Office of Institutional Research
What is Institutional Research?
“Institutional research has to do with what decisions makers need to know about an institution, its educational objectives, goals and purposes, environmental factors, process, and structures to more wisely use its resources, more successfully attain its objectives and goals, and to demonstrate integrity and accountability in so doing.”
Dressel, P. L. The shaping of institutional research and planning. Research in Higher Education, 51 (2).
“Institutional research is research conducted within an institution of higher education in order to provide information which supports institutional planning, policy formulation and decision making.”
Saupe, Joe L. The Functions of Institutional Research. Tallahassee, FL: Association for Institutional Research, 1981.
The Office of Institutional Research at the College of William and Mary:
We support the College’s decision makers, both among the administration and faculty, by providing management information derived from a wide range of data sources. In short, we collect, process, interpret, and translate data into useful information. Office areas of expertise include: data analysis from historical and current administrative information systems, system modeling and trend projections, evaluation of institutional goals and objectives obtainment, student characteristics and achievement, faculty characteristics and conditions of service, curricular change and utilization, institutional funding and financing, and comparative analysis with peers or other institutions.
Standard office functions include:
Reporting to external constituencies ranging from the required state reports to the State Council for Higher Education in Virginia (SCHEV) and federal reports to the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), as well as annual submissions to non-governmental groups such as American Associate of University Professionals (AAUP), commercial college information publication enterprises for rankings and information dissemination, and specific donors and sponsors of interest to the College.
Management information such as enrollment trends and projections, faculty and staffing patterns, classroom utilization, student majors and degrees production, financial aid patterns, and academic characteristics of applicants and performance of students to assist budgeting, strategic planning, program review, and accreditation.
Dissemination of core College information through the office web site.
Advise and assist on research design, testing, and data collection procedures for student assessment activities at the College.
Provide official responses to ad hoc requests from College personnel and students, other government personnel, representatives of the media, and general public.
The Institutional Research office has access to a great deal of confidential data regarding the campus, personnel, and students. It is critical for the office to maintain the trust of the campus in its handling of these data. Therefore, this office adheres to the accepted Code of Ethics for our profession.