Office of Institutional Research

The Office of Institutional Research (IR) provides information about Lake Erie College for the purposes of decision-making, strategic planning, and mandated reporting. The IR office responds to the reporting needs of the college administration, the state and federal government, and non-governmental organizations that support institutional research in higher education. A variety of procedures are used to collect and analyze data, report the results, and aim to provide information that is clear, valid, reliable, and useful.

The IR office is responsible for reporting the official college data to internal and external parties. This is a service office. The information provided is intended to help the College community understand its institutional makeup.

Mission Statement

The Office of InstitutionalResearch facilitates and coordinates the collection, analysis and interpretation of institutional data to support assessment and improvement initiatives and to support institutional planning and decision-making.

To achieve its mission, the Office of Institutional Research establishes the following goals:

• to provide information and analyses that are relevant and responsive to the needs of policymaking, decision-making, and strategic planning
• to encourage the use of data and the resources of institutional research by maintaining a commitment of service
• to provide institutional research reports that are accurate and reliable and to foster a high level of confidence in the results
• to work collaboratively with college task groups to further the mission of the College, solve critical problems, and prepare for the challenges of the future

As part of a recent campus wide planning initiative, the IR office, along with Admissions, Financial Aid, Athletics, Student Life and Academic Affairs, has established a Recurrent Reporting Cycle. The goal of this project was to provide better data definitions, communication of data needs, organize standard data requests, and to assist in Lake Erie College's continuous improvement process.

For a quick look at Lake Erie College's Recurrent Reporting Cycle, see below.

Responsibilities/Projects for IR

Coordination of data collection

Coordination with Module Managers (data custodians) for each of the official College Database modules, prior to the snapshot of the official "census files” at Census Date in order to help increase the integrity of the data on those files.

Federal/Regional/State Reporting

The IR office provides analyses to support institutional accreditation, professional accreditation, and assessment. Lake Erie College completes 13 Federal, regional, and state reports each year (including both annual and semester-based reports). These reports are often considered "mandatory” and are subject to both internal and external audit reviews. The timeliness and the accuracy of these reports directly affect the College's ability to serve its constituencies. Examples of these agencies and reports include:

• US Department of Education Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) http://nces.ed.gov/IPEDS/
• Higher Learning Commission Annual Institutional Data Update (HLC/AIDU)

Other External Organization Reports

External organizations are those with which Lake Erie College has no contractual relationship; hence, Institutional Research has no contractual obligations to provide services and reports. However, responding to external requests often promotes the sharing of information between the College and the community it serves. In general, Institutional Research responds to external requests to the best of its ability. Examples of these agencies and reports include:

• College Board
• US News and World Report

Internal Recurrent and Ad Hoc Reports

The IR office provides reports to support Strategic Planning and issues important to College reporting. Reports include enrollment profiles and tables, retention profiles and tables, and an annual Fact Sheet, among others. For more information on what internal reports are currently offered from our reporting offices and when, please see the Routine Reporting Cycle below.

Ad hoc requests may come from anyone in the campus community including the Board of Directors, vice presidents and deans, the Faculty and Staff Senate, departments, faculty members, and student government, with authorization. The ability to respond to ad hoc requests in a timely and accurate manner is important to us.

Confidentiality and Data Security

The Office of Institutional Research takes its role very seriously in protecting confidentiality and safeguarding sensitive data. Under FERPA, the College classifies the following as "directory information” and may make it available to the public or a third party upon request:

• Student name
• Telephone number
• Date and place of birth
• Academic major
• Participation in officially recognized activities and sports
• Height and weight of members of athletic teams
• Dates of attendance
• Degrees and awards earned

Students may submit a written request to the Registrar to restrict the release of directory information to the public or a third party.

Commitment to Continuous Improvement