Modern university and institutional research --A review of the development of institutional research in the United States
The modern university is fundamentally different from the colleges prior to the 19 century in terms of organization and administration. The 19century colleges were characterized as a small community of scholars, and operated basing on experiences, while modern universities are large and featured as bureaucratic organization, and managed by a variety of professionals. Institutional research was emerged as a staffing function of management of modern university. It is predictable that Chinese university will experience a similar progress during China's transition from elitist to mass higher education, and institution research will be needed as in the United States.