SECTION 1200 – INSTITUTIONAL EFFECTIVENESS
1200 OFFICE OF
INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH AND PLANNING
MISSION, PURPOSE, AND SCOPE OF RESPONSIBILITY
POLICY
In order to meet the reporting requirements and information needs of the BOR and Georgia Perimeter College, the Office of Institutional Research and Planning (OIRP) is established. It must be effective in accomplishing the tasks stated in its mission and purposes and be an integral part of College’s planning and evaluation process. In addition, the OIRP is tasked with the responsibility for reporting to external state and federal agencies. The Office of Institutional Research and Planning must regularly evaluate the effectiveness of its institutional research and planning process. The OIRP must also use its evaluation findings for the improvement of its process.
PROCEDURE
Mission :
The Office of Institutional
Research and Planning is charged with supporting GPC’s mission in development,
implementation and evaluation of college-wide assessment, institutional
research and planning functions. The office provides institution-wide
data and information in support of College activities that affect students,
academic programs, student support programs and facilities. The IRP office is also responsible for
completing mandatory federal and state reports in an accurate and timely
manner. Information and data collected
and maintained have been determined to have relevance for the College’s
short-term, long-range, and strategic planning efforts. The IRP office
assists the institution in establishing administrative and academic assessment
systems for the evaluation of institutional effectiveness. The IRP office
facilitates the design, implementation, and maintenance of ongoing and ad hoc institutional studies that provide
a steady flow of information in support of the College’s various functions.
Purpose :
To serve the executive/administrative function of the college by providing a reliable and proactive information management and decision-support system.
To prepare and submit required reports to external agencies such as National Center for Educational Statistics and the Board of Regents.
To generate data, information, and analytical reports on institutional research topics designed to improve information usage in the planning and decision-making processes utilized at Georgia Perimeter College.
To provide systematic collection and reporting of standard institutional, regional, environmental and student-centered information for institutional planning and assessment.
To reply in a punctual manner to ad hoc requests for descriptive information, data, and analytical reports.
To provide administrative leadership and support to the college’s academic and student learning outcomes assessment initiatives.
To be aware of, and to inform others, of the data needs in assessment and planning for institutional purposes.
To ensure that information released to institutional constituencies is factually correct and timely.
Scope of Institutional Research and Planning Functions and Responsibilities:
A. Institutional Research and Planning has four basic functions:
Manage and
facilitate mandatory institutional
reporting.
Provide decision-support information to
institutional decision-makers.
Guide and
support institutional planning efforts.
Guide and
support institutional effectiveness at GPC.
B. Prioritizing Institutional Research and Planning’s Responsibilities (tasks associated with mandatory institutional reporting have the highest priority):
Mandatory reports to external
agencies (e.g., state and federal government, SACS); for example, preparing and
submitting Integrated Post-secondary Data System reports to the National Center
for Educational Statistics.
Decision-support, planning and
institutional effectiveness services for internal clients at the institutional,
presidential and vice-presidential, level; example, production of
institution-wide reports, such as the “The GPC Fact Book”
Decision-support, planning and
institutional effectiveness services for internal clients at the multi-campus
level (requests from multiple provosts); example, production of campus specific
reports, such as the Term Enrollment Report.
Decision-support, planning and
institutional effectiveness services for internal clients at the individual
campus level; example, demographic and labor market analysis of the population
in a campus’ service area.
Decision-support, planning and
institutional effectiveness services for internal clients at the department,
program, or office level; example, development of questionnaire used to assess
student satisfaction with service provided.
Decision-support, planning and
institutional effectiveness services for internal clients at the individual
level; example, assisting with preparation of scannable questionnaire used to
evaluate a distance learning class.
Approved CAB 6/25/03 (Policy will be in practice but
CAB recommended that the policy return to the Institutional Effectiveness Policy
Council for further refinement)