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.…

Despite their apparent popularity among those seeking degrees and credentials, today's colleges and universities face several interrelated public criticisms and concerns. When these competing concerns about student success, productivity, cost, and educational effectiveness all collide at the campus level, they create an array of campus tensions…

The resource agent role by the institutional researcher is not unique, but the structuring of this role within the framework of a planning management model is rather uncommon. This document attempts to: (1) present a conceptualization of a particular role for institutional researchers; (2) to define the planning management model within which the…

Describes an institutional research office's establishment of an outcomes-oriented self-assessment model rooted in the college's mission and goals. Reports that the framework enables institutional research departments to evaluate their effectiveness, and more importantly, to use the results of self-assessment to plan future activities, thereby…

Methods by which the college, after 90 years, began long-range planning are described along with how it moved to the cyclical model after 12 more years. (Author/LBH)

One of the most interesting aspects of the application of systems science to university administration is the use of simulation models in institutional research. This paper treats the benefits, implementation and prognosis of computer-assisted university administration with particular emphasis on university planning and cost simulation models. The…

Planning and management systems for colleges should be tailor-made to fit each particular college. The approach suggested here is flexible so that it can be adapted to individual circumstances in a variety of colleges. What is being suggested is an approach to planning rather than a technique. The approach results in two types of output documents:…

The USC Faculty Model is a computer-based simulation that rapidly provides detailed predictions of faculty characteristics for future dates, given a current faculty data base, specific policies, and other planning input. It can be helpful in determining the best combination of policy options to meet institutional goals. (LBH)

This Catholic college for women in St. Joseph, Minnesota, is adopting components of systematic institutional development in its planning and budgeting. Four programs are integrated: institutional research, the management information system, management development, and management planning. (LBH)

Explores four models of management strategy operating in seven Scottish further-education colleges: strategic control from the center, strategic "fit" emphasizing management of resources in an externally competitive environment, strategic "stretch" addressing organizational infrastructure and internal capabilities, and…

The primary role of institutional research during the 1980's will be the support of the academic planning process during a period of contraction and reallocation. Factors that will affect the ability of institutional research to effectively support academic planning are discussed, and criteria are listed for judging the extent to which the…

Viewing curriculum as an academic plan permits development of parallel course and program planning models that are dynamic, conceptually related to student learning, and familiar to institutional planners. Opportunities gained by using the academic plan umbrella for curriculum are described. (Author/MLW)

This conference on program budgeting was planned to accomplish four objectives: (1) provide a basic orientation for academic administrators by defining program budgeting, and explaining how it might help their institutions; (2) interpret the vocabulary of systems analysis; (3) identify the different levels of involvement at which an institution…

PLANTRAN II is a system of computer software designed to assist educational administrators in their planning and analysis activities. The unique feature of PLANTRAN II is that it requires no computer programing experience or expertise. Users with technical background have found PLANTRAN II helpful in their analyses without reducing the complexity…

This paper reviews and synthesizes the literature on institutional support for student assessment, offering an organizing framework for using this information to shape institutional policies, processes, and practices in ways that lead to both improved student performance and institutional functioning. The framework, first, involves the overall…