An Examination of Institutional Research Functions and Structures in Georgia Higher Education (original) (raw)
This paper describes the results of research conducted on the variation in structure and function of institutional research offices at 55 public and private postsecondary educational institutions in Georgia. The study examined five issues central to institutional research: (1) professional role identity, (2) location of the office in the organizational hierarchy, (3) institutional research task variables, (4) the hierarchy of institutional research tasks, and (5) the role of the institutional research office in organized assessment activities. Findings are detailed in text and tables for each of these five issues. Among general findings are the following: the larger the institution's size, the larger the institutional research office staff; the lack of predictability between variables of institutional research structure and tasks is ascribed to the strong influence of varying management styles, demeanor, career paths, and organizational power structure; there was little relationship between organizational variables and the tasks hierarchy; the size of the professional staff sugi,,ested more about the nature of institutional research activities ttan any other single variable. The increasing importance of institutional research in smaller, two-year, and community colleges is noted. Contains 16 references. (DB) *k****Yre.i **Y. Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.
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