We have seen this at KU - but now it's changing due to receding budgets. The culture has moved away from creating some project and sorta 'guessing' that they wo

We have seen this at KU - but now it's changing due to receding budgets. The culture has moved away from creating some project and sorta 'guessing' that they work using anecdotal evidence and student surveys since there simply isn't the money to keep continuing on the programs. As an entire organization, we've had to focus our efforts on proving that spending money in such a way is worth it in the long run. The Institutional Research department(s) here have a long standing track record of trust because they work so closely with the faculty, I'm not sure that the same environment exists in the private sector. In fact, I could be pressed to say - if the trust between Faculty and the IR statistician/data miners didn't previously exist that we would be focusing elsewhere.