Starting and Sustaining Meaningful Institutional Research at Small Colleges and Universities: Theory and Practice

Starting and Sustaining Meaningful Institutional Research at Small Colleges and Universities: Theory and Practice

Type of Work

Book

Files

Publication Date

8-2017

Editor

Narren J. Brown, Wei-Fang Lin, Gordon J. Hewitt, Ruth Vater

Publisher

Jossey-Bass

City

San Francisco, CA, USA

Volume

173

Series

New Directions for Institutional Research

ISBN

9781119442554

Abstract

The focus of this volume is on the work of Institutional Researchers in a small college or university (SCUs) setting. At an SCU, the goal of the IR office is to balance the bureaucratic tendencies of data-driven decision making with the need for collegiality and collaboration. Drawing on numerous examples, it illustrates how IR professionals can leverage their positionality within the institution to design data flows to answer questions by serving as convergent thinkers, connecting disjointed systems and requests.
This volume:

  • identifies the challenges that small IR offices face
  • reinforces the idea of collegiality as a defining feature of small IR offices
  • discusses several principles for using data about teaching and learning
  • explores the effects of low response rates in survey data and the effects of nonresponse bias
  • demonstrates the importance of collaborative efforts in enacting change
  • proposes a model of policy development focused on student success
  • presents an effective model of SCU IR office development

Hamilton Office Affiliation

Institutional Research and Assessment

Starting and Sustaining Meaningful Institutional Research at Small Colleges and Universities: Theory and Practice

Share

COinS