Benchmarking has traditionally been viewed as a way to compare data only; however, its utilisation as a more investigative, research-informed process to add rigor to decision-making processes at the institutional level is gaining momentum in the higher education sector. Indeed, with recent changes in the Australian quality environment from the…

Globalization in the 21st century has brought innumerable challenges and opportunities to universities and countries. Universities are primarily concerned with how to ensure the quality of their education and how to boost their local and global competitiveness. The pressure from both international competition and public accountability on…

Institutional performance benchmarking requires identifying a set of reference or comparator institutions. This paper describes a method by which an institution can identify other institutions that are most similar to itself using a methodology that identifies the nearest institutional neighbors based on a balanced set of metrics accessed from…

The framework for understanding the management difference is neatly captured by the "red ocean" and "blue ocean" strategies described by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne in "Blue Ocean Strategy" (Kim & Mauborgne, 2004). In the original, the terms refer to alternative market strategies. Red ocean means competition in a market defined by a zero sum…

Student retention is the field of institutional research that has (deservedly) had the most attention. Besides the models proposed by Tinto (1975, 1993), there have been many theoretical and applied papers on many aspects of student retention. These include demographic characteristics, scholastic scores, financial and residential considerations,…

As students are asked to share more of the costs of a post-secondary education, the quality of their overall educational experience and perceived return on investment (ROI) are increasingly important. For prospective students and their parents, what they are told they can expect from the student experience at an institution often makes the most…

Integrating institutional research, outcomes assessment, program review, strategic planning, and accreditation can be a powerful means of creating a culture of evidence-based decision making and continuous improvement. This study examined how this "integrated" model is organized in practice, how such offices began, why this approach was chosen,…

This paper intends to construct a survey data quality strategy for institutional researchers in higher education in light of total survey error theory. It starts with describing the characteristics of institutional research and identifying the gaps in literature regarding survey data quality issues in institutional research. Then it is followed by…

This paper shares a vision of the future of institutional research (IR) for the 21st century, in which institutional researchers learn to see themselves as the critical knowledge workers in the higher education industry. To take on this role, IR needs to: (1) understand the concepts of knowledge management (KM); (2) use new tools to meet the…

Technical programs at the higher education level play an important role in the journey of economic development. Technical institutes in Taiwan have been facing challenges while the Taiwan economics rapidly changes in the recent years. Nowadays, the fast revolution of technology and socioeconomic structures just challenges the efficiency and…

This paper describes the processes and techniques used to improve and streamline the standard student reports used at Purdue University (Indiana). Various models for analyzing reporting processes are described, especially the model used in the study, the Shewart or Deming Cycle, a method that aids in continuous analysis and improvement through a…

This paper presents the results of a study that investigated challenges institutional researchers encounter in their careers, resources for coping with these challenges, and the impact of the challenges on engagement in policy. Data were from a mailed survey sent to 304 institutional researchers in the northeastern United States to which 221…

A study was undertaken to solicit opinions from alumni on methods that might improve responses from graduate surveys. Two telephone surveys were conducted, one in 1991 which targeted the graduating classes of 1984 and 1989, and the second in 1994 among alumni of the classes of 1991 and 1993. In the 1994 survey information was gathered regarding…

West Georgia College, a public, 4-year institution in the University System of Georgia, conducted an assessment of its institutional research function. The assessment design consisted of two distinct elements: an internal program assessment, and an assessment of institutional research as perceived by campus constituents. The assessment was…

The use of an index to match classes and classroom space was assessed. The index initiates the use of several variables controlling utilization: number of hours that rooms are scheduled per week, average percentage of occupancy per room, and amount of area per station per room. Interviews with deans covered current classroom assignment…