The proceedings of the 1985 conference of the Southern Association for Institutional Research (SAIR) is presented. The focus was preparing colleges to anticipate and respond to the demand of accrediting bodies, federal agencies, and state legislatures. Contents include: a conference agenda; a keynote address, summaries of pre-conference workshops, roundtables, concurrent sessions, and panels; business meeting minutes; and bylaws of SAIR. Topics of sessions/panels include: fiscal policy, enrollment projections, self-study for accreditation, tools for institutional research, accounting for external forces in college planning, student retention, and minority enrollment management. Abstracts of studies conducted by institutional researchers include the following topics: black participation in undergraduate education; sampling and statistical methods for evaluating faculty; evaluation of college programs 3 to 5 years after approval by the state; enrollment management; market research for college admissions; student withdrawal and retention; projecting cost behavior for planning and decision making; organizing and conducing a university planning process; decision support systems; and state budgeting. (SW)