Category Archives: Data and Reporting

Why IR is hiring

Posted on April 18, 2013 by Robin Huntington Shores

With an increasing amount of my time for the past two years spent with the Provost’s Office and the College in general helping to guide our assessment efforts, the IR Office has been struggling mightily to keep up with our … Continue reading →

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Keeping Score

Posted on March 2, 2013 by Robin Huntington Shores

President Obama announced the new “College Scorecard” in his state of the union address, and the interactive online tool was released the next day.  The intended purpose of the tool is to provide useful information to families about affordability and student … Continue reading →

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“Optimal” Faculty to Staff Ratio

Posted on November 1, 2012 by Robin Huntington Shores

An article in the Chronicle today reports on a study by two economists about the optimal faculty to staff ratio.  The study is focused on Research 1 and 2 public institutions, but I couldn’t stop myself from applying the simple … Continue reading →

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The Importance of IPEDS

Posted on July 16, 2012 by Robin Huntington Shores

The IR responsibility of providing summary data to the federal government through the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) sounds like as much fun as completing tax forms.   And as a matter of fact that analogy pretty much captures it!   … Continue reading →

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Catching our breath…

Posted on May 10, 2012 by Robin Huntington Shores

It’s hard to believe that this semester is finally drawing to a close.   The multitudes of followers to our blog may have noticed our sparse posts this spring…   Shifting responsibilities, timing of projects, and just the general “stuff” of … Continue reading →

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Presently Presenting

Posted on December 12, 2011 by Robin Huntington Shores

In preparing to make a presentation at Swarthmore’s Staff Development Week next month, I thought it would be a good time to review some rules of thumb for making presentations that I’ve learned and discovered over the years.  Because institutional … Continue reading →

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“Freeze” time

Posted on September 27, 2011 by Robin Huntington Shores

It’s getting to be that time of year.  I’m not talking about frost on the ground or midterms.    It’s time to “freeze” the data! Institutional Researchers report data about our students to many constituencies, and use it for our … Continue reading →

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