UVM Office of Institutional Research and Assessment

About OIRA

UVM's Office of Institutional Research at 440 College Avenue

About the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment

The Office of Institutional Research and Assessment (OIRA) is responsible for the University’s official institutional data and statistics regarding students, faculty, and staff. OIRA also provides analytical/data in order to support the University’s mission and data-informed decision-making at all levels of the University (e.g., the Board of Trustees, Presidents, Senior Vice President and Provost, other Vice Presidents/Provosts, Deans, Associate Deans, and Department Chairs). The data/analyses undertakings of this unit may involve, but are not limited to: planning, benchmarking, faculty/staff studies, student performance analysis, retention, graduation rates, student credit hours reporting, and course enrollment patterns.

Mission

The Office of Institutional Research and Assessment serves as a resource to the university community by gathering, analyzing, and providing reports of official university data. The office serves as an impartial unit that supports the mission of the University of Vermont and the administration, faculty, staff, and students by providing high quality data and analysis in order to meet various institutional reporting requirements and for institutional improvement purposes.

Vision

The Office of Institutional Research and Assessment will be an adaptable and proactive office with a commitment to producing sustainable, timely, reliable and valid data analysis that creates and promotes a culture of data-informed decision-making. OIRA will strive to support the UVM community by providing consulting expertise regarding the utilization of data throughout the data analysis lifecycle.

Our Goals

Data and Reporting Increase the efficiency, accessibility, and transparency of university data reporting by providing dashboard visualizations accessible to university constituents. To do so, OIRA will work with a variety of units in order to anticipate the user’s needs for these reports and visualizations. Serve as the source of the University’s official enrollment, faculty and staff census, student, and course/curricular data, focused particularly on those data required to meet externally mandated reporting requirements. Develop and maintain University data files for historical, analytical, research, and projection activities (admissions, enrollment, retention and completion rates), faculty and staff, salaries, alumni survey and student survey research (such as NSSE).	Analysis Respond in a timely and accurate fashion to internal and external data requests as time and resources allow Dynamically respond to the climate within higher education by participating in original research, taking a responsive and innovative approach to problem-solving, and by anticipating and providing data on potential areas of growth.

Data and Reporting

Increase the efficiency, accessibility, and transparency of university data reporting by providing dashboard visualizations accessible to university constituents. To do so, OIRA will work with a variety of units in order to anticipate the user’s needs for these reports and visualizations.
Serve as the source of the University’s official enrollment, faculty and staff census, student, and course/curricular data, focused particularly on those data required to meet externally mandated reporting requirements.
Develop and maintain University data files for historical, analytical, research, and projection activities (admissions, enrollment, retention and completion rates), faculty and staff, salaries, alumni survey and student survey research (such as NSSE).

Analysis

Respond in a timely and accurate fashion to internal and external data requests as time and resources allow
Dynamically respond to the climate within higher education by participating in original research, taking a responsive and innovative approach to problem-solving, and by anticipating and providing data on potential areas of growth.

Consulting Promote a data-driven culture of decision-making at UVM and serve as a resource for institutional improvement. Serve as a consulting resource to various campus constituencies in order to promote the usage of data collected around the university. Be a resource for strategic thinking and knowledge regarding higher education issues and trends.	Office Culture Demonstrate a commitment to continuous improvement, efficiency, and effectiveness. Develop relationships across units in order to break silos and report shared data. OIRA seeks to highlight the work of various units within the university while promoting shared and common goals. Ensure that data is being used in an ethical manner that will do no harm by considering what actions might be taken with such information, reporting in aggregate as appropriate with sensitive data, and participating in data governance decisions.

Consulting

Promote a data-driven culture of decision-making at UVM and serve as a resource for institutional improvement.
Serve as a consulting resource to various campus constituencies in order to promote the usage of data collected around the university.
Be a resource for strategic thinking and knowledge regarding higher education issues and trends.

Office Culture

Demonstrate a commitment to continuous improvement, efficiency, and effectiveness.
Develop relationships across units in order to break silos and report shared data. OIRA seeks to highlight the work of various units within the university while promoting shared and common goals.
Ensure that data is being used in an ethical manner that will do no harm by considering what actions might be taken with such information, reporting in aggregate as appropriate with sensitive data, and participating in data governance decisions.