Get to Know: Institutional Research and Planning

The Office of Institutional Research and Planning (OIRP) provides analytics services to support institutional decision making. The official source for NC State’s institutional data for federal, state and other external inquiries, OIRP collaborates with the university community to turn data into useful information.

We spoke with Mary Lelik, senior vice provost for institutional research and planning, to learn more about how OIRP aligns with the university’s commitment to organizational excellence.

What is the role of the Office of Institutional Research and Planning at NC State?

Previously, the Office of Institutional Research and Planning was the Office of University Planning and Analysis. In 2013, through a concentrated effort by the Provost’s Office, we revitalized our function to emphasize internal information and helping the campus community make sense of that data. We still maintain a focus on data accountability and reporting, but we are working on tools and analytic processes that members of the campus community can use in day-to-day operations.

OIRP contributes to the university’s strategic mission by providing consistent and reliable data to inform and support effective decision-making across all campus constituencies and levels of governance. OIRP collaborates with the campus community to identify information needs, collect and manage data, provide analysis, and disseminate clear and accurate findings that encourage the transformation of knowledge into meaningful action. OIRP strives to serve the diverse information needs and reporting demands of the campus and external entities in a timely, unbiased and responsible manner.

What does OIRP do to support NC State faculty and staff, and how does OIRP support NC State’s research infrastructure?

OIRP develops and maintains data collection and reporting systems that support the evaluation of teaching and the assessment of academic programs and administrative services, and which provide data resources and mandatory documentation for accreditation reviews. We also assist faculty and staff engaged in research by providing institutional data required by sponsoring agencies in funding proposals and post-award reports. A unit of our office focuses on survey research, and we have experts who provide consulting services to campus researchers who request guidance in terms of tools and methodology in administering surveys. The programs and services we offer include the following:

Class Eval: Through an online evaluation system administered by OIRP, all course sections are evaluated each term using a standard instrument accompanied by optional, unique questions selected by deans, department heads and instructors.

Survey Research: OIRP provides extensive documentation and reports on results from the student, alumni, faculty and staff surveys that we administer. These typically include reports detailing the survey methodology and response rates, a copy of the questionnaire, a report summarizing the overall results and tables of results broken out by various subgroups (e.g., gender, race/ethnicity), and by college and academic department.

Institutional Data Profiles: This online application provides detailed university, college and departmental breakdowns of information related to university expenditures, employment levels, space utilization, student enrollment and academic success. The report allows for the online viewing and download of data trends over a ten-year period.

Biennial Enrollment Planning Application: This application collects enrollment projections directly from each college at the beginning of each fall to help plan resource allocations based on the projected student enrollment for future years. The remainder of the year it provides a snapshot of the final projections made for the given year.

Digital Measures: NC State has adopted Digital Measures as its institutionally-supported faculty activity reporting system. The system provides a single location for maintaining information on faculty professional accomplishments and can produce customized reports throughout the year for academic departments, college administration, accrediting agencies and for other external reporting requirements.

Academic Analytics: NC State subscribes to Academic Analytics, a comprehensive faculty scholarly productivity database that provides its clients with discipline-level peer comparison to support strategic planning and decision-making.

Academic Program Assessment:  Assessment is mandated by NC State’s accreditor, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). This application allows the online creation and management of assessment plan documents and evaluation reports.

Factbook: OIRP will roll out an online Factbook in early 2017. This convenient resource will provide current and trended historical data on NC State, including student enrollment, degrees and completions, courses and credit hours delivered, faculty/staff counts and more.

Why is reliable data so important to decision making across the university?

Universities — particularly those in the public sector — are under increasing pressure to demonstrate accountability in their operations that affect student success and contribute to the rising cost of higher education. Data provides an impetus for campus conversations about learning, diagnosing problems, setting priorities and allocating resources. We can’t improve services or demonstrate effectiveness as an institution until we understand how the university works and we have a common vocabulary to describe that work. And we can’t turn data into usable information if it is inaccurate or misleading. We need to know that what we are measuring makes sense and truly informs the policy discussion, planning exercise or management issue to be addressed.

How does data and analytics services enhance NC State’s partnerships locally and globally?

Beyond the practical purpose of being able to meet external reporting demands, we all benefit as members of the campus community through greater awareness of the breadth and depth of NC State’s accomplishments in teaching and learning, research and service. Having that collective knowledge fosters new connections within the university that can lead to productive collaborations. It also equips us to communicate more effectively about the university with our local, national and international partners.

We are all experts in our own spheres of influence, but we also need to know what’s happening at the university level data-wise. We’re trying to collect and present information so that, in this era of big data, the university better understands how the broader world is measuring us. We want to help people have a common basis for understanding institutional data, which can truly inform policy conversations and the university decision-making process. By connecting people within the university with reliable data and data management tools, we’re helping to advance NC State’s mission and vision.

What is something that people in the campus community may not know about OIRP?

Since May 2015, NC State has had a regulation requiring faculty, staff and students to register their survey project before beginning data collection. The purpose of the regulation is to promote the collection of survey data that are reliable, valid and informative. Over-surveying is costly, inefficient and has a negative impact on response rates. We can help minimize the survey burden on NC State students and employees by identifying target populations and providing systematic sampling services. For more information, see   https://policies.ncsu.edu/regulation/reg-01-25-17.

Learn more about how OIRP utilizes reliable data to transform knowledge into meaningful action for the campus community and all of NC State’s partners.