Community college leaders express many ideas pertaining to research and assessment in student affairs at two-year institutions. Focuses on the need for more research on students, the need for more data on how programs and services promote student success, and the goals of research in community colleges. (Author/GCP)

Discusses the meaning and extent of developmental education in community colleges and higher education. Presents some current controversies, examines outcomes-related data, and addresses issue of faculty training in the field. (Contains 57 references.) (AUTH/NB)

Since the inaugural meeting of the Southeastern Association of Community College Research in 1975, the research conducted at community colleges, as well as the issues facing researchers, have remained fairly constant. Research has been consistently understaffed and the themes of research have tended to focus on relating student progress to…

This journal chronicles a sample of the papers and presentations delivered during previous annual meetings of the Maryland Association for Institutional Research on the fifth anniversary of that association. A first paper, one from the first annual meeting in 1987 titled "Environmental Scanning: Assessing Local Business Training Needs"…

This paper reviews the empirical literature regarding factors associated with the development of Institutional Research (IR) offices in community colleges. The IR office is defined as any organizational unit which has at least one half-time staff member given responsibility for the synthesis and reporting of institutional data, is visibly…

The community college movement has been well-documented since the organization of the first junior colleges. This documentation has been maintained by six groups: scholars and professors, the popular media, institutional research, state agencies, faculty organizations, and national organizations. Currently, approximately 100 scholars and…

Program evaluation can be understood as the process of looking at how all aspects of a program or department have been functioning as the basis for informed planning and decision making. Although the objective dimensions used in evaluations can vary, methodologies can be categorized according to the four category framework (i.e., describing…

Recent accreditation criteria established by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) require all Florida community colleges to develop, implement, and maintain a formalized and ongoing planning, budgeting, and evaluation process which continuously examines and evaluates institutional performance within the confines of the…

This collection of essays by current or former directors of institutional research represents the broad spectrum of size, function, and geography within institutional research in the two-year college. The volume contains: (1) "The Role of Institutional Research in Evaluation of Nontraditional Programs: College Preparatory Analysis at Miami-Dade…

Discusses the impact of the 1999 North Carolina General Assembly House Bill 168, which mandated the implementation of performance-based funding for the state's 58 community colleges. States that a college's performance on six of the 12 measures determines its eligibility for supplemental allocation. Questions whether the new standards will affect…

This paper describes the conceptual model of retention used as the framework for research on institutional effectiveness at the Community College of Philadelphia (CCP). First, an overview of the literature on student attrition is presented, followed by a specific review of research based on Tinto's model of student attrition. This model maintains…

This paper reviews a sample of follow-up studies conducted by community colleges to determine the employment experiences of occupational program graduates. Part I discusses the types of follow-up studies conducted, including institutional follow-up studies of graduates from individual vocational programs, of all vocational graduates, and of…

Examines the limitations of traditional transfer rate indicators, suggesting that their use as measures of institutional effectiveness is inappropriate. Reviews methodologies of two national transfer rate models in terms of the importance of time frames for transfer, minimum credit hour thresholds, curriculum intent, and student intent. Recommends…

Reviews the literature on student attrition and suggests ways to increase enrollment and re-enrollment at community colleges without establishing labor-intensive programs and services. Focuses on the creation of the necessary environment for retention; the importance of campus-based research; and ways of predicting and preventing unnecessary…

A conceptual framework is offered for understanding the role of program review in college, particularly a community college. Such a framework should account for the following institutional factors: purpose of the review, stakeholder involvement, leadership support for review, organizational communication, degree of organizational centralization,…