Institutional Research

Australian Universities at a Crossroads, by W. Lacy, G. Croucher, A. Brett, R. Mueller

William B. Lacy
Gwilym Croucher
André Brett
Romina Mueller
2017

This study provides an overview of the history, current status, and future challenges to the Australian university system through the eyes of its leaders. Hopefully, the report will be informative and useful and will raise critical and important issues that need to be considered and addressed for the continuing success of the system and the society it enables. The intended audience includes: university leaders, managers and staff; higher education policy makers and analysts; and, Australian and global higher education researchers and scholars.

Quantifying Faculty Productivity in Japan: Development and Application of the Achievement-Motivated Key Performance Indicator by Misako Aida and Satoshi P. Watanabe

Misako Aida
Satoshi P. Watanabe
2016

Universities throughout the world are trending toward more performance based methods to capture their strengths, weaknesses and productivity. Hiroshima University has developed an integrated objective measure for quantifying multifaceted faculty activities, namely the “Achievement-Motivated Key Performance Indicator” (A-KPI), in order to visualize the strengths and weaknesses of the university, while balancing versatile faculty activities university-wide. We believe any reform efforts should be based on accurate understanding of the status quo through rigorous self-assessment. This...

The University as Publisher: Summary of a Meeting Held at UC Berkeley on November 1, 2007

Diane Harley
2008

With the advent of electronic publishing, the scholarly communication landscape at universities has become increasingly diverse. Multiple stakeholders including university presses, libraries, and central IT departments are challenged by the increasing volume and the rapidity of production of these new forms of publication in an environment of economic uncertainties. As a response to these increasing pressures, as well as the recent publication of important reports and papers on the topic, the Center for Studies in Higher Education (CSHE) convened a meeting of experts titled, The...

A New Approach to Analyzing University Prestige and Internal Resource Allocation: Geometric Interpretations and Implications, by Yasumi Abe and Satoshi P. Watanabe

Yasumi Abe
Satoshi P. Watanabe
2012

The content of this paper is based solely on the original study reported in Abe and Watanabe (2012a) in which the authors develop a structured and innovative theory of optimal resource allocation and prestige maximization for an institution of higher education. Although the study provides a sound diagnostic framework and unambiguous results, the paper requires relatively advanced knowledge of mathematics and microeconomic theory, which presents an unattractive feature for students and researchers in academic disciplines that do not necessarily incorporate such analytical...

Assessing the Future Landscape of Scholarly Communication: An Exploration of Faculty Values and Needs in Seven Disciplines

Diane Harley
Sophia Krzys Acord
Sarah Earl-Novell
Shannon Lawrence
C. Judson King
2010

Since 2005, the Center for Studies in Higher Education (CSHE), with generous funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, has been conducting research to understand the needs and practices of faculty for in-progress scholarly communication (i.e., forms of communication employed as research is being executed) as well as archival publication. The complete results of our work can be found at the Future of...

Institutional Versus Academic Discipline Measures of Student Experience: A Matter of Relative Validity, by Steve Chatman

Steve Chatman
2007

The University of California’s census survey of undergraduates, UCUES, presents an opportunity to measure both disciplinary and institutional differences in students’ academic experience. Results from nearly 60,000 responses (38% response rate) from the 2006 administration found greater variance among majors within an institution than between equivalent majors across institutions. Cluster analysis techniques were employed to establish disciplinary patterns, with traditional distinctions between hard and soft sciences generally supported. Reporting practices called into question range...

Strategic Budgeting at Colleges and Universities by James A. Hyatt CSHE 3.20 (May 2020)

James A. Hyatt
2020

In recent years a number of colleges and universities have explored alternative strategies for developing operating budgets. In part this exploration was driven by the desire for transparency among various constituent groups and the need to tie budgeting to campus strategic planning. With the advent of declining federal and state support, along with changing student demand, the need for a more strategic approach to budgeting has gained momentum. This paper highlights the various budgetary approaches currently in use and provides examples of their application in a variety of university...

ASYMMETRY BY DESIGN? Identity Obfuscation, Reputational Pressure, and Consumer Predation in U.S. For-Profit Higher Education, by Adam Goldstein and Charlie Eaton CSHE 5.20 (May 2020)

Adam Goldstein
Charlie Eaton
2020

This article develops and tests an identity-based account of malfeasance in consumer markets. It is hypothesized that multi-brand organizational structures help predatory firms short-circuit reputational discipline by rendering their underlying identities opaque to consumer audiences. The analysis utilizes comprehensive administrative data on all for-profit U.S. colleges, an industry characterized by widespread fraud and poor (though variable) educational outcomes. Consistent with the hypothesis that brand differentiation facilitates malfeasance by reducing ex ante reputational risks,...

RE-IMAGINING CALIFORNIA HIGHER EDUCATION

John Aubrey Douglass
2010

2010 marks the 50th anniversary of California’s famed Master Plan for Higher Education, arguably the single most influential effort to plan the future of a system of higher education in the annals of American higher education. This essay builds on the analysis offered in a previous CSHE research paper (“From Chaos to Order and Back”) by discussing the major challenges facing California’s higher education system, and offering a possibly pathway to reforms and institution-building essential for bolstering socioeconomic mobility and greater economic competitiveness. Most critics and...

FROM CHAOS TO ORDER AND BACK?A Revisionist Reflection on the California Master Plan for Higher Education@50 and Thoughts About its Future

John Aubrey Douglass
2010

In 1960, California developed a "master plan" for its already famed public higher education system. It was and continues to be arguably the single most influential effort to plan the future of a system of higher education in the annals of American higher education. Despite popular belief, however, the California Master Plan for Higher Education is more important for what it preserved than what it created. There is much confusion regarding exactly how the Master Plan came about, what it said and did not say, and what portions of it are still relevant today. This essay provides a brief...