Arab Educational Information Network

The last decades have witnessed an increased concern in higher education over accountability, quality, and productivity and a struggle to meet increasingly complex challenges. Institutional research (IR) evolved with the changing needs of higher education, and its nature and the role it plays continues to evolve as a consequence of policy decisions, changing student clientele, advances in computing and telecommunications, the growing internationalization of higher education, the increasing complexity and sophistication of decision-making, and the growing interest in institutional effectiveness. Examining the role and function of IR has been a major pre-occupation of the field since the 1960s and a focus of continual debate; accordingly this paper will attempt to answer the following questions. What is IR? What is its institutional role? How has it evolved? What are its primary functions and activities? How is it organized? What skills and expertise does it require? And what are challenges facing IR? The paper will attempt to answer these questions through first a descriptive analytical review of recent literature on theory, models, and practice of institutional research, and secondly, through presenting a case study of an IR office operating in the Arab Region, that of the Office of Institutional Research & Assessment (OIRA) at the American University of Beirut (AUB). The paper will focus on evolving nature of IR, on how effectively it meets higher education challenges of quality and accountability, and will conclude with future challenges for the field. (Published Abstract)