1st Edition
Institutional Research Initiatives in Higher Education
American higher education faces a challenging environment. Decreasing state appropriations, rising costs, and tightening budgets have left American colleges and universities scrambling to achieve their missions with ever more limited resources. Campus leaders have therefore increasingly relied upon institutional research and strategic planning departments to make transparent and rational decisions and to promote good stewardship of critical but finite resources. Institutional Research Initiatives in Higher Education illustrates the wealth of institutional research activities occurring in American higher education.
Featuring chapters by a prominent mix of authors representing community colleges, traditional undergraduate institutions, land grant institutions, research and flagship universities, and state agencies, this book provides numerous insights into the contemporary challenges, innovative programs, and best practices in institutional research. With contributors from a variety of regions and types of institutions, each chapter provides rigorous analysis of campus-based research activities in areas such as strategic planning, admissions and enrollment management, assessment and compliance, and financial planning and budgeting. Like the departments it studies, Institutional Research Initiatives in Higher Education is an invaluable resource for university administrators, researchers, and policymakers alike.
Foreword [Dr. Nathan M. Sorber]. Preface. Section 1. The Role of Institutional Research and Strategic Planning at an Institution of Higher Education 1. Introduction [Jeffrey Alan Johnson] 2. Knowledge Utilization in Higher Education: The Role of Institutional Research in Campus Decision Making [Stephanie Dolamore] 3. The Role of Institutional Research in Strategic Planning and Accountability in Arizona [Wendy Miley] Section 2. Research Initiatives Contending with Recruitment, Admissions and Enrollment 4. Moneyball in Higher Education: IR’s Role in Strategic Enrollment Management [Mike Martineau] 5. Comparison of Two Different Enrollment Projection Models [John Wiorkowski, Nicolas A. Valcik and Chantel Perry] 6. Taking Data-Driven Decision Making to the Next Level [Kay Schneider] Section 3. Institutional Research Supporting Assessment Activities 7. College Skills Course Assessment at a Community College: Is there a positive impact? [Jeff Webb and Jessie Winitzky-Stephens] 8. Working Together: Academic Assessment and Institutional Research Operations [Bernadette Jungblut, Regan Bruni and Donielle Maust] 9. Using Regression Discontinuity to Evaluate Effectiveness of New Merit Program [Karen Raymond] 10. Supplemental Academic Instruction (SAI) Pilot Study [Sixian Yang and Abdullah Abdulrazik] Section 4. Research Initiatives on Budget, Tuition, Fees and State Funding 11. Researching the Different Effects of Tuition Policies that Impact Enrollment [Serge Herzog and John C. Stanley] 12. Estimated Effects of a "Pay it Forward" Tuition Plan in the RMAIR Region [Jeffrey Alan Johnson and Dawn Rachael Kenney] 13. Lifeblood of a Public Flagship University: The Importance of Determining Tuition and Fees [Nicolas A. Valcik, Liz Reynolds, David Watkins and David Kosslow] 14. Return-On-Investment for State’s Educational Attainment Initiatives: Education as an Investment not an Expense [Joseph Curtin] 15. Calculating a Faculty Return on Investment without a Formula Funding Mechanism [Nicolas A. Valcik and Jason Jiang] Section 5. Trends and Technology 16. Distinctly Wyoming: An Analysis of a State with only one Four-Year Institution [Lisa Muller] 17. Return on Investment for State Report Redesign [Nicolas Valcik, Donielle Maust, Jessica Michael, Michael Gaines and Rebecca Tarabrella] Section 6. Conclusion 18. Conclusion [Vicky Morris-Dueer]
Biography
Nicolas A. Valcik is Executive Director for Institutional Effectiveness at Central Washington University, USA.
Jeffrey Alan Johnson is Interim Director of Institutional Effectiveness and Planning at Utah Valley University, USA.
