The rate of faculty advancement through steps within ranks were examined in a sample of 40 departments on two campuses of a large state university system. The proportion of departmental faculty moving through steps faster than normal was correlated with the political power of the department on the campus. (Author/MLW)

The participants, strategies, and tactics involved in the curriculum change process in graduate schools of business were investigated. Two groups of participants, internals and externals, and two strategies, the empirical rational and the power coercive, are identified. The methods used to implement or resist curriculum change are described.…

A meta-analytic methodology is applied to integrate findings from 22 comparisons of the effectiveness of student- rating feedback at the college level. Feedback had a modest but significant effect on improving instruction. The effects of student-rating feedback were accentuated when augmentation or consultation accompanied the ratings. (Author/MLW)

Data from the Social Science Citation Index are used to measure the differential productivity among graduates of established and prestigiuos doctoral programs. Quality of former graduate students' productivity (publications) is assessed. Patterns concerning the quality of productivity, both across departments and within alumni of the same…

The role of organizational climate in predicting and explaining faculty attitudes toward collective bargaining at a college facing severe labor problems is assessed. Findings include: perceived power structure is the dominant predictor of attitudes toward unionization and perceived goals do not effect faculty attitudes toward unionization.…

A study on a survey of department heads in 25 major universities that examines what department heads perceive to be the component parts in making assignments to faculty is discussed. The importance of evaluating faculty based on effort required rather than on time devoted to given tasks is stressed. (Author/MLW)

Facing a future of static or declining funding available for faculty salaries, higher education must evolve strategies to enable its institutions to avoid stagnation of their faculty. Guidelines for health-science school administrators in formulating policies to maintain faculty vitality are proposed. (Author/MLW)

The potential utility of a college admissions test as a measure of the cognitive learning outcomes of general education is investigated. A residual form of the ACT Assessment was administered to a stratified random sample of 112 seniors at Tennessee Technological University. (Author/MLW)

The merits of double exponential smoothing are discussed relative to other types of pattern-based enrollment forecasting methods. The basic assumptions and formulas for its use are outlined. The difficulties associated with selecting an appropriate weight factor are discussed, and the potential effect on prediction results is illustrated.…

In-state and out-of-state choice pattern differences among students with regard to academic and economic variables and the impact that financial aid would have upon their choice are examined. A survey of Pennsylvania public and nonpublic high school seniors illustrated the role background variables play. (MLW)

A research program is suggested that integrates admissions procedures and methods of statistical analysis to study the first stage of the admissions selection process: the rating of applicants. A systematic procedure is described that provides an index of applicant "quality" in the light of institutional goals. (Author/MLW)

Ethnography was applied to investigate 47 students' ability to persist in distance education courses in resource management and environment-related subjects. Results have been useful in deriving a classification of situational, institutional, dispositional, and epistemological problems shared by withdrawers and persisters in a broader context.…

Institutional research in higher education is seen as comprised of three levels of intelligence/information: (1) technical and analytical; (2) understanding of student, faculty, financial, and facilities issues; and (3) contextual intelligence concerning the culture of higher education and the particular institution. Knowledge and skills required…

The use of a semantic differential measure to investigate the institutional image of Tufts University (Massachusetts), both internal and external, is reported. The study focused on (1) differences between the current and desired image, and (2) differences among alumni, current student, and other constituencies' views of the institution.…

Two competing models of the relationship between college graduates' perceived learning and satisfaction with the college experience are examined, one representing a true effect and one treating the relationship as an artifact of the halo effect. It is recommended that researchers be cautious in interpreting self-reports of learning and…