The
Office of Strategic Planning, Institutional Research and Effectiveness
(OSPIRE) is comprised of five related, but separate, functions:
strategic planning, institutional research, assessment, reporting,
and institutional effectiveness. Strategic planning
consists of supporting the continuous refinement and implementation
of the strategic plan and the university’s renewed identity
across the institution. Institutional research
involves the support of administrative planning, policy making,
decision making, and institutional effectiveness as well as
gathering, analyzing, managing, and reporting information
deemed important to the university. Assessment
activities include providing support in assessing student
outcomes for university-wide programs, providing administrative
support to faculty in developing assessment programs and in
assessing student success during the first year at ISU. Reporting
refers to the responsibility of being the official source
for general university information provided by campus units
as well as OSPIRE itself. OSPIRE is responsible for coordinating
all university reporting for on- and off-campus clients, presenting
information in meaningful ways, and for providing data support
to the office's other functional areas. Institutional
effectiveness refers to supporting the university’s
engagement in continuous improvement through informed planning,
assessment, implementation, and reassessment. The office is
responsible for coordinating departmental participation in
institutional effectiveness activities and for coordinating
the reporting of these activities resulting in annual reports
at the department, division, and university level.
In
five years OSPIRE will be recognized for the creative ways
in which it integrates institutional research, assessment,
and reporting to support the university’s planning and
continuous improvement needs. The office will be known for
its use of technology in facilitating this integration as
well as in meeting the planning needs of decision makers and
stakeholders. The office will be a model of how information
can be accessed and used by stakeholders to improve their
function within the university. Further, the office will be
nationally known for the quality of its research into issues
of importance to the university.
Ishitani, Terry (2006). Studying attrition and degree completion behavior among
first-generation college students in the United States. Journal of Higher Education
Ishitani, T. and Snider, K. (2006). Longitudinal effects of college preparation programs
on college retention. IR Applications
Johnson, I. (2006). Analysis of stopout behavior at a public research university.
The multi-spell discrete-time approach. Research in Higher Education
National Publications: Submitted
Ishitani, T. and McKitrick, S. (2006) Matriculation timing and transfer student
institutional engagement: Using the National Survey of Student Engagement to study
transfer student collegiate experience.
Presentations at state and national conferences
Ishitani, T. (2005). Studying educational attainment among first-generation students
in the United States. 45th Annual Forum of the Association for Institutional Research,
San Diego, California May 30.
Snider, K. and Johnson, I. (2006). First year experience at ISU. Pictorial study on
student perceptions of retention. The INAIR 20th Annual Conference.
Bloomington, Indiana, March 3.
McClintock, P. and Snider, K. (2006) Getting the word out: communicating the strategic plan.
46th Annual Forum of the Association for Institutional Research, Chicago, Illinois, May 16.
Johnson, I. (2006). Examining part-time faculty utilization and its impact on student
retention at a public research university. 46th Annual Forum of the Association for
Institutional Research. Chicago, Illinois, May 18.
Technology Accomplishments
Data Request Form online form to track data requests through the office.
Digital Measures worked extensively with faculty and DM personnel to create new faculty
performance reports online. Will be used by all faculty for 2006 reporting year.
First Year Experience Survey new survey posted online to be more user-friendly to students.
WTH Library Survey new survey template posted online to allow callers to automatically
input answers from respondents into a database for immediate analysis.
Strategic planning website new website that contains all data pertinent to ISUs
strategic plan as well as the strategic indicators.
New Reports
First Year Experience at ISU: Pictorial Study on Student Perceptions of Retention - report
for VPs, purpose: studying the factors influencing students' decision to stay or to leave the
University, descriptive analysis of student experiences during their first year at ISU.
Retention Program Performance Report (Greek vs. Non-Greek) - evaluating one-year retention
rates/cumulative GPAs of fraternities/sororities members compared to non-Greek retention rates.
Other
High School Profiles high school-specific data packets sent to all high school
principals in the state to encourage them to send better-qualified students to ISU.
