College student retention constitutes a long-standing and critical problem for many colleges and universities. Although the average national rate of first-to-second year persistence stands at 68.5%, rates for types of colleges and universities vary from a low of 56.4% for 2-year public colleges to a high of 81.5% for private PhD-granting…

College student self-reported gains are used frequently in institutional research and in general research on college outcomes (Gonyea, 2005). These self-report measures serve not only to identify experiences and programs associated with student growth but also to draw comparisons across colleges and universities. The vast majority of institutions…

Over the past decade, institutions of higher education have come under increasing demands for accountability. Colleges and universities are expected to document student learning, beyond traditional course grades. The use of assessment as a tool to improve learning relies on the active involvement of faculty in planning, implementing, and refining…

This paper explores the concept of student-centered instruction at the higher education level and proposes use of the STUCEN scale to evaluate student centeredness as an institution-wide strategy and to link it to performance criteria such as student recruitment, retention, and graduation. The philosophy of student centeredness is discussed in…

Reasons why students withdrew from Southern Technical Institute were examined through a survey of 721 dropouts. A total of 257 responses were received and the reasons given by the students were classified as societal or nonsocietal. In this study, societal factors are defined as those elements of influence that are external to the institution. The…

This document presents elements of a symposium developed by the Alverno College, Wisconsin, research and evaluation staff on the extent to which educational research that is internally driven by institutionally defined purposes and questions is valid and useful to the educational research community as a way of addressing its larger questions about…

The contribution of high school guidance counselors during the information and inquiry stages of students' selection of a college was assessed. A statewide population survey of all high school counselors in New York yielded 660 usable responses (20 percent). Attention is focused on quality estimations of four criteria for 15 institutions. Quality…

This article proposes that college students will contribute most effectively to institutional assessment efforts if they understand how meaningful their input is. This can be accomplished if the assessment system is compassionate, considerate, convenient, communicated clearly, cohesive, understandable, concise, committed, attributes improvements…

This report presents findings from a plant survey of the University of South Florida conducted in April, 1993. It contains recommendations for the educational plants of the university for the period from April, 1993 through June, 1998. The statistics presented are intended to assist the university with the preparation of building programs…

This report presents findings from a plant survey of the Florida Health Sciences Center at the University of South Florida conducted in April, 1993. It contains recommendations for the educational plants of the university for the period from April, 1993, through June, 1998. The statistics presented are intended to assist the university with the…

The Southeastern Region of the University of Alaska system, one of three major administrative and instructional divisions established by the Board of Regents, is examined in this self-report. The regional concept provides for the delivery of instruction, research, and public service programs of the university to the area's sparsely-distributed…

The article presents the research on study quality state at three Lithuanian universities. The research was performed during the spring semester in 2003. Research participants were 669 students, 227 teachers, 126 administration officers and 359 graduates. The outcomes of the research did not aim at revealing the state of study quality in a…