Publication Details

Abstract

Institutional research and institutional effectiveness (IR/IE) offices often support the assessment and performance measurement of postsecondary institutions; however, rarely do we turn those skills upon our own work. Analyzing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) in the workplace allows organizations to consider the conditions in which they operate. This article reports on an analysis of responses from The Node for IR/ IE, a weekly newsletter sent to IR/IE professionals, about the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats within and outside their offices. Our data analysis process included concurrent inductive and deductive coding followed by a series of meetings to reconcile the coding schemes and develop overall themes. In our analysis, we found that many participants spoke positively of the collaboration and overall environment of their office, but that they also had a variety of concerns about resources and the demands from their stakeholders. The direct contrast between many responses illustrated the vastly different experiences of IR/IE professionals. We discuss the implications of these responses in relation to the current context and how this research can inform and support office leaders and advance the field of IR/IE.

Keywords: institutional research; institutional effectiveness; resources; strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT); qualitative research; thematic analysis

Authors

• Katherine Gipalo
• Samantha Nix
• Eric Godin
• Eric Atchison
• Ciera Merritt

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