Abstract
Although it may not be called institutional research (IR) in some settings, there are many tasks completed across institutions around the world that fall under the general umbrella of IR. This chapter introduces the concepts and definitions of institutional research (IR) and decision support , and stresses the importance of and need for this administrative function in all higher education institutions today. In addition, this chapter introduces the goals for this book and offers a brief introduction to each chapter. Having knowledgeable and skilled IR leaders will elevate the perceived value of this decision support unit and that, in turn, will facilitate building IR’s capacity in higher education today.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
AIR Statement of Aspirational Practice (2016). Association for Institutional Research, Tallahssee, Florida.
AIR. (2017). Duties and functions of institutional research. Resource document. AIR. https://www.airweb.org/Resources/Documents/AIR-Duties-and-Functions-of_IR.pdf. Accessed 12 May 2017.
Alexander, F. K. (2000). The changing face of accountability: Monitoring and assessing institutional performance in higher education. The Journal of Higher Education, 71(4), 411–431.
Birnbaum, R. (1988). How colleges work. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.
Borgmann, A. (1992). Crossing the postmodern divide. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Botha, J., & Hunter-Husselman, M. (2016). The management and use of research-related information by a selection of research intensive universities in South Africa. In J. Botha & N. Muller (Eds.), Institutional research in South Africa: Global contexts and themes (pp. 299–318). Stellenbosch: Sun Press.
Calderon, A. (2012). Massification continues to transform higher education. Resource document. University World News, Issues No. 237. http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120831155341147. Accessed 2 Feb 2017.
Cantwell, B., & Kauppinen, I. (2014). Academic capitalism in the age of globalization. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Carvalho, T., Marini, G., & Videira, P. (2015). The rise of blended professionals in higher education systems: empirical evidence from a survey in Portuguese higher education system. Paper under review, The European Journal of Higher Education.
Chaffee, E. E. (1983). Rational decision making in higher education. Boulder: National Center for Higher Education Management Systems.
Cooper, P. (2007). Building capacity for public health. Journal of the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health, 127(6), 257–258.
Delaney, A. M. (2009). Institutional researchers’ expanding roles: Policy, planning, program evaluation, assessment, and new research methodologies. In C. Leimer (Ed.), Imagining the future of institutional research. New Directions For Institutional Research (Vol. 143, pp. 29–41). San Francisco: Wiley.
Dill, D. D. (2000). Capacity building as an instrument of institutional reform: Improving the quality of higher education through academic audits in the UK, New Zealand, Sweden, and Hong Kong. Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice, 2(2), 211–234.
Dressel, P. L. (1981). The shaping of institutional research and planning. Research in Higher Education, 14(3), 229–258.
Fincher, C. (1985). The art and science of institutional research. In M. W. Peterson & M. Corcoran (Eds.), Institutional research in transition, New Directions for Institutional Research, No. 46 (pp. 17–37). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Lancrin, S. V. (2004, October). Building capacity through cross border tertiary education. InUNESCO/OECD Australia forum on trade in educational services (pp. 11–12). Sydney.
Lasher, W. F. (2011). The history of institutional research and its role in American higher education over the past 50 years. In G. Rice, M. A. Coughlin, & R. Howard (Eds.), The Association for Institutional Research: The first 50 years (pp. 9–52). Tallahassee: The Association for Institutional Research.
Leimer, C., & Terkla, D. G. (2009). Laying the foundation: Institutional research office organization, staffing and career development. In C. Leimer (Ed.), Imagining the future of institutional research, New Directions for Institutional Research, No. 143 (pp. 43–58). San Francisco: Jossey Bass.
Maasen, P., & Sharma, R. (1985). What is institutional research? A primer on institutional research in Australasia. Melbourne: Australasian Association for Institutional Research.
Marginson, S. (2006). Dynamics of national and global competition in higher education. Higher Education, 52(1), 1–39.
Morley, J. E. (2005). Working more effectively by building organizational capacity. Business officer-Washington-NACUBO, 39(6), 22.
Negash, S., & Gray, P. (2008). Business intelligence. In F. Burstein & C. W. Holsapple (Eds.), Handbook on decision support systems 2: Variations (pp. 175–193). Berlin: Springer.
OECD. (2016). Education at a glance 2016: Indicators. Resource document. https://doi.org/10.187/eag.2016-en. Accessed 20 Nov 2016.
Pfeffer, J., & Salancik, G. (1978). The external control of organizations. New York: Harper and Row.
Reichard, D. J. (2012). The history of institutional research. In R. D. Howard, G. W. McLaughlin, & W. E. Knight (Eds.), The handbook of institutional research (pp. 3–21). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass/Wiley.
Rice, G., Coughlin, M. A., & Howard, R. (2011). The association for institutional research: The first 50 years. Tallahassee: The Association for Institutional Research.
Saupe, J. (1990). The functions of institutional research (2nd ed.). Tallahassee: The Association for Institutional Research.
Serban, A. M. (2002). Knowledge management: The fifth face of institutional research. New Directions for Institutional Research. In A. Serban & J. Luan (Eds.), Knowledge management: Building a competitive advantage in higher education (Vol. 113, pp. 105–112). San Francisco: Jossey Bass.
Shin, J. C., & Teichler, U. (2014). The future of the post-massified university at the crossroads: Restructuring systems and functions. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer Press.
Slaughter, S., & Rhoades, G. (2004). Academic capitalism and the new economy: Markets, state, and higher education. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Swing, R.L., and Ross, L. E. (2016a, March/April). A new vision for institutional research. Change (pp. 6–13.). https://www.airweb.org/Resources/IRStudies/Pages/A-New-Vision-for-Institutional-Research.aspx. Accessed 12 May 2017.
Swing, R., & Ross, L. (2016b). Statement of aspirational practice for institutional research. Resource document. Association for Institutional Research. http://www.airweb.org/Resources/ImprovingAndTransformingPostsecondaryEducation/Documents/Statement%20of%20Aspirational%20Practice%20for%20IR.pdf. Accessed 21 May 2017.
Swing, R. L., Jones, D., & Ross, L. E. (2016). The AIR national survey of institutional research offices. Resource document. Association for Institutional Research. http://www.airweb.org/nationalsurvey. Accessed 23 Feb 2017.
Terenzini, P. T. (1993). On the nature of institutional research and the knowledge and skills it requires. Research in Higher Education, 34, 1–10.
Terenzini, P. T. (2013). On the nature of institutional research. Revisited: Plus ca change. Research in Higher Education, 54(2), 137–148.
Tetlow, W. L. (1973). Institutional research: The emergence of a staff function in higher education. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. New York: Cornell University, Cornell.
Toma, D. (2010). Building organizational capacity: Strategic management in higher education. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press.
Trow, M.A. (2000). From mass higher education to universal access: The American advantage. Resource document. Center for Studies in Higher Education, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: University of California. Berkeley. http://escholarship.org/uc/item/9f02k0d1. Accessed 17 Jan 2017.
Trow, M. (2007). Reflections on the transition from elite to mass to universal access: Forms and phases of higher education in modern societies since WWII. In J. Forest & P. Altbach (Eds.), International handbook of higher education (pp. 243–280). Netherlands: Springer.
Volkwein, J. F. (1999). The four faces of institutional research. New Directions for Institutional Research (Vol. 104, pp. 9–20). San Francisco: Jossey Bass.
Volkwein, J. F. (2008). The foundations and evolution of institutional research. In D. G. Terkla (Ed.), Institutional research: More than just data, New Directions for Higher Education, No. 141 (pp. 5–20). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Webber, K. L. (2015). Eyes to the future. In K. L. Webber & A. Calderon (Eds.), Institutional research and planning in higher education: Global themes and contexts (pp. 229–237). New York: Routledge.
Webber, K. L., & Calderon, A. J. (2015). Institutional research and planning in higher education: Global contexts and themes. New York: Routledge.
Whitchurch, C. (2009). The rise of the blended professional in higher education: A comparison between the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States. Higher Education, 58(3), 407–418.
Whitchurch, C. (2013). Reconstructing identities in higher education: The rise of third space professionals. Abingdon: Routledge.
Whitley, R., & Gläser, J. (2014). The impact of institutional reforms on the nature of universities as organisations. Research in the Sociology of Organizations, 42, 19–49. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0733-558X20140000042000.
Zheng, H. (2015). Business intelligence as a data-based decision support system and its roles in support of institutional research and planning. In K. L. Webber & A. Calderon (Eds.), Institutional research and planning in higher education: Global themes and contexts (pp. 159–173). New York: Routledge.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Webber, K.L. (2018). Institutional Research and Decision Support in Higher Education: Considerations for Today and for Tomorrow. In: Webber, K. (eds) Building Capacity in Institutional Research and Decision Support in Higher Education . Knowledge Studies in Higher Education, vol 4. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71162-1_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71162-1_1
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-71161-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-71162-1
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)