Why Universities Need Institutional Researchers and Institutional Researchers Need Faculty Members More Than Both Realize

Author: Ronald Ehrenberg

Source: Research in Higher Education, Volume 46, Number 3, May 2005 , pp. 349-363(15)

Publisher: Springer

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Abstract:

This paper provides an overview of research that I have conducted during my career using data sets collected by offices of institutional research. Many of the examples discussed in the paper deal with graduate education. The paper illustrates how valuable the data collection efforts by these offices are to academic researchers interested in helping to formulate institutional, state and national higher education policies. It concludes with suggestions for how the usefulness of institutional researchers to colleges and universities can be improved and stresses that institutional researchers and administrators would be wise to involve more faculty members in research that aids in institutional decision making and the formulation of public policy towards higher education.

Keywords: faculty involvement; graduate education; institutional data; institutional research

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11162-004-1688-0

Affiliations: 1: School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853-3901, USA, Email: rge2@cornell.edu

Publication date: 2005-05-01