The Research On Current Situations And Development Strategies Of Institutional Research At Information Age

Since21st century, with the development of all kinds of information technology, like computer, database and Internet, institutional research has become more data-based, intelligent, and networked than ever. So this study put institutional research under IT background as the research subject, introduced institutional research cases applied to universities in America and in China, analyzed factors which may restrict institutional research in China and finally put forward a series of suggestions aimed at promoting its development.The theories about institutional research, information management and business intelligence have been put as theoretical basis for this study. By reading relevant literatures, the author introduced definition, history and methods of institutional research, described present situation of information systems’ construction in China’s colleges and universities, and finally expounded information development model and business intelligence theory.In case study, firstly the author selected two universities in America:University of California to be the case of public university while Harvard University to be the one of private university. And then F University and J University were selected as two cases in China:F University famous for its art and science while J University famous for its engineering. All of these four universities have completed the construction of campus information system and have already been engaged in institutional research based on network data. The study introduced organizations, personnel, research findings and data systems of institutional research. After comparison of differences between two countries, the study showed the characteristics of American institutional research and analyzed factors restricting Chinese institutional research.With China’s present condition and information technology development, feasible solutions were put forward from aspects of nation development, system perfection, personnel training, method improvement and idea innovation. The country should develop uniform data standard and strong data system. The university should assign the leader responsible for institutional research and make work process clear. More professional personnel will be recruited, more related courses will be provided and personnel promotion channel must be set up completely. In a word, sound mechanism, regulations and procedures must be established to ensure that institutional research work well in Chinese universities.