Today’s campus executives are in need of accurate, useful institutional research to help them navigate an increasingly complex higher education environment. This study focuses on how college and university decision-makers use two sources of institution-level data designed to assist them in that task: (a) the IPEDS Data Feedback Report (DFR), and (b) peer-comparative products provided by data consortia or benchmarking services. Of particular interest are the metrics campus leaders perceive as most valuable, where leaders turn for their data needs, and for what purposes data are used. Simultaneously, this study will explore how campus executives and institutional researchers use data consortia (i.e., groups of institutions formed, in whole or in part, to compare institution-level data) and benchmarking services to inform local practice, as well as the perceived benefits associated with participating in these types of data-sharing arrangements. To supplement data provided by campus leaders and to develop a sense of the extent of data-sharing nation-wide, a census of consortia and benchmarking services will also be conducted.

This study relies upon a sequential mixed-method design of web-based interviews followed by interviews and focus groups. Three groups of participants were sampled, including college presidents, institutional research officers/IPEDS keyholders, and data consortia/benchmarking service research directors. A SRS of 866 institutions were selected from all degree-granting institutions reporting to IPEDS for collection year 2006, and the contact information for their chief executives and institutional research officers collected so that they could be invited to participate in the study. The full population of approximately 300 higher education consortia and associations listed in the 2008 Higher Education Directory were selected for participation in the consortia census. Results will be presented at the AIR Forum in June 2009, and later posted to this site.

For more information, please contact Matthew Soldner at matt.soldner@gmail.com. Matthew Soldner is a doctoral candidate in College Student Personnel Administration at the University of Maryland. His research, which focuses on the improvement of undergraduate education through the use of residential learning communities, has been published in Research in Higher Education, the Journal of College Student Development, and the NAPSA Journal. Prior to returning to the University of Maryland, Matthew was the Associate Director of Housing at UMBC in Baltimore, Maryland.

AIR · 1435 E. Piedmont Drive, Suite 211 · Tallahassee, FL 32308 · 850-385-4155 · Fax: 850-385-5180