Proceedings of the 1980 conference of the Southern Association for Institutional Research (SAIR) are presented. The conference focused on problems and perspectives for institutional research in the 1980s. Contents include: reports of preconference workshops and sessions, reports of conference sessions, abstracts of contributed papers, and administrative studies, and reports pertaining to the affairs of the SAIR. Documents and authors are as follows: "Developing an Institutional Fact Book" (Glynton Smith, Charles Bryson, Larry G. Jones); "Providing for Minority Needs in Predominantly White Colleges and Universities" (Leroy Ervin); "Program Evaluation in Higher Education" (Larry A. Braskamp); "Perils and Pitfalls of Program Discontinuance: An Approach-Avoidance Conflict" (Edwin A. Rugg); "Faculty Development: A Role for Institutional Research" (Stephen H. Wurster); "The Use of Holistic Grading in Assessing Writing Competency" (Maryann S. Ruddock); "Methodologies for Projecting Enrollment and Quarter Credit Hours on a Systemwide Basis," (Carol M. Miller); "Attrition and Retention" (Daniel E. Brasher, John A. Jones, Douglas I. Blom); "A Computerized Data Base for Studying the Impact of Student Retention Over a Five-Year Period" (Michael McCord, Robert McNabb); "The Microcomputer: A New Resource for the Institutional Researcher" (R. Gregory Litaker); "A Model for Reallocation of Departmental Faculty" (Gerald W. McLaughlin, James R. Montgomery); "Utilization of the 1980 Census Data for Institutional Research and Planning: A Preliminary Report" (Jane Preston); and "The Role of Institutional Research in Higher Education Desegregation Issues" (John Matlock, Gayla Thomas). (SW)