Data analytics is increasingly important to the operations and strategic growth of higher education institutions. In September 2019, three higher education professional associations issued a rare joint statement calling for the accelerated investment and intensified efforts to develop and deploy data analytics in support of campus decision making.…

This chapter introduces integrity and use as central concepts for judging research quality. Analyzing an illustrative case through the NRC Guiding Principles for Education Research and Terenzini's tiers of intelligence, we demonstrate the centrality of research integrity to use.

This chapter provides a conceptual model that institutional research professionals can use to develop contextual intelligence of issues of interest in higher education with the use of case studies from peer institutions. The model draws from the metaphor of the "divided brain" and how the two hemispheres must work together with both…

This chapter provides a conceptual model that academic leaders can use to navigate the complex, and often contentious, organizational terrain of academic program development. The model includes concepts related to the institution's external environment, as well as internal organizational structures, cultures, and politics. Drawing from the…

Understanding one's competitive stance in a globally competitive environment provides the requisite awareness to maintain both competitive edge and institutional responsiveness. In this chapter, three case studies are presented to provide examples of ways in which strategic scanning can enhance the academic program development process and how…

This chapter explores case studies from four private liberal arts colleges with different approaches to expanding the college "value proposition" to include the values of a liberal education.

Postgraduation outcomes for community college students are complex. In addition to traditional job placement and earnings information, transferring to a 4-year institution is a positive first-destination outcome. Furthermore, community college students may have education and career goals that do not include earning a degree. Community college…

This chapter describes the background and process for collecting postgraduation outcomes data at a 4-year not-for-profit private college. The strategies, analyses, and reporting of this data-collection effort are highlighted with the use of a case study.

This chapter describes a framework to guide collaboration between institutional research and other campus offices. Three examples are then provided to illustrate how the framework was applied successfully to actual projects.

This chapter is a case study of one institution's effort to institutionalize a process through which student development is promoted through active engagement with the community.

This chapter reviews methodological issues surrounding the measurement of glass ceiling effects and summarizes findings from one cross-sectional analysis study.

The influence of emotions in the workplace rarely has been examined within the context of higher education (Neumann, 2006; Smith and Witt, 1993). Through a qualitative approach, the purpose of this chapter is to offer a perspective of faculty work that examines the role that emotions play in the academic life of 15 underrepresented faculty members…

This chapter introduces the concept of benchmarking and how higher education institutions began to use benchmarking for a variety of purposes. Here, benchmarking is defined as a strategic and structured approach whereby an organization compares aspects of its processes and/or outcomes to those of another organization or set of organizations to…

Benchmarking, when done properly, offers a lot of promise for higher education units that want to improve how they do business. It is clear that much is known, but still more needs to be learned before it reaches its full potential as a useful tool. Readers of this issue of "New Directions for Institutional Research" have been treated to useful…

The purpose of this chapter is to investigate the extent to which students' retrospective self-reported gains from high school are associated with college self-reported gains. As such, the chapter offers an empirical test of how accounting for one's predisposition to report educational impact changes estimates of the effects of college experiences…