"The primary purpose of the book is to provide a tool box that will assist in the effective and efficient management of institutions of higher learning. Toward that end, [Middaugh] proposes a variety of methods and strategies for assessing institutional effectiveness and discusses the interpretation, communication, and use of data gained from assessment processes.

Middaugh highlights the usefulness of assessment as a management tool. He tackles the better known and understood areas of assessment such as student engagement and learning and instructional costs and productivity, and he also highlights methods and strategies in administrative areas where assessment is more difficult.

Middaugh's books and articles are notable for readability and for the thoroughness of his approach. He begins by offering a historical perspective that explains the national context for assessment and planning in higher education. Moving beyond the conceptual/theoretical, Middaugh makes a strong case for systematic and sustainable assessment directly tied to mission-based planning. In this volume he offers practical advice about what should be done, why it should be done, and how best to go about doing it."—Planning for Higher Education; reviewer: Elizabeth Sibolski, interim president of the Middle States Commission on Higher Education

"Planning and Assessment in Higher Education is a guidebook that should be on the shelf in offices of planning and institutional research, as well as in offices charged with responsibility for institutional assessment. In addition, the book can serve a wider purpose as an introduction and orientation or as a review of interconnected mission-based planning and assessment. In this context, I recommend it to senior-level administrators who might find it particularly useful in developing specific institutional approaches to management, to department heads and deans who stand at the front lines of institutional operations and who must plan and evaluate programs and services, and to new college and university trustees who might find it helpful as a frame of reference for institutional oversight responsibilities."? Planning for Higher Education; reviewer: Elizabeth Sibolski, interim president of the Middle States Commission on Higher Education