All around the world, postsecondary institutions are facing competitive environments, declining resources, and changing societal needs. Institutions are affected by globalization, state and local government needs, economic restructuring, information technology, and student and staff mobility. Institutional researchers have a critical role to play in addressing these issues. In this volume, we have embedded the practice of IR as experienced globally. We brought together a discussion that is delivered from multiple perspectives, but fundamentally one that draws from the collaborative efforts of practitioners across borders. By embedding notions of globalization that affect IR, we can engage readers in broad discussions on where we are coming from and where we are heading. This is the 157th volume of this Jossey-Bass quarterly report series. Always timely and comprehensive, New Directions for Institutional Research provides planners and administrators in all types of academic institutions with guidelines in such areas as resource coordination, information analysis, program evaluation, and institutional management.

Globalization, demographic shifts, increase in student enrollments, rapid technological transformation, and market-driven environments are altering the way higher education operates today. Institutional Research and Planning in Higher Education explores the impact of these changes on decision support and the nature of institutional research in higher education. Bringing together a diverse set of global contributors, this volume covers contemporary thinking on the practices of academic planning and its impact on key issues such as access, institutional accountability, quality assurance, educational policy priorities, and the development of higher education data systems.

This book examines the relevant roles, skills and knowledge needed to build the institutional research capacity across the higher education sector globally. The information contained herein will inform IR practitioners, senior level institution officials, and higher education scholars. With a focus on building the capacity of the IR profession, this book’s primary audiences include senior leaders who wish to introduce or strengthen their understanding for effective decision support and staff members who are currently in decision support units and those who wish to serve in this capacity. However, this book also offers detail on the decision support function to higher education scholars who seek to better address how data can inform policy and planning in higher education. Through a broad discussion about the roles and skills of the practitioners, this book will also enumerate the ways in which decision support practitioners can be valued contributors in shaping the future decisions and direction of specific institutions and higher education broadly.

This volume offers readers a comprehensive means to understanding glass ceiling effects in higher education. Each chapter approaches the glass ceiling from a different perspective, providing compelling arguments that truly highlight the importance and usefulness of collecting data on this topic. Institutional decision makers will find valuable information to confront the challenge of glass ceiling effects across different institutional environments. Likewise, institutional researchers will find step-by-step protocols to collect and analyze glass ceiling data as well as a variety of rich examples. Readers will not only find this sourcebook useful for institutional planning purposes, but it will also help them truly understand how the glass ceiling impacts women and people of color in higher education.

Which curricular and cocurricular practices promote student learning and persistence? While most research and assessment on college student outcomes offers limited insight into causal effects, this volume provides strong evidence of the impact of college on students. The first section discusses statistical analyses that offer more accurate estimates of the causal effect of a particular student experience, such as receiving a need-based scholarship or using academic support services. Providing an overview of the analytical framework, it also includes real-world examples to illustrate implementation for institutional researchers. The second section includes original research to enhance the value of student surveys, including: • aspects of questionnaire design and techniques to cope with item nonresponse, • variation in respondent effort, • interpretation of student self-reported gains, and • practical insights to improve survey-based research. This is the 161st volume of this Jossey-Bass quarterly report series. Timely and comprehensive, New Directions for Institutional Research provides planners and administrators in all types of academic institutions with guidelines in such areas as resource coordination, information analysis, program evaluation, and institutional management.

In most developed countries a high proportion of the population (up to 50 percent) now enter higher education at some time in their lives. Higher education is therefore very important to national economies, both as a significant industry in its own right, and as a source of trained and educated personnel for the rest of the economy. It follows that there are enormous stakes involved for a particular country even though the payoff of serious reforms may take decades and thus be counterproductive to the political forces responsible for designing and implementing such reforms since their horizons tend to be very short. This new book tackles important issues in this dynamic field.

The book provides a thorough overview of Institutional Research (IR) ? i.e. applied higher education research undertaken within universities ? in South Africa. It is a collection of essays focusing on the character and institutional setting of IR; how IR is embedded into the mechanisms of steering, shaping and reforming higher education; and what the major results were of IR in select thematic areas. The book is a valuable resource for higher education researchers and social researchers in South Africa interested in higher education. It ÿalso deserves to be read by practitioners and policymakers in the field of higher education in South Africa. It serves as an interesting case study for higher education researchers all over the world.

Focused on improving student learning, the Degree Qualifications Profile (DQP) and related Tuning process work together to inform curricular design, classroom assignments, and approaches to assessment. Covering the current field and drawing on numerous examples to illustrate the implications and challenges for IR professionals, this volume provides: an overview of the work, discussions outlining what the DQP and Tuning are, how IR has been involved, and what the future might hold for IR in these efforts. This is the 165th volume of this Jossey-Bass quarterly report series. Timely and comprehensive, New Directions for Institutional Research provides planners and administrators in all types of academic institutions with guidelines in such areas as resource coordination, information analysis, program evaluation, and institutional management.

In this book we aim to discuss and reflect on how HEIs are coping with the demands placed on them and how the various dimensions of change are intertwined. In particular, we aim to discuss the following questions: How do governance regimes steer higher education institutions? This part of the book focuses its attention on how higher education and research institutions operate under different governance regimes at international, regional and national levels, and how that context shapes governance and management arrangements at institutional level.How are institutions managing their quality and performance? This part deals with the systems institutions are developing to manage their quality and their wider performance to cope with the internal and external forces pressing them to constantly improve their levels of quality and wider performance in teaching, research and third mission.How are higher education professionals responding to the transformations? This part is devoted to investigate the ways academic and non-academic professionals working in higher education and research institutions respond to the transformations occurring in their organisations, and changes in practices and functions performed by those working in higher education. It also explores the implication of higher education transformations on students.

Institutional data is one of the important aspects that informs the development and sustainability of academic programming within the academy. Centrality of institutional data is key when making decisions related to a range of academic programs. This volume addresses with both depth and breadth: various types of academic programing (i.e. academic degrees, research centers/institutes), diverse institutional types including community colleges, doctoral/research universities, minority-serving and for-profit institutions, and concrete examples and steps regarding how to utilize institutional data to improve academic planning and development. This is the 168th volume of this Jossey-Bass quarterly report series. Timely and comprehensive, New Directions for Institutional Research provides planners and administrators in all types of academic institutions with guidelines in such areas as resource coordination, information analysis, program evaluation, and institutional management.