Enlightening the deep university caverns…

Abstract

We intended to analyzed observable manifestations in the Argentine universities that can be considered as ‘institutional research’: available information in the governing bodies; how they obtainit; how they use it; activities and analysis usually practiced; who is in charge of these and the impact on university management and governance. We collected information from secondary sources and conducted 4 in deep interviews with key experts. A revision of institutional web pages of Argentine universities was conducted and also of all external evaluations reports of the institutions by CONEAU (National Argentine University Evaluation and Accreditation Agency). We examined documents and
outputs that potentially might be considered as typical institutional research in other latitudes. Finally we analyzed some reports from the maximum universities authority, the University Policy Department (SPU) in the National Ministry of Education. We found that there have been important efforts to improve the quality of the information. Following the implementation of informational systems there are more data available. But we consider that a cultural change is pending in order to take advantage of the information in the institutional management and governance. Institutional
research practices could contribute to strengthen the universities ability to assess their situation and take decisions to change it