In its most basic form, strategic planning is a process of anticipating change, identifying new opportunities, and executing strategy. The use of mixed methods, blending quantitative and qualitative analytical techniques and data, in the process of assembling a strategic plan can help to ensure a successful outcome. In this article, the author…

This chapter discusses how workforce development initiatives vary widely across governments and institutions, and how institutional research can help bridge the gaps between them. (Contains 1 note.)

This chapter offers techniques that can help institutional researchers play a more active role in the process of creating and modifying instructional programs to meet workforce needs. (Contains 1 table.)

This chapter describes techniques and projects that most institutions need if they are to be viable in an increasingly competitive labor market. The authors assert that institutional researchers who increase their involvement in workforce development initiatives can become more valuable to their institution.

Provides an overview of the movement toward competency-based learning models in higher education, asserting that this new paradigm will ultimately redefine the roles of faculty, institutions, and accreditors. (EV)

A discussion of the need for institutional research to address student financial aid issues in higher education outlines, first, a research agenda for use within institutions, and then presents a research agenda for emerging policy issues and the role that institutional research might play in positioning institutions to participate in national…

A case study of Arapahoe Community College's marketing research approach to program planning illustrates a range of techniques for heightening alertness to new markets, exploring rising opportunities, and sometimes, quantifying the attractiveness of alternatives. (Author/MSE)