Agenda

• Institutional Research: Data Collection Overview & Reporting Needs

Notes

• Institutional Research: Data Collection Overview & Reporting Needs (Adela Langrock, Melissa Sorenson, Gael Meraud)
  • Reference: Middlebury Institute & Institutional Research: Overview of key data collection points and report distribution
  • We have been working together to compile our Institutional data points and reporting practices with the goal to build awareness of the various data collection points, understand when data becomes available, and how it can be accessed.
  • This work has come back into focus over the last few years through the Student Experience Team as we have been noticing a need for better data to understand how our student population is changing. Toni, Ashley, Gael, and Jill presented to the ILG last spring on the changing student needs.
  • In the meantime, Melissa was also working with the Institute Council to get a handle on what data we have and how it is reported, and she connected with Adela to build an overview of our current surveys and reports.
  • We have three main goals for this project:
    • Increase awareness of the various data that is being collected so folks know what data is available
    • Determine who needs what data amongst all of our departments
    • Centralize our access to the data reports so we have a much better sense of what is available, and reduce ad hoc requests from Adela.
  • While improving awareness and access, we also want to simplify and consolidate the role of Institutional Research in sharing this data. Their department can receive quite a few ad hoc requests, and we might be able to alleviate the number of requests through improved systems.
  • Adela is in the process of creating a Microsoft Teams space as a centralized space where data can be available and accessed. As a result, those who need it will be able to access the data directly. We are not sure yet what the Teams site and access parameters will look like. Where possible, our goal with access is to assign permissions for the Teams site based on the data needs for various departments.
  • Additionally, if there is any data that we do not need, please help us identify those cases. We want to ensure we are being mindful of Institutional Research bandwidth and prioritizing data that is being used.
  • The ILG participated in a silent read to add comments and notes to the reference document.
    • Key themes from comments:
      • Understanding how surveys and data will be differentiated between online and in-person programs
      • Broadening reporting, with several notes for Program Chairs in particular
      • Emphasizing key data points and data usage for different departments (thank you!)
      • Questions about additional data points that would be helpful if available.
      • Security and permissions influence who can have access to which types of information, so there may be additional follow-up to ensure we are not broadly releasing sensitive information.
        • Adela will be reviewing with this in mind and reach out as needed.
  • Discussion:
    • Many schools publish their IPEDS data on their website, do we publish anything, and at what level (Midd-wide, Institute-specific, etc?)
      • For IPEDS the College and Schools fall under one category of reporting. For the Institute we fall under the big Middlebury umbrella but we report that data separately. There is some overall reporting for graduate students, but we don’t run a common data set for the Institute. 
      • Reference: https://www.middlebury.edu/assessment-institutional-research/institutional-data/middlebury-institute-international-studies