Development of Institutional Research at Eastern Illinois University

The history of the Office of Institutional Research and Studies at Eastern Illinois University is a recent one. Its existence as an office performing some aspects of institutional studies began in 1968. Studies in the areas of institutional costs, physical plant costs and space management were conducted at that time under the supervision of an Administrative Assistant to the Vice President for Development. In 1971 the officer in charge of institutional research was given the name of Director of Institutional Research and Studies but the office remained under the direct administration of the Office of the Vice President for Administrative Affairs. It remained that way until the Summer of 1978 when it acquired independence. The director now reports directly to the President of the University. His title now is the Director of Institutional Research and Planning. Until the Summer of 1978, the role of the office was mainly that of collection, organization and preparation of information for reports required by various state, federal and professional agencies concerned with higher education. Although, the development of analytical studies related to University goals and operations, is among its stated roles, very little has been done in this area. Thus, the office was more involved in administrative studies rather than in basic research. Most of the basic data produced by the office falls into the following categories: Student Data, Programs Data, Staff Data, and Finance Data (including the budget). Until its reorganization the office has been staffed by a director, two administrative assistants and one secretary. A graduate assistant and three student workers are usually assigned to the office. The rationale behind the reorganization of the office as stated by President Daniel E. Marvin, the newly appointed president who suggested the change, was that the be st decisions are based upon information developed by an office external to the office required to make the decisions. The new office will add to its present staff, a Management Information Systems Specialist. This specialist will be responsible for the development of a Management Information System whose function is to integrate all the data collected by the office into an information system where data are collected, processed, stored and retrieved in a systematic way. Such a system is essential for planning which is the new function that has been added to the functions of the office. From the information available at the moment there seems to be no specific provision for research. In this writer\u27s opinion unless the staff of the office is supplemented by other well-trained members in the field of research and unless the office is relieved from some of the marginally important tasks, the hope of conducting basic research will remain slim