Promoting Institutional Research at a National and Institutional Level The Irish Experience

1
Promoting Institutional Research at a National
and Institutional Level The Irish Experience

• Dr. Teresa Lee,
• Irish Universities Quality Board
• Aoife Flanagan,
• National University of Ireland, Galway

2
The National ContextHigher Education in Ireland

• Population - 4 million
• gt55 of school-leaving cohort enter higher
  education
• Binary system with 7 universities 14 Institutes
  of Technology

3
The National Context Irish Universities Quality
Board (IUQB)

• Set up in 2002 by universities
• Incorporated and established its independence in
  February 2006
• Funded by subscriptions from the universities and
  an annual grant from the funding body, the Higher
  Education Authority (HEA)

4
The National Context Irish Universities Quality
Board (IUQB)

• Board of Directors 17 Members
• Chair jointly appointed by the Higher Education
  Authority (HEA) and the Irish Universities
  Association (IUA)
• Other members nominated by the IUA, HEA, IBEC,
  ICTU, NQAI, USI, EUA and North American
  University System

5
The National Context Quality Assurance (QA) in
Irish Universities

• Primary responsibility for QA rests with the
  university (Irish Universities Act, 1997)
• Internal QA
• With the active contribution of students,
  universities must periodically evaluate all their
  activities academic (and administrative) units
• Use the model of self-evaluation, peer review,
  site visit, published report, follow-up

6
The National Context Quality Assurance (QA) in
Irish Universities

• External QA
• Institutional Audit - periodic evaluation of the
  effectiveness of QA procedures in individual
  universities
• Responsibility for these evaluations was
  delegated by universities governing authorities
  to IUQB in 2002

7
The National Context System wide External Review
of Irish Universities

• System wide External Review of Irish Universities
  instigated by IUQB and by HEA in 2004
• European Universities Association (EUA)
  commissioned to undertake the review in 2004-2005
  under its Institutional Evaluation Programme
  (IEP)

8
The National Context System wide External Review
of Irish Universities

• Review reports
• on individual
• universities
• and a Sectoral
• report published
• in April 2005

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The National Context System wide External Review
of Irish Universities

• IUQB assists the universities in implementing the
  recommendations arising from External Reviews
• Review Recommendation All universities need to
  strengthen their capacities for institutional
  analysis and monitoring, in order to provide
  better information for strategic governance and
  management.

10
The National ContextIUQB Sector Wide Projects

• IUQB sectoral projects aim to establish good
  practice and culminate in the publication of
  national Guidelines of Good Practice in the areas
  of
• Teaching and Learning
• Research
• Strategic Planning/Management
• Administration

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The National ContextIUQB Institutional Research
Project

• The seven Irish universities supported an
  application for funding for an IUQB sector-wide
  project on Institutional Research in Irish
  Universities
• In an effort to ensure relevance to the wider HE
  community in Ireland the Dublin Institute of
  Technology (DIT) was invited to participate in
  the project
• The project was initiated in the autumn of 2005

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The National Context IUQB Institutional Research
Project

• Co-ordination and Planning/Editorial Team
• Ms. Aoife Flanagan Institutional Research
  Officer, NUI Galway
• Prof. Jim Gosling Director of Quality, NUI
  Galway
• Dr. Noel OConnor Campus Planning, DIT
• Ms. Maura McGinn Institutional Research Officer,
  UCD
• Ms. Joan Mullen Institutional Research Officer,
  NUI Maynooth
• Mr Tony Carey Director of Strategic Planning,
  UCD
• Dr. Teresa Lee Quality Enhancement Manager,
  IUQB

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The National Context IUQB Institutional Research
Project

• Aim
• To improve management practices and
  effectiveness within Irish universities, DIT and
  other HEIs through Institutional Research and to
  increase awareness of the potential of
  Institutional Research to enhance overall
  organisational, efficiency and in particular the
  student experience

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The National ContextIUQB Institutional Research
Project

• Objectives
• Analyse and establish current practice in the
  area of Institutional Research nationally and
  internationally
• Identify good practice in Institutional Research
  appropriate to the Irish higher education sector
• Develop and publish national guidelines of good
  practice in Institutional Research

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The National Context IUQB Institutional Research
Project

• National meetings
• A national meeting was held with key
  stakeholders (senior and middle management) and
  with international presenters (Prof Sir David
  Watson, UK and Dr Dawn Geronimo Terkla, USA) to
  initiate discussions and to identify the key
  themes requiring attention in the sector. Prior
  to the meeting each institute was asked to
  respond to a series of questions and a synopsis
  of the results were used to inform proceedings.
• A planning meeting was held to draw up a
  programme for a set of workshops (1 per
  institution) to get input from a wider
  stakeholder group in each institution

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The National Context IUQB Institutional Research
Project

• Activities at the Institutional Level
• A series of meetings/workshops were held in the
  universities and DIT involving relevant expert
  groups, to collect and analyse information on
  current good practices and on performance
  indicators used. An institutional report was
  prepared
• Analysis and evaluation of the Internal quality
  review reports in the seven universities and of
  the External Institutional reviews of the seven
  Irish universities (2004-2005) and of the DIT
  (2006) was undertaken

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The National Context IUQB Institutional Research
Project

• Activities at the National Level
• An evaluation of current practices, data systems
  and resources in use on the national level was
  undertaken
• An evaluation of current practices, systems and
  resources in use on the international stage was
  undertaken for comparative purposes
• An Interim Report was produced which summarised
  the results of the project
• This report was presented at the 5th IUQB Annual
  Conference on Institutional Research Benefiting
  the Student Experience and University Performance
  held in October 2007

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The National Context IUQB Institutional Research
Project

• Production of the National Guidelines of Good
  Practice
• The findings from the Conference and feedback on
  the Interim Report were used to inform the
  drafting of the national guidelines of good
  practice
• A draft of the guidelines was distributed
  (widely) to key stakeholders and targeted
  experts for feedback prior to publication
• The national guidelines were finalised

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The National Context IUQB Institutional Research
Project

• Launch of National Guidelines of Good Practice
  takes place on 30th June 2008
• Good Practice for Institutional Research in Irish
  Higher Education
• Good Practice in Strategic Planning for Academic
  Units in Irish Universities.

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The National Context Institutional Research- Key
Developments

• 6 Universities now have an Institutional Research
  Officer in place
• These officers are closely linked with the
  strategic planning and/or the quality assurance
  offices
• The Irish Universities Association (IUA) have
  received funding to develop KPIs for the
  university sector

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The Institutional Context

• National University of Ireland, Galway

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The Institutional ContextDrivers of IR

• Strategic Priority for NUI Galway
• (Strategic Plan 2004-2008)
• Enhance the Quality of All Aspects of the
  University and its Services . . . Establish an
  internal research function to generate and
  monitor performance indicators for all aspects of
  the University.

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The Institutional ContextDrivers of IR

• Need for better information recognised
• Need for self analysis and reporting
• Evidence based decision making
• EUA Review (2004/05)
• Need for common data definitions
• Support strategic planning

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The Institutional ContextBuilding Awareness

• Internal IR champion
• IUQB national meetings
• Use of international experts
• Seminars
• Task driven workshops
• Benefits of IR highlighted

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The Institutional ContextNeeds Analysis

• Consulting International expert
• Mark Putnam, Northeastern University
• Interviews with key stakeholders
• 1 Day Workshop with academic and administrative
  leaders (2004)

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The Institutional ContextSituational Analysis

• Consulting international expert (2005)
• Mark Putnam, Northeastern University
• Analysis of current situation
• 2 visits, 32 individuals interviewed
• Information Audit
• Availability and flow of data and information

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The Institutional ContextReport on Findings

• Understanding data as a key University asset
• Enterprise Data
• Quality, Planning and IR
• Reporting structures
• Required skills
• Roles and responsibilities

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The Institutional ContextPlanning for IR

• Secured budget for full-time permanent IR
  professional
• Identification of roles and responsibilities
• Internal Communication
• MIS resource to support IR
• Recruitment process (2006)

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The Institutional ContextEstablishment of IR
Office

• Office established January 2007
• Meetings with key stakeholders to focus on
  priorities
• Identification of common priorities
• Established links with MIS
• Prepared one year plan
• National links
• IUQB IR project
• IUA KPI project

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The Institutional ContextTraining

• Site visits to established IR offices in other
  Universities
• Systems and software training
• AIR
• EAIR

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The Institutional ContextData Governance

• Establishment of a Data Co-ordination Task Force
• Representative
• Data custodians and information producers
• Decision Makers
• Terms of Reference
• Prioritisation of data related projects
• Resource Allocation

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The Institutional ContextRoles and
Responsibilities

• Reporting and Tracking
• Students
• Staff
• Estates
• Research
• Finance

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The Institutional ContextRoles and
Responsibilities

• Student Research
• Staff Research
• Rankings
• Integrated Reports for Quality Reviews
• National Projects
• Key Performance Indicators
• IUQB IR Good Practice Guidelines

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The Institutional ContextFuture Directions

• Increase office by 1 additional full-time analyst
  
• Data Co-ordination Task Force
• Enterprise data development of a data warehouse
• Strategic Plan 2009 2014
• Sector wide IUA KPI project

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Questions??

• Contact
• Dr. Teresa Lee, IUQB
• Teresa.lee_at_iuqb.ie
• Aoife Flanagan, NUI Galway
• Aoife.flanagan_at_nuigalway.ie