John F. Welsh

Faculty and Administrative Support for Institutional Effectiveness Activities: A Bridge across the Chasm?.

This study compares faculty and administrative perspectives on the importance of institutional effectiveness activities in higher education and measures the impact of four control variables related to perceptions about the role and importance of institutional effectiveness activities. The study suggests some strategies institutions may use to cultivate both faculty and administrative support for institutional effectiveness initiatives.

Quality measurement and quality assurance in higher education

This paper discusses the notion of quality measurement and describes the role of an enterprise‐wide, technology‐based continuous Quality Measurement System (QMS2000) in the quality assurance program at the University of Louisville. QMS2000 is a relational, interactive information system that includes data from 273 student, alumni, faculty, staff, and employer satisfaction surveys that are linked to corresponding databases at the university. QMS2000 is on‐line, operating in a networked, client‐server environment that permits licensed users access to designated components of the system at any time from designated desktops at the university. QMS2000 users generate reports and perform advanced statistical analyses drawing from the databases. The data and reports are integrated into the accreditation, strategic planning, budgeting, outcomes assessment, and program review processes at the university. The paper closes with a discussion of the initial impacts of QMS2000 on the university’s efforts at quality assurance.

Institutional strategy and information support: the role of data warehousing in higher education

This paper examines the challenges that colleges and universities confront in the management of information necessary for strategic planning and decision making and explores data warehousing as an approach to knowledge management in academia.

Cultivating Faculty Support for Institutional Effectiveness Activities: Benchmarking best practices

This study examines faculty perspectives on accreditation-driven institutional effectiveness activities in higher education and measures the impact of four predictor variables on faculty perceptions about the importance of institutional effectiveness activities. The findings suggest that three variables are critical to faculty support for institutional effectiveness activities: (i) institutional motivation for pursuing these activities; (ii) level of involvement or participation in institutional effectiveness activities; and (iii) definition of quality. The findings suggest some best practices that institutions can use to cultivate faculty support for institutional effectiveness initiatives.

STUDENT PARTICIPATION AND PERFORMANCE IN DUAL-CREDIT COURSES IN A REFORM ENVIRONMENT

ABSTRACT Dual-credit programs are an increasingly popular policy tool of state-driven postsecondary reform, particularly where legislatures and state higher-education boards seek to increase access to higher education and achieve greater collaboration between schools and colleges. This study reports on the role and impact of dual-credit programs in the reform of Kentucky postsecondary education. Student records of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System analysis reveal that more students are enrolling and succeeding in dual-credit courses. Participation rates of students from underserved populations are also increasing, thus indicating the efficacy of Kentuckys policies on dual-credit to help institutions meet the states reform goals for access and achievement in higher education.

Administrative support for institutional effectiveness activities: responses to the ‘new accountability’

This study examines administrative perspectives on the importance of institutional effectiveness activities in higher education and measures the impact of four predictor variables. The findings suggest that higher education administrators are more supportive of institutional effectiveness activities when (1) the primary motivation for undertaking them is internal improvement, not external reporting, (2) the results lead to initiatives that are implemented by the institution, and (3) the administrators are directly involved in the activity itself. The data suggest some strategies institutions may adopt to cultivate administrative support for institutional effectiveness initiatives.

Faculty and Administrative Support for Strategic Planning: A Comparison of Two- and Four-Year Institutions

This article examines faculty and administrator support for strategic planning activities at two-year and four-year colleges and universities. Drawing data from public institutions in Kentucky, a state that has pursued fundamental change in its higher educational system since 1997, the study compared faculty and administrator attitudes, and it measured the impact of five predictor variables. Administrators at both types of institutions report more support for strategic planning than do faculty. However, the data also reveal significant differences between faculty and administrators on each of the five predictor variables. The article closes with a discussion of the implications of the findings for the cultivation of support for strategic planning at both two- and four- year institutions in the context of state-driven postsecondary reform. Introduction Strategic planning is one of the most pervasive and, arguably, most important management activities in higher education at the beginning of the 21st century. Given its near ubiquity, it is surprising that little is known about the factors that define and affect successful strategic planning at colleges and universities (Cope, 1987; Kotler & Murphy, 1981; Shirley, 1988; Mintzberg, 1994). It appears particularly important that the sources of faculty and administrative support and opposition to strategic planning become better understood as institutions attempt to navigate difficult and confusing economic, political, and policy environments (Garmon, 1984; Peterson & White, 1992; Welsh & Metcalf, 2003; Rhoades, 2000). One of the factors complicating institutional strategic planning is the effort to reform state higher education systems. In 1997, the state of Kentucky embarked upon an ambitious effort to restructure its higher education system. The Kentucky Postsecondary Educational Improvement Act of 1997 (KPEIA) initiated profound changes in the coordination, governance, and financing of the public universities, community colleges, and technical colleges in the state. At the heart of postsecondary reform in Kentucky is a desire on the part of policy makers to improve the alignment of institutional behavior with state policy goals (Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education, 2001). KPEIA forced the public institutions to reinvigorate their strategic planning activities by promoting greater participation and support by campus constituencies, particularly faculty and administrators (Rabuzzi, Carson, & Conklin, 2001; Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education, 2001). The purpose of this article is to explore the sources of faculty and administrative support for strategic planning in a reform environment, measuring the impact of institutional type and five attitudinal variables. Drawing from the experience in Kentucky, the research attempts to address three research questions about faculty and administrative support for the implementation and development of strategic planning activities at two- and four-year institutions. First, how do faculty and administrators at two-year institutions compare with their counterparts at four-year institutions in their support for strategic planning? Second, within each type of institution, how do faculty and administrators compare in their support for strategic planning? Third, if there are differences in these two comparisons, what factors help explain them? Factors Affecting Support for Strategic Planning Research and commentary on strategic planning in higher education emphasizes three consistent themes. First, the need for strategic planning has intensified in higher education because of severe resource constraints and increased expectations for accountability from external agencies such as state governments. Anderson (2000), Crittenden and Crittenden (2000), and Mintzberg (1994) studied changing environmental conditions and conclude that all large organizations need sophisticated planning processes to optimize the attainment of organizational goals. …

State Support for Interinstitutional Transfer and Articulation: The Impact of Databases and Information Systems.

Research since the mid-1960s has demonstrated the relative paucity of state support for the transfer function of postsecondary institutions, particularly community colleges, while emphasizing the importance of support for student access to the full range of higher education opportunities. Ewell and Jones (1991) and Russell (1999) however, have documented that the state policy and planning environment for student transfer changed in the 1990s. At least 43 states, plus Puerto Rico, have ongoing student information systems that include data elements pertaining to transfer students and, thus, have the capacity to affect the transfer environment through data-based analysis of transfer student educational outcomes. This article presents the results of a national study of the purpose, structure, and impact of databases and information systems maintained on transfer students by state higher education agencies. The study concluded that, although most states have an increasing ability to collect, manipulate, and us...Research since the mid-1960s has demonstrated the relative paucity of state support for the transfer function of postsecondary institutions, particularly community colleges, while emphasizing the importance of support for student access to the full range of higher education opportunities. Ewell and Jones (1991) and Russell (1999) however, have documented that the state policy and planning environment for student transfer changed in the 1990s. At least 43 states, plus Puerto Rico, have ongoing student information systems that include data elements pertaining to transfer students and, thus, have the capacity to affect the transfer environment through data-based analysis of transfer student educational outcomes. This article presents the results of a national study of the purpose, structure, and impact of databases and information systems maintained on transfer students by state higher education agencies. The study concluded that, although most states have an increasing ability to collect, manipulate, and use such data to inform the policy process, state higher education agencies generally do not monitor or assess the effectiveness of their databases and information systems to help improve outcomes for transfer students. A major challenge for state higher education agencies and state policy makers is to develop measures and strategies for determining the effect of state and institutional policies on transfer students.

Continuous Quality Measurement: Restructuring assessment for a new technological and organisational environment

This paper discusses the notion of continuous quality measurement and describes a technology-based continuous Quality Measurement System (QMS) that has been developed and implemented at the University of Louisville. QMS is an enterprisewide model for addressing the major challenges confronting the outcomes assessment movement in higher education. In the Fall of 1998, the University of Louisville developed a partnership with Dey Systems, a Louisville technology company that specialises in quality and measurement solutions, to create a Quality Measurement System for higher education. QMS is a relational, interactive information system that includes data from 273 students, alumni, faculty, staff and employer satisfaction surveys that are linked to corresponding databases at the university. QMS is an on-line information system, operating in a networked, client-server environment that permits licensed users access to designated components of the system at any time from designated desktops at the university. QMS users generate reports and perform advanced statistical analyses drawing from the QMS databases. These data and reports are used to improve academic and support programmes at the university. The paper closes with a discussion of the role of QMS in the universitys quality improvement scheme and its initial impacts on the institution.

INSTITUTIONAL EFFECTIVENESS ACTIVITIES: FACULTY AND ADMINISTRATOR SUPPORT AT TWO-YEAR INSTITUTIONS

This study examined faculty and administrator perspectives on the importance of institutional effectiveness activities in two-year colleges. The study compared faculty and administrator attitudes and measured the impact of four predictor variables. The article closes with a discussion of strategies that institutions may adopt to cultivate administrative and faculty support for institutional effectiveness initiatives.