"This book helps colleges and universities respond to the increasing pressures for accountability by giving them the tools to demonstrate institutional effectiveness. The author is in a unique position to help his colleagues, since he comes at the topic from multiple perspectives, being both a leading practitioner and researcher: Assistant VP for Institutional Research and Planning at his university, director of a national research project on costs of instruction, as well as Vice Chair of an accreditation agency. While many books address the issue of assessing student learning outcomes, this book provides expert guidance for assessing and promoting institutional effectiveness in supporting student learning. The book's chapters cover every aspect from the overall context of the issue, through measures of effectiveness, to communicating with the public, and concludes with a guide to resources"--Provided by publisher.