Showing papers on "Institutional research published in 1979"

Pricing policy and the college choice process

Abstract: Following the presentation of a marketing management paradigm for higher educational institutions, this paper discuses some aspects of the pricing policy process in colleges and universities. A statistical model of the college choice process is developed, and some empirical results related to the effects of price, among other factors, on the collegechoice decision-making behavior process of high school seniors are presented and interpreted. The two most important factors affecting the college choice process are seen to be college quality and price-related considerations. Marketing implications of these results are discussed.

Barriers to implementing research in higher education

Abstract: Summary The paper [1] is concerned to discuss why so much institutional research activity is carried out at such a cost and has apparently made so little continued impact on so few institutions. It argues that the problems relate not so much to inadequacies in methodology as to the nature of the decision-making process and the relationship between decison-makers and researchers in education. The paper discusses some of the barriers to the effective use of research and relates this discussion to the experience of institutional research at the Open University.

A modified delphi technique for obtaining consensus on institutional research priorities

Abstract: This article describes a modified Delphi technique for use in establishing research needs and priorities at the institutional level. Six steps comprise the technique: identification of needs, collection of rankings of the identified needs by institutional administrators, calculation of the rank of identified needs using an importance/consensus method, feedback of rankings to campus‐level administrators, planning of actions with campus administrators and reporting of developed plans to all administrators. The modified Delphi technique relies on individual or small‐group interviews during the first round of information gathering and relies on much more face‐to‐face interaction during later rounds of data analysis and reporting than does the traditional Delphi technique. It is suggested that this process is both efficient and effective as a method for obtaining institutional consensus on research needs and priorities.

Replicating Freeman's Recursive Adjustment Model of Demand for Higher Education. AIR Forum 1979 Paper.

Abstract: During the 1950s and 1960s, most colleges and universities enjoyed rapid student enrollment increases and liberally expanded their programs and physical facilities accordingly. But the economic, fiscal, and social developments of the 1970s have reduced income sources, increased costs, and diminished traditional student populations. Richard Freeman's work on the demand for higher education and the future worth of a college degree has become a major source of controversy among academicians. To establish a relationship between college attendance and the college job market, Freeman employed a three-equation model to analyze the causative supply and demand determinants. In this paper, we examine the viability of Freeman's Recursive Adjustment Model as a management tool for explaining and predicting enrollments and the job market using macro and micro cases.

The Cost and Value of Marketing Analysis.

Abstract: Product-market planning is an inherently difficult practice. It aims at a match between consumer preference and institutional behavior. Unfortunately, consumer reactions to changes in institutional behavior are more often than not highly uncertain. This paper assumes that institutional planners should neither ignore uncertainty nor seek to avoid all actions with uncertain outcomes.

Impact of Federal Intervention on Higher Education.

Abstract: One of the most serious crises currently facing institutions of higher education is federal intervention. The level which this crisis has reached is attested to by the fact that the presidents of three leading universities (Yale, Harvard, and Cornell) have in the past two years presented major reports addressed exclusively to this concern. The purpose of this article is to assess the impact of recent federal legislation and regulations on higher education. The author articulates the precepts posited in defense of such federal intervention, some of which are: financial contributions, social injustice, moral responsibility, student unrest, etc. The general costs of complying with federal laws and regulations are enumerated. In addition, the article considers the impact of a number of recent federal laws and regulations, including: Health Professions Educational Assistance Act of 1976; Copyright Law of 1976; Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity; and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The author explores the steps that have recently been undertaken to reduce costs of complying with federal regulations and suggests additional solutions to this problem. The article concludes with a prognosis for what higher education can anticipate from the federal government and how higher education best protects its interests.

Institutional Financial Assessment: Methodology and Meaning.

Abstract: This paper responds to the fourth annual report by W John Minter and Howard R Bowen on Independent Higher EducationFinancial and Educational Trends in Independent Higher Education, 1978 Primary thesis: established financial reporting does not tend to do justice to a sound assessment of the financial condition of colleges and universities Because the latter belong to the “service” economy, we must know more than we do about changes in quality Such studies also must say how well institutional objectives are being achieved College presidents and deans have tended to provide researchers with overly optimistic information When they later see that Bowen and Minter report this very fact, they complain that their conclusions are not gloomy enough Such double standards damage realistic program assessment efforts The blame falls on the respondents and not on the authors Neither can the authors be blamed for shortcomings in financial accounting ignoring the total cost of institutional activity If accounting practice were based on a total cost concept the news about higher education finance would more nearly reflect what we all know is true: colleges and universities are worse off than the statistics say