buildings and laboratories need upgrading. Richer, more prestigious institutions have a leg up in attracting renowned scholars and big-ticket federal…

In today's accountability climate, regional accrediting bodies are requiring colleges and universities to develop and sustain a culture of evidence-based decision making and improvement. But two-thirds of college presidents in a 2011 "Inside Higher Ed" survey said their institutions are not particularly strong at using data for making decisions.…

In 2002 President Martin Jischke initiated a new era in strategic planning at Purdue. Under his leadership, strategic planning became a centralized activity with unit plans aligned to the university plan. Strategic goals were designed to have maximum impact, which would be measurable through metrics. Strategic planning at Purdue would be an…

This article describes the Voluntary Support for Education (VSE) Survey, an instrument created by the Council for Aid to Education. Our objective is to explain VSE's potential value as a tool to inform both institutional and academic research regarding fund-raising activities at community colleges. Of particular interest is how the data available…

The past 25 years have witnessed an ebb and flow of the accountability movement in the United States as national interest in and concern about the quality and effectiveness of higher education have moved in and out of the forefront of public consciousness. Today Democrats and Republicans alike are critical of higher education and calling for…

Outlines findings of a survey asking community college presidents in four states to list the questions and issues that should be given priority in college research agendas. Indicates that questions relating to student characteristics and success, curriculum, organizational and community development, articulation, faculty, and leadership were the…

A university president advises policy analysts to understand the realities of institutional administration, including the power and influence of the board of trustees, time constraints, importance of ceremonies and symbols, administrative accountability, dangers of the rumor mill, problems in implementing policy recommendations, and the tendency…

To effectively communicate agendas and goals, new college presidents need to acquire cultural perspective on their institutions, seeing the campus as a lived experience, interpreting its themes, and deciphering its shared meanings and symbolic processes. This allows him to experience the continuity of the institution and become part of it.…

Ensuring the integrity of the intercollegiate athletics program is a fundamental responsibility of the college president. The institutional research professional should lead in designing, coordinating, and maintaining an athletics information support system, and support staff should conduct analyses and prepare special reports as needed to shape…

The president of Dartmouth College (New Hampshire) discusses campus cultural pluralism, the need for diversity in higher education, overcoming resistance to change, techniques for supporting a diverse student population, monitoring diversity through institutional research, and the issue of "political correctness" in higher education…

A study of 253 college presidents, academic vice-presidents, and deans investigated relationships of institution type, position level, and demographic variables with job satisfaction. Results indicated chief academic officers and deans were relatively dissatisfied with their work. Additional research and continued use of the Job Descriptive Index…