Jamie Isaac and Janice Kelly

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Report from the IPEDS Help Desk Calls We
Take. And Calls We Make
Turning Knowledge into Practice

• Jamie Isaac and Janice Kelly
• RTI International

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IPEDS Help Desk
- Operated by RTI International - Specially
hired and trained to serve IPEDS customers - Open
weekdays 830am to 500pm Eastern time - Open
evenings and weekends during the final week of
each collection
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Meet the Help Desk Staff
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Meet the Help Desk Staff
Preston
Emily
Lola
Ramel
Leslie
Leslie
Lisa
Albeza
Charlene
Mack
Laquita
Byron
Jef
William
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Its time to play
Name That Survey!
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Name that survey

• - This is one of the more recent additions to
  the IPEDS collection
• - Its often considered to be the easiest of
  the surveys
• - Patricia Brown is the survey director at NCES
• - No, the Acronym does NOT stand for Silly and
  Fictitious Answers

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Name that survey

• Yes, its
• Student Financial Aid (SFA)

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Name that survey

• - This survey has the highest rate of
  non-compliance
• - This is the only survey that allows negative
  values
• - Its considered to be one of the hardest
  surveys
• - Cathy Statham is the survey director at NCES
• - No, the Acronym does NOT stand for
  Futility!!

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Name that survey

• Yes, its
• Finance (F)

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Whats New at the Help Desk?

• New web-based application which integrates all
  call history, email history, and prompting
  history
• Allows Help Desk staff to easily see all previous
  contacts with institution, and to track
  unresolved questions/issues.
• Automatically routes undeliverable emails to Help
  Desk staff for follow-up and resolution.
• Provides complete and thorough documentation
  which can be supplied to Federal Student Aid for
  non-compliance follow-up.

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Whats New at the Help Desk?

• Many veteran staff
• At present, we have 19 staff with combined
  experience of 82 collection periods (avg. of 4.3
  each).

• IPEDS users continue to keep us very busy.

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Help Desk Activity 2003-04 by Collection
Projected
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Inbound Call volume

• Collection Year

Projected
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Outbound Call volume

• Collection Year

Projected
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Inbound v. Outbound Projections

• Collection Year

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Undeliverable Emails A Growing Problem

• Number of Bounced or Undeliverable Emails, by
  Collection Year

Projected
Collection Year
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Undeliverable Emails

• What are the reasons for this growing number?

• More filters virus protection software are
  increasingly preventing the emails from being
  delivered.
• Frequent upgrades to software, and/or changes of
  ISPs, lead to outdated email addresses that are
  not being updated by keyholders.
• The increase in SPAM has made it more difficult
  to separate the good email from the bad, and
  has also clogged up the email boxes of
  keyholders.
• We recently decided that we need to send a letter
  to all keyholders asking them to take steps to
  ensure timely receipt of IPEDS-related emails.

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Top Ten Reasons for Not Getting IPEDS Surveys
Submitted on Time

• I already submitted it last year.
• I dont have any students who received financial
  aid this year.
• Our internet provider wasnt working.
• The person who usually does it has been on
  vacation.
• I thought the reminder email said that it was due
  NEXT month.

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Top Ten Reasons for Not Getting IPEDS Surveys
Submitted on Time
6) We had a hurricane and our records were
destroyed. 7) I broke my wrist and I havent been
able to use my computer keyboard. 8) The
information you are requesting is confidential
and I wont give it to you. 9) The feds seized
all of our records so I dont have the
information to give you.
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Top Ten Reasons for Not Getting IPEDS Surveys
Submitted on Time
10) NCES delays the collection whenever it wants
to
so I should be able to delay my submission when
I want to!
By the way how many of those excuses do you
think we fabricated?
NONE!
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Some of our favorite lines...
- I've printed and locked my data. Where should
I mail the hard copy?
- Wow, you are really nagging this year!
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Some of our favorite lines...
- My heart is not beating in the appropriate
sequence and the sweat has dried on my hands.
Im glad I am done.
- Haaaaal - le-lu-jah Haaaaal -
le-lu-jah Hallelujah Hallelujah Haaal - le -
luuuuuuuuu- jah!
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In Closing
Thank you for your assistance in making IPEDS
successful. Remember for your data needs. Make
Your Point with IPEDS!
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Report from the IPEDS Help Desk Calls We
Take. And Calls We Make
Turning Knowledge into Practice

• Jamie Isaac and Janice Kelly
• RTI International