Office of Institutional Research and Assessment

The mission of the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment is to

• advance the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's goal of becoming the nation's leading public university by providing comprehensive information to support:
  • institutional planning
  • policy formation
  • decision-making
  • evaluation of effectiveness

• coordinate responses to
  • external accountability mandates
  • a wide range of internal and external requests for information about the campus

The office provides services in three major areas:

• External Reporting.  The Office of Institutional Research and Assessment has primary responsibility for preparing and submitting official reports and data files to ensure the University's compliance with UNC System, state, and federal reporting mandates.   In addition, the office coordinates the University's responses to a variety of other external requests for information that are received from the media, publishers of college guides, local government, the general public, and other institutions.

• Planning Support.  The office is charged with compiling, analyzing, and interpreting statistical data used in strategic planning efforts by University administrators, trustees, and committees.  These data include:
  • student characteristics
  • admissions
  • financial aid
  • enrollment
  • retention and graduation rates
  • courses taught
  • credit hour production
  • degrees awarded
  • teaching workloads
  • employee characteristics
  • revenue and expenditures
  • research productivity
  • facilities utilization  

  
  This information is disseminated to the University community through annual reports, websites, and responses to ad hoc requests.

• Institutional Effectiveness.   The office is responsible for coordinating campus-wide and unit-level assessment of academic programs and administrative processes to support the University's quality improvement efforts.  These activities include:
  • gathering and presenting institutional performance data
  • coordinating data exchanges with peer institutions for benchmarking purposes
  • administering UNC System and other surveys
  • providing technical support and consultation to assist units in assessing student learning outcomes and administrative objectives
  • conducting special studies to evaluate the University's progress in achieving strategic goals
  • coordination of accreditation activities