Information about students needed by college deans and department heads is identified, including data on cultural diversity, gender and age distributions, work and community experiences, educational experience, the extent to which programs serve students who are not majors, employment and continued education patterns, employer evaluation of…

Emphasizes the importance of information-based planning to maintain accountability in a time of declining enrollment. Defines planning levels and functions. Examines the types of studies institutions can undertake to support planning, providing examples from the research process at Moraine Valley Community Colleges, Illinois. Discusses the uses of…

Information was obtained on the use of the University of North Dakota undergraduate catalog to determine whether it influenced a student's decision to attend the university, what it is used for, and whether the uses differ among students according to age, sex, or college. Usable responses to a questionnaire, which is appended, were obtained from…

A feasibility plan is presented for a California comprehensive student information study that would identify factors affecting students' progress through California's entire educational system. The feasibility plan identifies: (1) potential improvements, (2) the study design required to achieve them, (3) the cost of implementing the design,…

The three purposes for which this study was conducted involved collection and summarization of otherwise unavailable data on student characteristics and aspirations, editing and summarization of reading test data collected over the past six years, and testing of the feasibility and utility of a computerized master file combining student data…

The Student Outcomes Questionnaire and the Student Outcomes Information Analysis Service (SOIS) developed by NCHEMS and the College Board are discussed. The term, "student outcomes," is defined as the consequence of a student's enrollment in an educational institution and involvement in its programs. The importance of this type of…

Findings and recommendations of a University of Alberta task force study on the mature student are presented. Study objectives were as follows: to identify the characteristics of the mature student population at the university, to identify major concerns and needs of this population, to determine to what extent the university meets the needs of…

Total quality management (TQM) was employed to improve the collection, storage, and use of racial/ethnic information at Cornell University. The initiative began with the task of standardizing ethnic codes across a number of university systems. The project to improve race/ethnicity reporting was undertaken by a team representing various university…

A systematic needs assessment model that may be useful to program planners in designing student personnel services is examined, and its implementation at East Central University in Ada, Oklahoma, during the 1979-80 academic year is described. The focus of the model is on identifying groups of students with similar service delivery needs through…

This document contains papers intended to identify problems and issues confronting institutional research and to assess the measured response of institutional researchers. The following general topics are covered: (1) the campus and its environment, (2) allocation of college and university resources, (3) faculty workload and effectiveness, (4)…

Counseling needs of external students at the University of Queensland, Australia, were evaluated in 1980. Attention was directed to respondents' characteristics, students' difficulties and perceived needs for assistance, students' use of Division of External Studies' (DES) services, and students' views of distance learning. Of the 1,589 mailed…

This collection of essays focuses on the importance of accurate and timely information for effective decision making. First, Ivan Lach considers the proliferation of statewide planning and policy formation and discusses problems with and ways to improve statewide research. Next, Cheryl Opacinch focuses on decision making for federal postsecondary…

A pamphlet developed for high school students describes the student body of the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and provides an idea of what it's like to attend the university. Information about the student composition was derived from a survey of 2,600 UCLA freshmen during the fall of 1975. In the annual freshmen survey, students…

Four bibliographies pertaining to adult learning and the humanities are presented. The literature search concentrated on materials from the ERIC system, and the bibliographies contain a list of annotated materials followed by a list of citations, which are identified by ED or EJ numbers. In "Adult Learning as a Marketable Product," materials…

Characteristics and needs of Hunter College students were studied during 1981-1983. The college's use of institutional research to accommodate an increasingly nontraditional student body was also assessed. Attention was directed to: the student population's ethnicity, income, and employment; students' academic experiences; times of day most…