Association for Institutional Research
Enhancing Knowledge. Expanding Networks.
|
Institutional Research: Decision Support in Higher Education Edited by Richard D. Howard Table of Contents Forward CHAPTER 1 - Enrollment Management and Student Affairs Authors: Rick Kroc and Gary Hanson The Enrollment Management Domain CHAPTER 2 - Institutional Effectiveness, Student Learning, and Outcomes Assessment Author: John Muffo Definition CHAPTER 3 - Academic Program and Faculty Issues Author: Michael F. Middaugh New Ways of Thinking about Faculty Activity CHAPTER 4 - Resource Management and Quality Improvement Author: Laura Saunders Early Studies CHAPTER 5 - Planning and Policy Analysis Authors: John D. Porter, Robert H. Fenske, and Jonathan E. Keller Governance CHAPTER 6 - Theory, Practice, and Ethics of Institutional Research Authors: Gerry W. McLaughlin and Richard D. Howard Background of the "Profession" CHAPTER 7 - Technology and Tools for Institutional Research Authors: Victor M.H. Borden, Tod R. Massa, and John H. Milam The Process and Products of Institutional Research FORWARD During the past four to five decades, institutional research has become a significant administrative support function on most postsecondary campuses in the United States. The growth and importance of institutional research in higher education has occurred in response to increased external demands for accountability and a recognition on the part of campus leaders that effective planning and decision making require the analysis and consideration of reliable institutional input data, productivity data, and comparative data. Regardless of whether institutional research is an "art" to be practiced or a "science" to be defined and refined, each institutional researcher tends to define institutional research in terms of what he or she is paid to do at his or her specific campus, and these campus specific activities are the focus of discussions in our publications and at our conferences. The fact is, that there is no consensus definition (or single reality) of what institutional research is across all campuses or systems. As our campuses have reacted to the ever-changing demands and challenges of our society, and as technology has enhanced our capacity to access and analyze greater volumes of data, institutional research has been, and continues to be, a dynamic profession; and discussions about institutional research over time have reflected the changing and expanding nature of the profession. This volume is designed to continue this discussion. The Association’s Forum track structure, familiar to most institutional research professionals, is the framework used to organize the discussion in this book. Using a familiar structure is consistent with a growing body of knowledge about an individual’s or organization’s understanding or knowing. This body of knowledge emphasizes the role of having a mental or conceptual model that structures or puts into perspective various information. The creation and refinement of mental models enhances and sustains learning, both for individuals and organizations. Peter Senge emphasizes that "the discipline of managing mental models - surfacing, testing, and improving our internal pictures of how the world works - promises to be a major breakthrough for building learning organizations." (p. 174) This is reinforced by the recent National Research Council publication, How People Learn, (2000) where the organization of knowledge is a factor of adaptive expertise and experts’ "knowledge is not simply a list of facts and formulas that are relevant to their domain; instead their knowledge is organized around core concepts or ‘big ideas’ that guide their thinking about their domains." The structure of knowledge that has served to organize the Association’s Forums for many years provides a conceptual model of institutional research that guided the development of this volume. The genesis of this structure was a number of collegial discussions and the analysis of empirical evidence that categorized what we do in the practice of institutional research. The outcomes of these discussions and analyses were incorporated into a track structure for a Forum in the late 1980’s. The boundaries of the tracks have never been precise nor have their definitions been static. It is important to use a conceptual model, even if it reflects a point-in-time, in order to pursue the development of knowledge as defined above. Having a conceptual model allows us to look at the "completeness" of our professional knowledge and to reflect on what we know and what we do not know. In addition, it allows us to communicate the state of our activities and abilities as required by our code of ethics and professional practices. A recent issue of the AIR Professional File (Volkwein and Volkwein) used this same structure to organize and assess the content of the Association’s publications. Without the sense of a cogent structure we are doomed to the continued level of novice or at best an expert at applying existing knowledge. However, with appropriate conceptual knowledge and the meta-cognition that comes from learning more about our conceptual models, we can fit our uncertainties into our individual models and move to higher levels in the creative application of this new knowledge. We can communicate to others our knowledge, whether it is at the level of a deterministic science controlled by laws and principles or an art to be practiced as the craft we have developed over the past half century. In either case, we can continue our own personal mastery and growth. This volume has been prepared with such intent. It is intended that this volume be a marker on the way to continued learning and the application of our professional knowledge, skills, and abilities. It contains a great deal of useful information about institutional research, its theoretical framework, practice, tools, and contribution to the management of higher education. This information is provided within a conceptual framework for thinking about the conduct of institutional research - the seven content tracks of the 2001 AIR Forum. These seven tracks reflect the general content areas that in general define the activities of the profession and provide the chapter structure of this volume. Writing to the descriptions of the individual tracts, the authors of each chapter provide a description and discussion of the status of institutional research at this point-in-time. They have provided a "marker" in the continuum of the development of the profession. This marker reflects the status of the profession after the first four or five decades of its existence as a recognized administrative function in higher education. As editor of this volume, I want to thank the authors for the time and effort they have put into sharing their knowledge (conceptual models) of institutional research. I believe that they have outlined the current status of the profession, how it is practiced and why. In working with these individuals to create a holistic conceptual model of institutional research, my mental model of the profession has expanded. My hope is that your mental model(s) of institutional research will be impacted in the same way. Richard D. Howard |