The Diversity of Institutional Research

1
The Diversity of Institutional Research Offices
and Tasks
J. Fredericks Volkwein Professor and Director of
the IR Program Penn State University ltvolkwein_at_psu
.edugt
2
2008 National Survey of Institutional Research
Officeshttp//www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u481773
659826
Categories of Survey Questions Number of
Survey Items
1. Institutional Characteristics 6
2. IR Office Characteristics 6
3. IR Professional Staff Preparation and Experience 3 x 20
4. Resource Changes 3
5. IR Activities/Tasks/Studies 7712
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Survey of I.R. Tasks (Six Categories, 77
items)
Categories of IR Activity Number of
Survey Items
1. General Reporting Responsibilities 142
2. Assessment, Effectiveness, Evaluation Accountability Activities/Studies 232
3. Academic Affairs Research Analyses/Studies 72
4. Administrative Financial Analyses 122
5. Strategic Planning Enrollment Management 122
6. Technology Database Administration 92
Total 77 12
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IR Office Titles
Office Number 1,113
Volkwein, Liu Woodell, Penn State University
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IR Office Size FTE Professionals
Office Number 1,113
Volkwein, Liu Woodell, Penn State University
6
I.R. Preparation and Experience
For Top-Ranking I.R. Person For All I.R. Professional Staff
Highest Degree
Doctorate 46 25
Masters 44 45
Field of Highest Degree
Social sciences 33 30
Education 30 19
Business 16 18
Math, Sciences, Technol, Engineering 15 23
Humanities 6 10
Years of Experience in I.R.
0 2 years 14 26
3 5 19 22
6 10 26 23
11 - 19 22 17
20 19 12
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Highest Degree Across the I.R. Professional
Workforce
All IR Staff (n 3,331) Top Ranking IR Staff (n
1,094)
Volkwein, Liu Woodell, Penn State University
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Highest Degree among all IR Professionals by
Institution Type
Bachelors degree or less Masters degree or
graduate certificate Doctorate or first
professional degree
Volkwein, Liu Woodell, Penn State University
9
Field of Highest Degree Across the I.R.
Professional Workforce
All IR Staff (n 3,226) Top Ranking IR Staff (n
1,075)
Volkwein, Liu Woodell, Penn State University
10
Field of Highest Degree among all IR
Professionals by Institution Type
Social Sciences Education Business
STEM Arts Humanities
Volkwein, Liu Woodell, Penn State University
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Years of Experience Across the I.R. Professional
Workforce
All IR Staff (n 3,342) Top Ranking IR Staff (n
1,095)
Volkwein, Liu Woodell, Penn State University
12
Years of Experience by Institution Type
0-2 yrs 3-5 yrs 6-11 yrs
11-19 yrs 20 yrs
Volkwein, Liu Woodell, Penn State University
13
I.R. Organizational Location and Level
I.R. Office Organizational Location and Reporting
Level
14
Changes in I.R. Office Resources
1998 2008 Operating Budget vs. Human Resources
15
What IR Offices Do....
Basically, we generate the data over here, and
they stockpile it over there.
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Heavily Centralized I.R. Tasks
IR Activity "Centralized"
(with Task Complexity score) All Respondents
1. Coordinating national survey data collection (2) 77
2. Using the IPEDS Peer Analysis System for comparative or other research (3) 73
3. Producing college/campus/system fact book (1) 72
4. Responding to college guidebook surveys (1) 67
4. Responding to federal/state requests for data (1) 67
4. Attrition/retention/graduation analysis (2) 67
5. Peer institution benchmarking (3) 66
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Heavily Centralized I.R. Tasks
IR Activity "Centralized"
(with Task Complexity score) All Respondents
6. Analyzing national Higher Ed databases (3) 65
7. Reporting student characteristics (1) 63
8. Responding to requests for data exchange (non system, non-campus) (1) 61
9. Studies of student engagement (2) 59
10. Studies of student satisfaction/opinion (2) 58
11. Producing degrees-awarded statistics (1) 58
12. Current year Enrollment reporting (1) 54
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Centralized Plus Shared I.R. Tasks
IR Activity "Centralized" "Shared"
(with Task Complexity score) All Respondents
1. Supplying information and analysis for institutional self-study and accreditation (2) 93
2. Supplying information for academic Dept program reviews accreditation (2) 89
3. Compiling/reporting institution-level performance indicators (1) 85
4. Studies of student academic performance/progress (3) 83
5. Tracking progress toward institutional goals and objectives (3) 82
6. Conducting research on college/campus/system issues/policies (3) 79
7. Student tracking (2) 78
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Centralized Plus Shared I.R. Tasks
IR Activity "Centralized" "Shared"
(with Task Complexity score) All Respondents
8. Maintaining college/campus/system facts on website (1) 78
9. Compiling/reporting unit level performance indicators (1) 74
10. Environmental scanning (demographic, economic, social, political trends) (3) 72
11. Maintaining IR database /or hardware (2) 71
12. Faculty instructional workload analysis and trends (2) 70
13. Providing data for marketing and recruiting efforts (1) 69
14. Studies of freshman year experience (2) 67
15. Studies of students to support administrative policy making (3) 65
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Calculation of Task Hierarchy(Based on Responses
to 77 survey items)
Task Hierarchy Score Task Complexity x
Degree of Centralization
High (3) Medium (2) Low (1)
Centralized in I.R. (2) Shared (1) Blank, Not in
I.R. (0)
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Calculation of IR Maturity
IR Maturity
Experience of Top IR person
Reporting Level
Highest Degree Top IR person



Office Size
6 professional FTE staff (4) 4lt6 prof
staff(3) 2lt4 prof staff (2) lt2 prof staff (1)
President/Chancellor (5) Provost/Vice
President/Vice Chancellor, CAO, CFO, CSAO
(4) Vice Provost/Associate Vice Provost/Associate
Vice Chancellor (3) Dean of School /
College(2) Director, Assistant Provost, Assistant
Vice Provost, Associate Dean/ Assistant Vice
Chancellor (1)
20 yrs (5) 11-19 yrs (4) 6-10 yrs (3) 3-5 yrs
(2) 0-2 yrs (1)
Doctorate or first professional
degree(3) Masters degree or Grad. certificate
(2) Bachelors degree or less (1)
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Average IR Maturity by Institution Type
Volkwein, Liu Woodell, Penn State University
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Average Task Hierarchy Scores for the 3 Levels
of IR Office Maturity
High Maturity (n 452) Medium Maturity
(n322) Low Maturity (n 339)
Volkwein, Liu Woodell, Penn State University
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Average Task Hierarchy Scores for the 4
Institution Types (These Differences not Signif.)
Doctoral Universities (n426) Master's
Institutions (n269) Baccalaureate Colleges
(n135) Two-year Colleges (n 274)
Volkwein, Liu Woodell, Penn State University
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Average Task Hierarchy Scores for the 4
Institution Types (These Differences are Stat.
Signif.)
Doctoral Universities (n426) Master's
Institutions (n269) Baccalaureate Colleges
(n135) Two-year Colleges (n 274)
Volkwein, Liu Woodell, Penn State University
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Conclusions from the 2008 Survey Analysis

• IR Offices vary considerably in their titles,
  staff size, educational preparation, years of
  experience, organizational location, and task
  complexity.
• These differences among IR Offices are NOT
  strongly associated with Institution Type, but
  they do serve as markers of IR Maturity.
• The most Mature IR Offices are those with
  4-6 professionals, reporting to the President,
  and headed by a person with a doctoral degree and
  20 years of IR experience.
• Higher IR Office Maturity is significantly
  associated with a greater number and complexity
  of tasks performed .

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Ecology of Institutional Research Offices
Bradley U
St Marys U of MN
U of Medicine Dentistry of NJ
Carolinas Coll of Health Sciences
Northland C
Tohoku U
Midwestern State U
Coll of the North Atlantic
Brigham Young U-Hawaii
Kellogg CC
Seattle U
Raritan Valley CC
U. ILL-Springfield
Carteret CC
Central Maine CC
Lower Columbia Coll
Texas AM International U
Lincoln U
Massasoit CC
Central European U
Johnson C. Smith U
Regis C
Yosemite CC
Millikin U
Connecticut CCs
Palm Beach Atlantic U
Norwich U
UC Merced
Coll of Westchester
St Olaf Coll
Mercyhurst Coll
West Virginia U
Illinois Coll
Lake Superior Coll
U of MN - Crookston
Marist Coll
Sewanee
St. Bonaventure U
Reading Area CC
Southwestern MI Coll
Hawaii Pacific U
Oberlin Coll
Rensselaer Polytech I
Clarion U
Hostos CC
Cal State U, Northridge
Wheaton Coll
Mt Aloysius Coll
Skidmore Coll
West Point
UNC Asheville
CO Mountain Coll
Associated Colls of the Midwest
Bethel U
Briar Cliff U
OR State U
U of Scranton
U at Albany, SUNY
Eastern WA U
Monmouth U
U Delaware
Saint Xavier U
SUNY Binghamton
Yale
Milwaukee Area Tech Coll
SUNY Buffalo
SUNY Central Admin
UC Davis
Syracuse U
Harvard
Cornell
Boston U
U. ILL-Urbana-Champaign
U Penn
UC Berkeley
Princeton
Kent State U
Morgan State U
Adelphi U
UC Santa Barbara
Cal Poly, Pomona
Um-Alqura U, Saudi Arabia
Stony Brook U
Penn State U
Johnson County CC
Temple U
U of Georgia
U of Michigan
Virginia Tech
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IR Organized by Functional Components(most
common arrangement nationally)
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Volkweins Ideal Centralized I.R. and Planning
Organized by Information Customer