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The Role of
Institutional Research
What is Institutional Research?
Peterson (1985) defines
institutional research as "a critical intermediary function that links the
educational, managerial, and information functions of higher education
institutions." Saupe (1981) extends this definition by emphasizing the
importance of internal data gathering and analysis to the management of
post-secondary educational institutions.
Four basic activities describe
institutional research:
• collecting data about the
performance of an institution,
• collecting data about the environment of an institution,
• analyzing and interpreting the collected data, and
• transforming and interpreting data analyses into
information that
can be used to support the institutional planning, set
institutional
policies, and make academic and management decisions.
Important!
In order to maintain a complete and
comprehensive database, a copy of all reports submitted to the University of
North Carolina General Administration (UNC-GA), educational agencies, other
accrediting agencies, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
(SACS), and other related agencies should be sent to the Office of Institutional
Research.
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