Surveys and benchmarks continue to grow in importance for community colleges in response to several factors. One is the press for accountability, that is, for colleges to report the outcomes of their programs and services to demonstrate their quality and prudent use of resources, primarily to external constituents and governing boards at the state…

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…

"Building Institutional Capacity for Data-Informed Decision Making" is the third installment of the Cutting Edge series, which aims to help colleges engage faculty, scale successful interventions, and create a strong culture of evidence through use of data to strengthen their institutional change and student success efforts. Though the…

Achieving the Dream colleges engage in a process of institutional improvement to increase student success. A central component of this process is engaging internal and external stakeholders to help develop and implement interventions or changes in programs and services that improve student success. To determine whether these interventions do…

This chapter examines lessons learned by states that are using student unit record (SUR) data to improve outcomes for community college students and recommends steps states can take to strengthen their use of SUR databases to benefit students and communities. (Contains 1 exhibit.)

The purpose of the exploratory survey reported here is to identify and describe some of the existing programs and activities at UCLA that are directed toward and related to community colleges and, to a lesser extent, to note other developments at UCLA that might have relevance for two-year colleges. The report is divided into six sections.…

Recounts Triton College's efforts to identify its distinctive elements. Reviews empirical evidence showing that Triton's school schedule, curricular offerings, and continuing education and support services are distinctive among local colleges. Discusses students' and staff members' perceptions of Triton. Considers the value of the research to the…

Describes a method of evaluation which ensures maximum yield. Mentions common pitfalls in evaluation procedures and proposes Reality-Based Evaluation (RBE) as a safeguard against them. Outlines RBE and concludes that evaluation results must play an active role in bringing about change. (JG)

Describes the Kansas Community College Research Consortium (KCCRC), focusing on motivations for organizing a research consortium to meet accountability demands, the KCCRC's organization and operating procedures, determination of objectives and dissemination of results, strengths and weaknesses, and examples of KCCRC studies. (DMM)

Provides references to ERIC documents dealing with marketing community colleges. Covers the purpose of marketing, planning, and implementing marketing programs, the extent to which marketing is being used, descriptions of programs and activities at individual institutions, and the role of institutional research in support marketing. (DD)

Describes the Los Rios Community College District's district-coordinated institutional research model. Considers the coordination of centralized and campus-based research, types of research conducted, quality control, the district research council, setting research agendas, program implementation and monitoring, information dissemination, and the…

Describes Santa Barbara City College's decentralized research program, considering the roles of the president, vice presidents, deans, institutional research committee members, and data-processing director. Explains how the research agenda is determined, projects monitored, results/implications identified, and findings disseminated. Highlights…

Presents the research model used in the Allan Hancock Joint Community College District, which operates through a part-time institutional researcher guided by an institutional research committee. Discusses the committee's role and the use of research results in policymaking and other areas. Provides examples of research. (DMM)

A 1983-84 marketing plan is presented for Northern Virginia Community College (NVCC), which is designed to maximize the effective use of shrinking resources to meet the needs of the college's clientele. After introductory material discusses the problems and challenges facing NVCC and the role of marketing in understanding the environment in which…

Project FOLLOW-UP was conducted to develop, test, and validate a statewide management information system for follow-up of Texas public junior and community college students. This activities manual provides an overview of the resultant student information system (TEX-SIS) and its characteristics. Seven subsystems comprise SIS, each with its own…