promoting institutional research at a national and institutional level – the irish experience dr....
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Promoting Institutional Research at a National and
Institutional Level – The Irish Experience
Dr. Teresa Lee, Irish Universities Quality Board
Aoife Flanagan, National University of Ireland,
Galway
The National ContextHigher Education in Ireland
Population - 4 million
>55% of school-leaving cohort enter higher education
Binary system with 7 universities + 14 Institutes of Technology
The National Context Irish Universities Quality Board
(IUQB)
Set up in 2002 by universities
Incorporated and established its independence in February 2006
Funded by subscriptions from the universities and an annual grant from the funding body, the Higher Education Authority (HEA)
The National Context Irish Universities Quality Board
(IUQB)
Board of Directors – 17 Members
Chair jointly appointed by the Higher Education Authority (HEA) and the Irish Universities Association (IUA)
Other members nominated by the IUA, HEA, IBEC, ICTU, NQAI, USI, EUA and North American University System
The National Context Quality Assurance (QA) in Irish
Universities
Primary responsibility for QA rests with the university (Irish Universities Act, 1997)
Internal QAWith the active contribution of students, universities must periodically evaluate all their activities academic (and administrative) units
Use the model of self-evaluation, peer review, site visit, published report, follow-up
The National Context Quality Assurance (QA) in Irish
Universities
External QA Institutional Audit - periodic evaluation of the effectiveness of QA procedures in individual universities
Responsibility for these evaluations was delegated by universities governing authorities to IUQB in 2002
The National Context System wide External Review of
Irish Universities
System wide External Review of Irish Universities instigated by IUQB and by HEA in 2004
European Universities Association (EUA) commissioned to undertake the review in 2004-2005 under its Institutional Evaluation Programme (IEP)
The National Context System wide External Review of
Irish Universities
Review reports on individualuniversities and a Sectoral report published in April 2005
The National Context System wide External Review of
Irish Universities
IUQB assists the universities in implementing the recommendations arising from External Reviews
Review Recommendation “All universities need to strengthen their capacities for institutional analysis and monitoring, in order to provide better information for strategic governance and management.”
The National ContextIUQB Sector Wide Projects
IUQB sectoral projects aim to establish good practice and culminate in the publication of national Guidelines of Good Practice in the areas of:
• Teaching and Learning• Research• Strategic Planning/Management• Administration
The National ContextIUQB Institutional Research Project
The seven Irish universities supported an application for funding for an IUQB sector-wide project on Institutional Research in Irish Universities
In an effort to ensure relevance to the wider HE community in Ireland the Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) was invited to participate in the project
The project was initiated in the autumn of 2005
The National Context IUQB Institutional Research Project
Co-ordination and Planning/Editorial Team
Ms. Aoife Flanagan: Institutional Research Officer, NUI Galway
Prof. Jim Gosling: Director of Quality, NUI GalwayDr. Noel O’Connor: Campus Planning, DITMs. Maura McGinn: Institutional Research Officer, UCDMs. Joan Mullen: Institutional Research Officer, NUI
MaynoothMr Tony Carey: Director of Strategic Planning, UCDDr. Teresa Lee: Quality Enhancement Manager,
IUQB
The National Context IUQB Institutional Research Project
Aim: To improve management practices and effectiveness within Irish universities, DIT and other HEIs through Institutional Research and to increase awareness of the potential of Institutional Research to enhance overall organisational, efficiency and in particular the student experience
The National ContextIUQB Institutional Research Project
Objectives
Analyse and establish current practice in the area of Institutional Research nationally and internationally
Identify good practice in Institutional Research appropriate to the Irish higher education sector
Develop and publish national guidelines of good practice in Institutional Research
The National Context IUQB Institutional Research Project
National meetings A national meeting was held with key stakeholders
(senior and middle management) and with international presenters (Prof Sir David Watson, UK and Dr Dawn Geronimo Terkla, USA) to initiate discussions and to identify the key themes requiring attention in the sector. Prior to the meeting each institute was asked to respond to a series of questions and a synopsis of the results were used to inform proceedings.
A planning meeting was held to draw up a programme for a set of workshops (1 per institution) to get input from a wider stakeholder group in each institution
The National Context IUQB Institutional Research Project
Activities at the Institutional Level A series of meetings/workshops were held in the
universities and DIT involving relevant expert groups, to collect and analyse information on current good practices and on performance indicators used. An institutional report was prepared
Analysis and evaluation of the Internal quality review reports in the seven universities and of the External Institutional reviews of the seven Irish universities (2004-2005) and of the DIT (2006) was undertaken
The National Context IUQB Institutional Research Project
Activities at the National Level An evaluation of current practices, data systems and
resources in use on the national level was undertaken An evaluation of current practices, systems and
resources in use on the international stage was undertaken for comparative purposes
An Interim Report was produced which summarised the results of the project
This report was presented at the 5th IUQB Annual Conference on Institutional Research: Benefiting the Student Experience and University Performance held in October 2007
The National Context IUQB Institutional Research Project
Production of the National Guidelines of Good Practice
The findings from the Conference and feedback on the Interim Report were used to inform the drafting of the national guidelines of good practice
A draft of the guidelines was distributed (widely) to key stakeholders and targeted experts for feedback prior to publication
The national guidelines were finalised
The National Context IUQB Institutional Research Project
Launch of National Guidelines of Good Practice takes place on 30th June 2008
Good Practice for Institutional Research in Irish Higher Education
Good Practice in Strategic Planning for Academic Units in Irish Universities.
The National Context Institutional Research- Key
Developments
6 Universities now have an Institutional Research Officer in place
These officers are closely linked with the strategic planning and/or the quality assurance offices
The Irish Universities Association (IUA) have received funding to develop KPIs for the university sector
The Institutional Context
National University of Ireland, Galway
The Institutional ContextDrivers of IR
Strategic Priority for NUI Galway (Strategic Plan 2004-2008):
“Enhance the Quality of All Aspects of the University and its Services . . . Establish
an internal research function to generate and monitor performance
indicators for all aspects of the University.”
The Institutional ContextDrivers of IR
Need for better information recognised Need for self analysis and reporting Evidence based decision making EUA Review (2004/05) Need for common data definitions Support strategic planning
The Institutional ContextBuilding Awareness
Internal IR champion
IUQB national meetings
Use of international experts:
Seminars Task driven workshops Benefits of IR highlighted
The Institutional ContextNeeds Analysis
Consulting International expert Mark Putnam, Northeastern University
Interviews with key stakeholders
1 Day Workshop with academic and administrative leaders (2004)
The Institutional ContextSituational Analysis
Consulting international expert (2005) Mark Putnam, Northeastern University
Analysis of current situation 2 visits, 32 individuals interviewed
Information Audit Availability and flow of data and information
The Institutional ContextReport on Findings
Understanding data as a key University asset
Enterprise Data Quality, Planning and IR Reporting structures Required skills Roles and responsibilities
The Institutional ContextPlanning for IR
Secured budget for full-time permanent IR professional
Identification of roles and responsibilities
Internal Communication MIS resource to support IR Recruitment process (2006)
The Institutional ContextEstablishment of IR Office
Office established January 2007 Meetings with key stakeholders to focus
on priorities Identification of common priorities Established links with MIS Prepared one year plan National links:
IUQB IR project IUA KPI project
The Institutional ContextTraining
Site visits to established IR offices in other Universities
Systems and software training
AIR
EAIR
The Institutional ContextData Governance
Establishment of a Data Co-ordination Task Force Representative Data custodians and information producers Decision Makers Terms of Reference Prioritisation of data related projects Resource Allocation
The Institutional ContextRoles and Responsibilities
Reporting and Tracking: Students Staff Estates Research Finance
The Institutional ContextRoles and Responsibilities
Student Research Staff Research Rankings Integrated Reports for Quality
Reviews National Projects:
Key Performance Indicators IUQB IR Good Practice Guidelines
The Institutional ContextFuture Directions
Increase office by 1 additional full-time analyst
Data Co-ordination Task Force Enterprise data – development of a data
warehouse Strategic Plan 2009 – 2014 Sector wide IUA KPI project
