OFFICE OF INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH: ROLE AND FUNCTIONS

1. OFFICE OF INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH:ROLE AND FUNCTIONS PRESENTER: LEMUEL BRADY ACTING DIRECTOR DEPT. OF INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH NORTHERN CARIBBEAN UNIVERSITY

2. The “Office of Institutional Planning and Research” (UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA,) • RESPONSIBILITIES: • “The Office of Institutional Planning and Research is responsible for : • providing the university management with information that supports institutional planning, policy formation and decision making;

3. The “Office of Institutional Planning and Research” • for coordinating responses to inquiries for university-related information and • serving as a comprehensive source for information about the institution; and • for administering the Board of Governors data collection/reporting system on campus.

4. INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH ?? • “. . .research activity carried out in colleges and universities to collect and analyze data concerning students, faculty, staff, and other educational facilities”. • Gale Encyclopedia of Education:“Institutional Research in Higher Education”

5. PRIMARY PURPOSE • The primary purpose of institutional research is to promote institutional effectiveness. • It does this by providing information for institutional planning, policy formation, and decision-making within the college or university.

6. PURPOSE • To collect data and information to be used for planning and evaluation to determine institutional effectiveness. • The data collection should be used for internal and external reporting needs. • The evaluation process should help in the improvement of educational programmes and support services.

7. PURPOSE • Largely as a result of the significant role institutional research plays in keeping track of the performance of the institution, higher educational institutions have created a special office, called the Office of Institutional Research. • This office usually is placed in the higher hierarchy of the administrative units of the institution.

8. NATURE OF THE OIR’S ENGAGEMENT • By the nature of its work, the Office of Institutional Research provides vital data for internal and external surveys and reports. • It compiles data for institutional self-study and accreditation by external agencies.

9. NATURE OF THE OIR’S ENGAGEMENT • Institutional self-study is an attempt that every institution makes to evaluate the effectiveness of its programs and activities. It reveals strengths and weaknesses in the institution.(“SWOT “ANALYSES)

10. NATURE OF THE OIR’S ENGAGEMENT • The smooth functioning of educational institutions, like any other organization, depends upon the ability of the institution to identify problems and find appropriate solutions for them. Without this ability, no organization can function effectively.

11. NATURE OF THE OIR’S ENGAGEMENT • The Office of Institutional Research conducts research into specific problems facing the institution. The research may be focused on such areas as student attrition or retention rate, faculty turnover, or student diversity etc.

12. NATURE OF THE OIR’S ENGAGEMENT • Such research is undertaken with the sole purpose of finding solutions to challenges the institution might encounter in the future. • Such research is undertaken with the sole purpose of finding solutions to challenges the institution might encounter in the future.

13. NATURE OF THE OIR’S ENGAGEMENT • At other times, the research may be conducted with the aim of finding a solution to an existing problem or adding a new program to the curriculum of the institution. • The size of the Office of Institutional Research depends upon the educational programs and services of the institution.

14. NATURE OF THE OIR’S ENGAGEMENT • The Office of Institutional Research for a larger higher educational institution usually reports to the provost. HOWEVER. . . • . . .In a smaller institution, the Office of Institutional Research reports to the vice-president for academic affairs. ( THIS IS THE CASE AT NCU)

15. FUNCTIONS/TASKS • Collect, analyze, and interpret institutional data on students, faculty, educational programs, and administrative and support services . • Purpose of this information • to provide accurate information to support planning and decision making activities within the educational institution.

16. FUNCTIONS/TASKS Cont’d • Compile data on course enrollments every semester or quarter to show the distribution and major of students enrolled in each department and course. • Purpose of this information • With this knowledge, the institution is in a better position to:

17. FUNCTIONS/TASKS Cont’d • discontinue a program that is not attracting students. • allows the administration to allocate more funds to programs that are attractive to students.

18. FUNCTIONS/TASKS Cont’d • This helps the institution to utilize its resources for efficient organization and management. • gathers and maintains data on student retention in terms of gender, race, age, geographic location, and test scores, and shares this information with the student admission office.

19. FUNCTIONS/TASKS Cont’d • Student retention is “the ability of an educational institution to recruit and retain a student until the student graduates from that institution”.

20. FUNCTIONS/TASKS Cont’d • Purpose of this information • at the end of every term, the Office of Institutional Research looks into the student population and provides the admissions office data that it needs for its recruitment and retention efforts.

21. FUNCTIONS/TASKS Cont’d • This information is often compiled in terms of discipline or area of study, gender, race, age, or number of years the student studied to complete the programme.

22. FUNCTIONS/TASKS Cont’d • Keeps track of degrees granted by every department of the institution. In particular, it identifies students who graduate with certificate, associate, bachelor, master, or doctoral degrees.

23. FUNCTIONS/TASKS Cont’d • Keeps track of degrees granted by every department of the institution. In particular, it identifies students who graduate with certificate, associate, bachelor, master, or doctoral degrees.

24. FUNCTIONS/TASKS Cont’d • This information is often compiled in terms of discipline or area of study, gender, race, age, or number of years the student studied to complete the programme.

25. FUNCTIONS/TASKS Cont’d • Purpose of this information • Information on graduation records is essential because it reflects the number of students who are able to successfully complete their studies in the institution.

26. FUNCTIONS/TASKS Cont’d • It also makes the administration aware of educational programs or fields of study that are or are not attracting and maintaining students through graduation.

27. FACILITIES . . . • Facilities in educational institutions have the potential effect of attracting students to that institution. . . . the Office of Institutional Research compiles data on educational facilities in the institution for organizational purposes.

28. FACILITIES . . . • The data on facilities indicates the number of classrooms, teaching laboratories, meeting or conference rooms, offices, libraries, media and technology, space utilization, housing, and vehicles.

29. ENROLMENT MANAGEMENT • Of primary importance to the work of the Office of Institutional Research is enrollment management. • Often the Office of Institutional Research collaborates with the Student Affairs Office to engage in enrollment and retention management activities to find out how best to retain students in their programmes.

30. ENROLMENT MANAGEMENT • As a result of such collaborative activities, many colleges and universities have established special programs such as scholarships or grants to attract students who are under-represented in their institutions.

31. MORE . . . • The Office of Institutional Research at the end of every term or year also examines and evaluates the performance of its program faculty. • It examines such variables as faculty publications, research, and general contributions to the academic community

32. FACT BOOK . . . • Institutional research offices produce what is called a "fact book" about the institution • The fact book presents, at a glance, general information and data concerning academic programs, students, degrees conferred, faculty and staff, finances, institutional facilities such as library holdings, and research activities by the institution.

33. FACT BOOK . . . • The fact book serves as a window to the institution. It provides : • a summary of the achievements, programs, progress, and facilities of the institution. • it gives the public a taste of what awaits students who decide to enroll in that institution.

34. FACT BOOK . . . • Institutional research offices also serve as contact points for reports and surveys requested from governmental (such as the Ministry of Education), and nongovernmental agencies.

35. DATA CURRENTLY BEING GATHERED • Client satisfaction survey • Why it takes longer than four years to complete the four degree program . . . • Why students withdraw from NCU . . . • Facilities status survey . . .

36. INFORMATION CURRENTLY AVAILABLE … SOME QUICK FACTS . . .

37. GRADUATION STATISTICS BY COLLEGE AND PROGRAMMES FOR 2012

38. College of Business & Hospitality Management

39. School Of Education and Leadership

40. Allied Health and Nursing

41. College Of Humanities, Behavioral and Social Sciences

42. College Of Natural and Applied Sciences

43. School Of Religion and Theology

44. Summary of Data

45. TOTAL GRADUATES 2012

46. Students Who Got Accepted For Fall But Didn’t Show Up

47. Colleges/Programmes

48. Enrollment Statistics: Fall 2012

49. Enrollment Statistics by Gender : Fall 2012

50. REASONS OFFERED BY STUDENTS FOR LEAVING NCU- 2009 - 2012