Institutional Research and Academic Administration: Partners in Planning and Assessment

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Institutional Research and Academic
Administration Partners in Planning and
Assessment
L. G. Abele, Feb. 2003, AIR
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Four Critical Concepts

• Integrity Trust Openness
• Believe in the university
• Create the environment
• Be knowledgeable
• Never underestimate the power of myths

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Believe in the University

• Education is central to a democracy.
• Education holds the intellectual and economic
  keys to a quality life.
• Education is transferred across generations.
• Education is a privilege for faculty and students
  earned by hard work and performance.
• Everything you do should promote teaching,
  research and service for our students and
  colleagues.

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What a Provost Needs

• Guidance in understanding data
• Evaluation of sources of information
• Suggestions for new ways to analyze or to
  evaluate data
• Leadership from Institutional Research

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Levels of Information

• University level data and assessment
• Academic Unit level School or College
• Department
• Individual level data and assessment

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Some Areas to Measure I

• University Enrollment Plan
• Retention Rate
• Teaching quality and quantity
• Student Satisfaction
• Graduation Rate
• Understand the difference between time to degree
  and graduation rate

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Some Areas to Measure II

• Contract and grant activities
• Graduate student success
• Publications
• Creative Activities
• Private fundraising
• Endowment

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Sources of Data

• The Delaware Study of Faculty Workload
  (www.udel.edu/IR/cost)
• The National Science Foundation web sites on
  Institutional Profiles (http//www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs
  /profiles/)
• AIR (www.airweb.org)
• NCES, especially the PEER analysis system
  (http//nces.ed.gov) see also (www.ir.fsu.edu/IPED
  SSPeer for a tutorial)

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Sources of Information

• Nsf.gov is a good site for obtaining information
  on science and technology.
• Web of Science includes journals from the
  humanities, social sciences and sciences.
  Available online from libraries.
• OSU is the Oklahoma Salary Survey and provides
  good information on starting and average salaries
  by rank, by disciplines and by university type.
  Subscription is 60.00.
• Chronicle of Higher Education online.

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Sources of Information

• National Research Council Report on Doctoral
  Programs is now text only and provides good data
  on average numbers of publications, citations,
  grants and degrees for many disciplines.
• Homefair.com and Bestplaces.com for cost of
  living and other comparisons.
• The Rise of American Research Universities
  Elites and Challengers in the Postwar Era by Hugh
  Davis Graham Nancy Diamond, 1997, Johns Hopkins
  University Press.
• Southern Regional Education Board (www.sreb.org)

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Total Federal SE obligations, by agency
selected years (Dollars in thousands)
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Separately budgeted RD expenditures in the
sciences and engineering by source of funds
selected years(Dollars in thousands)
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(No Transcript)
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Basic DataAge, Gender and Ethnicity
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Basic Departmental DataFaculty lines and ranks
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Basic Departmental DataTeaching Quantity English
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Basic Departmental DataEG Expenditures English
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Basic Departmental DataDegrees and FTEs
For UG 40 sch1 FTE, For G 32 sch1 FTE
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National Research Council Data ECOLOGY, EVOLUTION
BEHAVIOR
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Total Number of Degrees Median Years to Degree
By Academic Discipline (Over a 5 Year Period
1987-88 to 1991-92)
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Benchmarks for Faculty Assignments

• Criteria
• Objective
• Comparative
• Peer Institutions
• Sources
• Delaware Study of Faculty Workload
• National Research Council
• NSF sites and Web Casper

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Some Examples of Benchmarks (Teaching)
Teaching Organized Class Sections - Per
Academic Term
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Some Examples of Benchmarks (Research, Other)
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Faculty Teaching
(ECONOMICS EXAMPLE)
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Faculty Publications
(ECONOMICS EXAMPLE)
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Relevant Information
(ECONOMICS EXAMPLE)
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Dont ever forget that administrator is derived
from the Latin to serve others.