Institutional Research, within the Academic Strategies division, provides in-depth information about OUS students and faculty, and provides analytic support and expertise for all units of the Chancellor's Office to aid in policy development, evaluation, and management. IR staff play a major role in developing and maintaining analytic models for budget, student enrollment, and faculty salaries; coordinating peer institution analysis; preparing information for the Board and legislative presentations including biennial Ways and Means hearings; and communicating quantitative information through compilation of the biennial OUS Fact Book and other reports.  IR plays a key role in communicating complex quantitative information to a broad audience.

IR responsibilities include:

  • Creating and maintaining the system wide repository of student data, known as SCARF (Student Centralized Administrative Reporting File);
  • Preparing a set of annual statistical reports required by the federal government on behalf of all seven OUS institutions, including the national Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) surveys, and coordinating federal accountability reporting;
  • Primary system-wide responsibility for preparing the annual OUS enrollment projections in consultation with OUS institutions, and collaboration with the Budget Operations department to integrate those projections into the Resource Allocation Model.
  • Other enrollment-related studies, including:
    • P-16 alignment studies—e.g., analytic support for The First Year Study, as well as data sharing and joint studies with the Department of Community Colleges and Workforce Development;
    • Long-term Oregon high school graduate projections, in collaboration with the Oregon Department of Education;
    • Studies of student retention and graduation, including data needed for performance indicators;
    • Studies of OUS first-time freshman academic performance.
  • Coordinated data development and analysis of faculty-related issues, including modeling for faculty compensation goal-setting and peer compensation; equity studies related to salaries and promotion; and analysis of faculty flow—age and turnover;

University Research Departments and Data:

Contacts: