* * * * * * * * * * * * * The Electronic AIR * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Electronic Newsletter * * of the Association for Institutional Research (AIR) * * Serving Institutional Research Professionals * * and Those Engaged in Mgt. Research, Policy Analysis & Planning * * * * January 21, 1997. . . . . . . . . . .Volume 16, Number 18 * * Editor - Larry Nelson, Pacific Lutheran University * * (NELSON_L@SALT.PLU.EDU) * * Subscription Mgt. - Abby Montanez, AIR Office (air@mailer.fsu.edu) * * Jobs Editing - Jacque Frost, Purdue University * * (jlfrost@hovd-01.hovde.purdue.edu) * * Features Editing - Darrell Glenn, WV System Office * * (dglenn@scusco.wvnet.edu) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Current Subscribers = 2446 * * Next Issue Target Publication Date: February 10, 1997 * * Next Issue Copy Deadline: February 7, 1997 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Table of Contents * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * EDITOR'S NOTE: Technical Notes / Martin Luther King Holiday * * THE CHANGING SCENE * * AIR FORUM NEWS - 1997 Orlando Forum Update * * AIR NEWS - Second NDIR Volume Issued with an Associated Listserv * * AIR NEWS - Contents of Winter, 1996 New Directions in IR Issue * * NEWS - TBCU Research Journal Calls for Papers * * NEWS FROM THE INFORMATION HIGHWAY - YAHOO's New Web Search Engine * * NEWS FROM THE INFORMATION HIGHWAY - The "Daily Brief" E-Mail List * * NEW PUBLICATIONS - New Minter Associates Publications Announced * * CONFERENCE - RMAIR Fall Conference, 10/15/97-10/17/97 * * HELP - Surveys to Collect Annual Data on Faculty Workload * * HELP - Keeping Students Our of Academic Difficulty * * HELP - Getting Text Information Into a Database Quickly and Easily * * POSITION LISTING SUMMARY * * PARTING THOUGHT * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * EDITOR'S NOTE: Technical Notes / Martin Luther King Holiday * * Larry Nelson, Pacific Lutheran University (NELSON_L@SALT.PLU.EDU) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The editing and layout work that I do on Electronic AIR is done using a monospaced (not proportional) font. Therefore, those who are using an e-mail reader with a non-monospaced font will see a result other than that intended during the editing process (and less easy-to-read). If you have a choice, I suggest that you select a monospaced font (such as courier) in your e-mail reader if you've been using a proportional font. You may find the result worth the effort. - - - - - This issue was delayed well past it's target publishing date. We encountered a variety of technical and timing problems stemming from the change in list manager in the AIR office. This was compounded by my own schedule interruptions and the fact that I erased a virtually complete version of this issue two weekends ago. As always, we thank our readers for their patience and understanding. - - - - - Yesterday, the United States paused to salute the accomplishments of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. When I consider what Dr. King and others who led our civil rights movement in the 1960's did, I am awestruck by the courage it took to do what they felt was right. Perhaps the following quotation from Dr. King illustrates a source of his courage. May mankind continue to learn from his courageous, non-violent example. "Cowardice asks the question: is it safe?; Expediency asks the question: is it politic? Vanity asks the question: is it popular? But conscience asks the question: is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, or popular--but one must take it because it is right." Martin Luther King * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * THE CHANGING SCENE * * "A way to keep up with news about our colleagues." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * This portion of the newsletter is devoted to keeping you informed about changes such as readers who relocate to new positions and/or institutions, professional recognition awards and honors, retirements, deaths, newly hired colleagues, promotions, etc. If you become aware of a change on your campus or elsewhere which should be mentioned in "The Changing Scene," please send me a note at (NELSON_L@SALT.PLU.EDU) with the key facts. Keep it brief, but include the information you think others would like to know. DOUG KRANCH from Ambassador University (which will be closing in May) recently relocated to take a position outside of institutional research at the Ohio State University. Best wishes, Doug! DAN RODAS recently notified us that he will be leaving his position as Project Associate for the Academic Planning Project at Stanford University and joining the National Higher Education Consulting Practice at Coopers & Lybrand in January where he will become a Senior Associate in the San Francisco Office. Good luck, Dan. After 8+ years at the University of Hartford (CT), JERRY WILCOX (wilcoxj@wcsub.ctstateu.edu) has joined Western Connecticut State University, where he is Director of Institutional Research and Assessment. Best wishes, Jerry! * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * AIR FORUM NEWS - 1997 Orlando Forum Update * * Michael Middaugh, U. of Delaware (Michael.Middaugh@mvs.udel.edu) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Program is nearly complete for the 1997 Forum, to be held at the Disney Contemporary Resort in Orlando, Florida, May 18-21. We received a record number of proposals for contributed papers, panels, demonstrations, and table topics, and the 1997 Forum Committee has done a marvelous job of selecting the very best presentations. The Forum Theme, "Performance Indicators - Defining Measures that Matter," will be the focus around which our three invited plenary sessions will center. George Keller, distinguished author, teacher, and consultant, and editor of Planning For Higher Education, will open the Forum on Sunday night with a view of the future of American higher education and his assessment of those performance indicators that will contribute most to academic planning. Pascal Forgione, the New Commissioner of Education Statistics in the U.S. Department of Education, will discuss the Federal perspective on performance indicators and will invite a vigorous dialogue with the audience on those measures that really matter. H.R. Kells, Professor of Higher Education at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, and long time authority on institutional self study in the United States, will compare and contrast performance indicators as they are used in Europe and the United States. The Forgione and Kells presentations will be followed by reaction panels, led by some of your distinguished AIR colleagues with an eye toward robust audience participation. AIR President Tim Sanford's plenary address will head the list of over 200 presentations from the AIR membership covering all areas of interest to institutional researchers, but focusing especially on issues of performance indicators and accountability measures. The quality of these presentations promises to be exceptional, thanks to the efforts of the writers and the careful selection process used by the Forum Committee. This will most certainly be a Forum where we each take away with us substantial amounts of useful information that will help us in our work in coming months. Each issue of the Electronic AIR between now and the Forum will feature specific topical areas to be covered in the Forum Program. The Forum is not all work, however. Housed in the Disney properties in Orlando, the 1997 Forum offers exceptional opportunities for AIR members to relax, enjoy the finest in dining and entertainment, recreational facilities...and maybe even to recapture some of the wonder and imagination of our childhood. The Disney Contemporary Resort is the main Forum Hotel, with additional rooms available at the Port Orleans Resort. The latter is especially nice for AIR members bringing families with small children. Your Preliminary Forum Program will arrive in the mail in a few weeks. Make your plans now to join us in Orlando in May. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * AIR NEWS - Second NDIR Volume Issued with an Associated Listserv * * Larry Litten, Consortium on Financing Higher Educ. (litten@MIT.EDU) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * New Directions for Institutional Research has released its second volume that has an associated listserv. This device permits interested readers to continue the discussion of issues raised in the volume with both the editor and authors and with other readers who subscribe to the listserv. The volume is Assessing Graduate and Professional Programs: Current Realities, Future Prospects, edited by Jennifer Grant Haworth. The volume deals both with assessing graduate/professional programs and with more general assessment issues. In order to subscribe to this listserv on assessment, send the following message to listserv@mitvma.mit.edu: subscribe ndirgrad [your first name] [your last name] Insert your two names in the bracketed spaces, without including the brackets. Suppress the signature from your e-mail, if one is automatically inserted. Instructions for sending substantive messages to the listserv will be returned to you, along with confirmation of your subscription, by the server. The listserv will be in operation until December, 1997; it will be renewed if there is sufficient activity to justify its continuation. Thank you. Larry Litten Consortium on Financing Higher Education 238 Main Street, Suite 307 Cambridge, MA 02142 Phone: (617) 253-5030 FAX: (617) 258-8280 E-Mail: litten@mit.edu * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * AIR NEWS - Contents of Winter, 1996 New Directions in IR Issue * * Larry Litten, Consortium on Financing Higher Educ. (litten@MIT.EDU) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Editor's Note: The New Directions in Institutional Research (NDIR) series is published by Jossey-Bass in San Francisco. Subscription information is available in each issue or from Jossey-Bass. - - - - - Title: Assessing Graduate and Professional Education: Current Realities, Future Prospects. Editor: Jennifer Grant Haworth, Assistant Professor of Higher Education, Loyola University, Chicago. Contents: Challenges in Assessing Outcomes in Graduate and Professional Education. Anne E. Bilder, Clifton F. Conrad. Assessing Demand for Graduate and Professional Programs. Peter D. Syverson. Rethinking Admissions Criteria in Graduate and Professional Programs. Linda Serra Hagedorn, Amaury Nora. Refocusing Quality Assessment on Student Learning. Jennifer Grant Haworth, Clifton F. Conrad. Increasing Student Retention in Graduate and Professional Programs. Maresi Nerad, Debra Sands Miller. Documenting Student Outcomes in Graduate and Professional Programs. Leonard L. Baird. Assessment in Graduate and Professional Programs: Present Realities, Future Prospects. Jennifer Grant Haworth. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * NEWS - TBCU Research Journal Calls for Papers * * John Williams, Tennessee St. U. (jwilliams@picard.tnstate.edu) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Traditionally Black Colleges & Universities (TBCU) Special Interest Group is issuing a call for papers for the inaugural issue (expected by May, 1997) of the TBCU Research Journal. The TBCU Research Journal will publish the results of institutional research conducted at TBCU institutions or at institutions represented by TBCU members. Abstracts of 100 words or less describing the purpose, design, brief literature review, findings and conclusions of your study(ies) should be sent to: Charles I. Brown, Chair TBCU Publications Committee 2205 Candyflower Place Raleigh, NC 27610 Phone: (919) 833-5956 Include a separate cover sheet with the author's name, title, institution, address and telephone number. Abstract deadline is February 22, 1997. Copies of the inaugural issue will be available at the AIR Forum in Orlando. Questions should be e-mailed to Tony Williams (jwilliams@picard.tnstate.edu). * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * NEWS FROM THE INFORMATION HIGHWAY - YAHOO's New Web Search Engine * * Reprinted From: Tourbus List , 12/19/96, (crispen@CAMPUS.MCI.NET) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Editor's Note: This copyrighted item is reprinted with permission from Patrick Crispen (crispen@CAMPUS.MIC.NET). Yahoo has a new search engine! To use it, just point your browser to: http://search.main.yahoo.com/ or click on the "Try Our New Search" link on Yahoo's main Web page. Yahoo's new search engine has some pretty cool features: 1. Yahoo now displays its results in order of relevance rather than alphabetically! This makes finding stuff on Yahoo a whole bunch easier. 2. Once you give the search engine a keyword to search for, you get a summary page that shows you the best matches in four areas: Yahoo Categories, Web Sites, Net Events, and News. To save on screen space, Yahoo only shows you the first five hits in the "Yahoo Categories" and "Web sites" areas and the first three hits in the "Net Events" and "News" areas, but you can always click the "next" link to show you the rest of the hits. Oh, and just like the old Yahoo search engine, if there are no matches in the four different areas, Yahoo will use Alta Vista to help you find what you are looking for. 3. Yahoo now displays Net Events matches. Yahoo searches a comprehensive database of the week's upcoming web events and chats from Yahoo's newest web site Yahoo Net Events. 4. Yahoo now displays News article matches. Searchable news is updated at least once an hour. Yahoo currently searches the following news sources for articles: Reuters General News, Reuters Securities News, PR Newswire, Business Wire and UPI. If you are one of the people who have grown accustomed to Yahoo's old "alphabetical" search engine -- the one that you access through the text box on Yahoo's main page -- you really need to check out Yahoo's new search engine. Mark my words: it'll change the way you use Yahoo! TOURBUS - (c) Copyright 1996, Patrick Crispen and Bob Rankin All rights reserved. Redistribution is allowed only with permission. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * NEWS FROM THE INFORMATION HIGHWAY - The "Daily Brief" E-Mail List * * Larry Nelson, Pacific Lutheran University (nelson_l@salt.plu.edu) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Editor's Note: The following item has no direct relationship to institutional research but I've decided to take 'editorial license' and include it anyway. It describes one of my favorite e-mail lists. You may find that you would like to subscribe. - - - - - The Daily Brief from Intelligent Network Concepts, Inc. Get national (U.S.), international, business, entertainment, and sports news sent to you in one concise e-mail every weekday, free! Join our 20,000 subscribers in 87 countries around the world who rely on the Brief for clear, unbiased daily news summaries. Subscribe by sending e-mail to db-request@listserv.cstone.net with the SUBJECT of your message as "subscribe". Leave the slants and bias of news presentation behind; get the facts. Intelligent Network Concepts E-Mail: (incinc@tiac.net) 52 Royal Street Allston, MA, 02134 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * NEW PUBLICATIONS - New Minter Associates Publications Announced * * John Minter, John Minter Associates (jminter@tesser.com) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Current JMA Publications for Institutional Assessment and Budgeting Complete catalog available on-line at: http://www.edmin/jma Several of these publications are available on CD-ROM on disk in addition to on paper. Detailed descriptions and pricing information are available via the on-line catalog. Specific publication titles include: The JMA Guide to Identifying Comparable Academic Institutions Management Ratios #11, Fiscal 1994-95 College and University Staffing Benchmarks: 1987, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995 Student Financial Aid Benchmarks: 1990-91 to 1995-96 Average Faculty Salary Benchmarks Undergraduate Enrollment Benchmarks Revenue Contribution Ratio Benchmarks Expenditure Allocation Ratio Benchmarks Undergraduate Tuition Projections to 2000 Tuition Revenue and Tuition Revenue Discounts Current and Constant Dollar Revenues and Expenditures 1988-89 - 1994-95 - - - - - The Minter-Bowen Report returns as The Minter Report on the world wide web at: http://www.edmin.com/jma The independent report on trends in American higher education resumes with the publication of industry enrollment trends for public and private institutions, 1986 through the fall of 1995. This report is a revival of a series begun in 1975 and continued to 1980, The Minter-Bowen Report. It represents an updating of those previous reports, especially including the public sector. The criteria and measures used to assess the progress of colleges and universities remain substantially the same but with refinements as new data become available and as new accounting standards are applied. The former series, as well as this revival, is based on the conviction that the strength of American higher education is that it is a pluralistic enterprise. Each of the public and private sectors contains a wide variety of institutions designed to serve different functions and different clienteles. Each sector contains standard setting institutions. Each sector contains institutions -that offer access to higher education for families representing a broad range of academic and economic circumstances. It is this diversity and its responsiveness to rapidly changing educational needs of the population that must be fostered by our society if we are to maintain leadership in today's world. The Report will publish industry trend series for enrollment, finance, degrees, salaries, staffing, freshman characteristics, and undergraduate characteristics over the next several months and annually as new data become available. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * CONFERENCE - RMAIR Fall Conference, 10/15/97-10/17/97 * * Diane Muntal, U. of NV, Las Vegas (muntal@ccmail.nevada.edu) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 10/15/97-10/17/97. Rocky Mountain Association for Institutional Research Annual Conference. Cloudcroft, New Mexico. Diane Muntal, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, (702) 895-3771, (muntal@nevada.edu). * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * HELP - Surveys to Collect Annual Data on Faculty Workload * * Joseph Trimble, Western Washington Univ. (trimble@mail.cc.wwu.edu) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Faculty Senate at Western Washington University in collaboration with the University's Office of Institutional Assessment and Testing is developing a survey instrument to collect annual data on faculty instructional workloads. We are seeking examples of similar questionnaires and survey procedures developed at other institutions. Please send your materials to: Joseph E. Trimble, Ph.D., Director, Office of Institutional Assessment and Testing, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225-9010. Also, you can correspond with him via e-mail at (trimble@cc.wwu.edu). * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * HELP - Keeping Students Our of Academic Difficulty * * Lillian Ford, New York Chiropractic College (lmford@nycc.edu) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * New York Chiropractic College, a specialty graduate college, is looking into factors that tend to minimize student risk of falling into academic difficulty. We are interested in both admissions screening data as well as data on determinants which influence matriculated students, e.g., academic support programs, advisement. We would be grateful for any insight you might be willing to share. Thank you. Lillian Ford, D.C. Assistant Dean of Chiropractic Education P.O. Box 800 Seneca Falls, N.Y. 13148-0800 Phone: (315) 568-3219 FAX: (315) 568-3017 E-Mail: (lmford@nycc.edu) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * HELP - Getting Text Information Into a Database Quickly and Easily * * Jan Lyddon, Western Michigan University (jan.lyddon@wmich.edu) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * I am working with a colleague to revise a standard questionnaire sent to recent graduates inquiring of their employment, grad school and other post-graduation activities. Has anyone dealt with getting text information into a data base quickly and easily? We will ask graduates for the name and address of their employer, and short of keying the data into the database I don't know how to do this. I would welcome advice and assistance. The rest of the survey is scannable. Thank you. Jan Lyddon, Director Office of Planning and Institutional Research Western Michigan University Phone: (616) 387-4422 E-Mail: (jan.lyddon@wmich.edu) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * POSITION LISTING SUMMARY * * Jacque Frost, Purdue University (JLFROST@HOVD-01.HOVDE.PURDUE.EDU) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Job openings of interest to professionals in institutional research, planning, and policy analysis have been placed on the AIR job listing web site. Persons wishing to read or retrieve the full text of job openings should point their web browser (either graphical or text-based) to: http://www.fsu.edu/~air/jobs.htm Individuals wishing to submit position announcements to be added to the AIR web page and to be mentioned in this section of The Electronic AIR should send them to: Jacque Frost, Electronic AIR Jobs Editor, (jlfrost@hovd-01.hovde.purdue.edu) or Larry Nelson, Electronic AIR Editor, (nelson_l@salt.plu.edu). You will receive an e-mail acknowledgment of receipt of your position announcement. Every effort will be made to have it posted on the AIR web page within 2 working days following its receipt. It will also be cited in the next issue of The Electronic AIR (unless the closing date has passed). Persons seeking jobs in institutional research, planning, or policy analysis should plan to check the AIR web page every couple of days for new positions. Point your browser to the following URL: http://www.fsu.edu/~air/jobs.htm - - - - - * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * PARTING THOUGHT * * Larry Nelson, Pacific Lutheran University (NELSON_L@SALT.PLU.EDU) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Reader contributions of possible future "Parting Thoughts" are welcome. Send them to Larry Nelson (NELSON_L@SALT.PLU.EDU). - - - - - From: Linda Stocks (linda@wheel.dcn.davis.ca.us) A panda bear walks into a saloon and growls "Gimme some food!" After gulping down the food, he draws his six-shooter, shoots the piano player in the back, and heads for the door. The bartender hollers "Hey! You just killed my piano player and you haven't paid me for the food!" The panda replies "Idiot! I'm a 'panda'! Look it up!" And away he goes. The bartender looks up "panda" in the dictionary and reads out loud wistfully: "Large furry marsupial of the Asian continent. Eats shoots and leaves." - - - - - From: Alan Sturtz (STURTZ@COMMNET.EDU) In leafing through my "great stuff" folder that I have been keeping for the past 25-30 years I came across a yellowed page with these thoughts. Resolve to be cheerful and helpful. People will repay you in kind. Avoid angry, abrasive persons. They are generally vengeful. Avoid zealots. They are generally humorless. Resolve to listen more and talk less. No one ever learns anything by talking. Be chary of giving advice. Wise persons do not need it, and fools will not heed it. Resolve to be tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and the wrong. Sometime in your life you will have been all of these. Do not equate money with success. There are many successful money-makers who are miserable failures as human beings. What counts most about success is how a person achieves it. Resolve to love next year someone you didn't love this year. Love is the most enriching ingredient of life. [Walter Scott] * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * If you wish to subscribe, change your e-mail address, or request a * * subscription for someone else, send it to Abby Montanez, AIR Exec-* * utive Office, (air@mailer.fsu.edu) (Florida State University). * * If you have AIR news, send it to Larry Nelson, Editor, at: * * (NELSON_L@SALT.PLU.EDU) (Pacific Lutheran University). * * (Please limit submissions to 72 characters or fewer per line and * * use mixed case, NOT ALL CAPS--NO NEED TO SHOUT.) * * If you have news for the SCUP electronic newsletter, send it to * * Terry Calhoun, SCUP Publ. Dir.,(terry@scup.ra.itd.umich.edu). * * For further information regarding individual or organizational * * membership in the Association for Institutional Research, contact * * Terrence Russell, Executive Director, AIR, 114 Stone Bldg., * * Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306-3038; * * Telephone: (904) 644-4470 or on Internet: (air@mailer.fsu.edu). * * AIR Web Page: http://www.fsu.edu/~air/home.htm * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *