campus and community
Syracuse University's Office of Organizational Research and Assessment (OIRA) was recently created through the merger of the Office of Organizational Research and the Office of Organizational Effectiveness Assessment. Located at 400 Ostrom Avenue, the streamlined operation serves all members of the university community. This office is comprised of two of his divisions: the Institutional Research Division, overseen by Assistant Vice Chancellor Seth Ovadia, and the Institutional Effectiveness Division, overseen by Senior Assistant Provost Jerry Edmonds.
In this Q&A, Ovadia and Edmonds discuss the new OIRA and how the merger will bring together services of value to the university community.
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01
What does this merger mean for day-to-day operations?
Obadiah: This allows our teams to work more closely together and makes it easier for everyone on campus to take advantage of the services we offer.
Institutional Research (IR) has deep and valuable expertise in campus data systems. Institutional Effects (IE) has deep and valuable expertise in institutional practices. Combining these creates synergy, matching data expertise with operational knowledge of how to create student and faculty success.
edmonds: At IE, our main focus is on serving schools, universities, and departments. We have very strong relationships and work based on our experience and understanding of academic operations, learning outcomes, and academic priorities.
We remain process-oriented in our collaborations with academic and administrative departments, leveraging our data expertise and service orientation to improve and enhance decision-making by leadership, faculty, and staff.. We aim to generate actionable insights.
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02
Are there any operational changes planned?
Obadiah:Very few. There has always been coordination between our offices. All existing initiatives, relationships, partnerships and projects in which the units were involved will continue as before.
edmonds: This change gives campus partners one place to ask questions and one coordinated place to connect and stay in touch.
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03
What functions does Institutional Research perform?
Obadiah: We help people access existing data and collect new data to improve the faculty, staff, student experience, and the university as a whole. OIRA can draw on a vast library of existing data to answer your questions. We have a team of social scientists who are experienced in developing, managing and analyzing surveys, so we can work with you even when the data doesn't exist.
We are made up of three groups. The Institutional Reporting Division manages most of the university's official data reporting, including surveys, guidebooks, and ranking organizations for state and federal governments. Research team members use existing and newly collected data to ask complex questions such as identifying predictors of student success, evaluating the impact of programmatic interventions, and identifying opportunities to improve the student experience. answer. The DataInsights group partners with OIRA staff and many other departments across campus on the development and implementation of Tableau dashboards.
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04
What function does institutional effectiveness play?
edmonds: In collaboration with our campus partners, we cultivate and improve the Syracuse University experience through equity-centered practices, promote a culture of evidence-based decision-making, create efficiencies, and improve strategic initiatives and accreditation. We provide operational support for
We have strong relationships with schools, colleges and departments and work closely with deans, associate deans and faculty on a range of initiatives. We support, advise, and manage the projects of the provost, vice provost for academic programs, vice provost for academic affairs, and senior vice provost for international programs and academic operations. We maintain relationships with universities and educational consultants Hannover Research and EAB. It also manages the accreditation process for the Central States Higher Education Commission.
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05
What are some examples of research and data projects undertaken by IR?
Obadiah:It's wide-ranging. We are currently working with the Faculty of Law to determine the cost of attendance for students. Conduct a benchmark survey of academic strategic planning for faculty. and conduct program evaluation surveys with students in living and learning communities. We conduct a sexual and relationship violence survey every two years, a Syracuse Abroad program evaluation survey every semester, and an undergraduate and graduate admissions student survey every summer.
Last fall's Orange Survey provided valuable insight into academic, social, economic, and extracurricular aspects of students. We also conducted an on-campus bike safety survey to help Syracuse University Art Museum staff understand who their customers are. Dashboard projects include providing data for academic program reviews, census enrollment reporting, and outcomes information for students transferring from Syracuse.
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06
What specific projects has IE led?
edmonds: The IE team is comprised of experts with expertise in instructional design, project management, student development, and higher education. We support a wide range of strategic projects, including teacher portfolio systems. Migration of scoring system from Scantron to Gradescope. and the introduction of shared competencies.
We also lead the Assessment Leadership Institute and Professional Development. Maintain ongoing course feedback. Manage the annual program review process and coordinate the One University Assessment Celebration. IE also facilitates school and university requests for market research for new or existing academic programs.
Institutional Research is located at: 400 Ostrom Avenue, 315.443.8700 or email ir@syr.edu. Seth Ovadia can be reached at saovadia@syr.edu.
Institutional Effects is also located at 400 Ostrom Avenue and can be reached at 315.443.4119 or by email at iea@syr.edu. This website also lists email addresses for specific functional areas. Contact Jerry Edmonds at gedmonds@syr.edu.