The mission of the Office of Institutional Research (IR) is to provide accurate institutional data and analyses to the campus community and external stakeholders by conveying mandated accountability data to the state and federal government, supporting institutional and specialized program accreditation and academic program review efforts, and working collaboratively with other units on campus to support and encourage evidence-based planning and decision making.
The Office of Institutional Research’s specific functions include:
Maintain a repository of official, historical data for use by internal and external stakeholders;
Convey accurate institutional data to the S.C. Commission on Higher Education, the U.S. Department of Education through IPEDS, and other official entities;
Respond to external/publisher surveys (College Board, U.S. News, etc.);
Identify information needs and developing institutional studies and reports in such areas as enrollment, retention, graduation, student outcomes, and faculty to support decision making;
Fulfill ad hoc institutional data requests;
Publish official data to the web, including an annual Fact Book;
Provide data to support the institution’s accreditation with SACSCOC as well as programmatic accreditation with discipline-specific accreditors;
Serve as stewards of information through membership on Winthrop’s Banner Data Standards Group, collaboration with the Office of Business Intelligence and Data Management, and user education on issues related to privacy, security, and appropriate use of data;
Administer and analyze results from institution-wide surveys (NSSE, Graduating Senior Survey, and Alumni Survey); and
Manage the OARS system for assessment reporting and the PICS system for faculty credentialing.
