Strategic Agenda-Setting of Institutional Research in Taiwan's Higher Education Institutions

10.6197/HEED.2016.1001.05

Sophia Shi-Huei Ho；Michael Yao-Ping Peng

Higher Education ； Institutional Research ； Office of Institutional Research ； Organizational Operation ； Professional Human Resource

Higher Education Evaluation and Development

10卷1期（2016 / 06 / 01）

93 - 119

英文

As higher education around the world faces increasingly challenging times in responding to greater forms of accountability and competition, new stakeholder expectations, and rapidly changing technologies, institutional research (IR) will inevitably evolve to become a stronger force in such efforts. This study thus seeks to understand the establishment and development of IR Offices in Taiwan, by comparing their function and practice in public and private higher education institutions (HEIs). By using a document analysis method with five well-known Taiwanese HEIs, we show a growing level of planning and establishing strategy at IR offices. Implications for IR practitioners, contributions to institutional synergy, and institutional effectiveness are discussed. Specifically, this study will contribute on readers into three ways. Firstly, they will learn in the full picture of higher education system in Taiwan, and understand how HEIs initiate and operate the Office of Institutional Research. Secondly, this study serves as an example work task in which an institutional researcher draw on theory and research to develop a strategy, to design a methodological plan, and then to provide data and information that is used in strategic planning among administrative leaders. Thirdly, they will also understand the highlights that there is a significant diversity to be found in terms of approaches, priorities and perceptions of institutional research, even between five most well-known HEIs in Taiwan.

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