Peeking Inside an Institution’s Planning Toolbox

1. Peeking Inside an Institution’s Planning Toolbox Karen A. DeMonte Senior Institutional Research Analyst, Institutional Research & Planning University of Delaware Heather A. Kelly Assistant Director, Institutional Research & Planning University of Delaware Allison M. Walters Research Analyst, Institutional Research & Planning University of Delaware Office of Institutional Research & Planning

2. Located in suburban Newark, Delaware midway between Philadelphia and Baltimore Origins back to 1743, was chartered in 1833 Public, State Assisted University Research University (very high research activity) UD offers 126 undergraduate and 121 graduate programs in 7 Colleges and 54 Academic units Fall 2006 enrollment totaled 15,849 undergraduate and 3,446 graduate students 1,077 full time faculty members of whom 832 are Tenured/Tenure Track (Fall 2005 data) On average, 90% of freshmen return sophomore year and approximately 3 out of 4 students graduate in five years University of Delaware

3. Background & Objectives • Support University’s academic, financial, and planning efforts • Budget Support Notebook • National Study of Instructional Costs & Productivity (a.k.a. Delaware Study) • FIPSE-Funded Analysis of Out-of-Classroom Faculty Activity Study (a.k.a. Faculty Activity Study)

4. Budget Support Notebook • Background: • Was developed in 1990 as a means to support decisions related to budget cuts and workforce reductions • Has evolved from a series of hand-entered Excel spreadsheets to an automated secure web site • Contains three years of productivity measures to help track trends • Fully integrated Secure Web Site • Secured to Senior Administrators, Deans, and Chairs with open access between departments

5. Budget Support NotebookSource Documents • Faculty Workload Report - examines the teaching activity by individual instructor for the Fall and Spring semesters • Expenditures Report - summarizes fiscal year-end direct expenditures by unit within the University’s reporting hierarchy • Charts comparing UD against National Norms from the Delaware Study • Various other University reports

6. The notebook is organized by College and …

7. … by Departments within each college

8. Productivity measures FTE Majors Degrees Granted % Student Credit Hours Taught by Faculty on Appointment % Student Credit Hours Taught by Supplemental Faculty

9. More Productivity measures • FTE Student Taught • FTE Faculty • Student Credit Hours / FTE Faculty • FTE Student Taught / FTE Faculty

10. Fiscal Data • Research and Service • Cost of Instruction • Revenue Measures (derived)

11. Budget Support NotebookWhy We Like It • Easy to navigate • Compiles data from several sources into one document • Contains trend data • Includes charts comparing UD against National Norms from the Delaware Study • Fully accessible by Deans and Chairs for comparisons within the University on the web • Web site contains complete documentation on how to interpret the various data elements

12. The Delaware Study • National benchmarking study used to examine: • Teaching loads by faculty classification and course level • Instructional costs • Externally funded research and service …all at the discipline level of analysis. • Over 400 institutional participants since 1996 including: • Members of Association of American Universities Data Exchange (AAUDE). • Members of the Southern Universities Group (SUG). • University of Missouri System. • University of North Carolina System.

13. The Delaware StudyData Collection Template

14. The Delaware Study – Data Results • Benchmarks provided by: • Carnegie Classification • Highest Degree Awarded • Undergraduate/Graduate Program Mix • Customized Peer Analyses Refined means are used to produce the benchmarks. • An initial mean is calculated from the valid values for all institutions reporting data for a given CIP or discipline, within the benchmark category. • The standard deviation is calculated along with the mean. • Those institutions with values of more than two standard deviations above or below the initial mean are defined as outliers. • A 'Refined Mean' is then calculated, excluding outliers as defined above.

15. Data Detailed as Follows: Table 1: Percent SCH and OCS by Faculty Category within Course Level Table 2: Percent SCH and OCS by Course Level within Faculty Category Table 3: SCH, OCS, and FTE Students per FTE Faculty Table 4: Instructional Cost Ratios

16. Sample Benchmarking

17. The Delaware Study - Uses • Assess department productivity and costs. • Compare institutional data to national benchmarks and/or self-selected peer groups. • Provides current and longitudinal data for departmental planning and resource allocation.

18. We invite you to visit the Delaware Study website: http://www.udel.edu/IR/cost

19. Is Faculty Work Understood? National Center for Education Statistics indicate that full-time faculty at four-year institutions report they spend approximately one-half of their time on teaching activities, which includes approximately 9 hours per week in the classroom (NCES; Cataldi, Bradburn, Fahimi, Zimbler, 2005). The term “work load” is often thought to refer to the time faculty spend in the classroom. However, work load relates to faculty work and the numerous associated activities and responsibilities in and out of the classroom (Braskamp & Ory, 1994).

20. Faculty Activity Study - Purpose • Help alleviate misunderstandings of faculty activity by providing information to discuss what faculty actually do, how much they do, and the associated products.

21. Faculty Activity Study - Goal • Demonstrate faculty outputs that are a result of faculty spending time outside the classroom on non-instructional activities. • Teaching (i.e., redesigning course curriculum, advising students, or conducting research with students) • Scholarship (i.e., refereed and non-refereed publications, editorial positions, juried shows and commissioned performances, or grant activity) • Service (i.e., institutional service, faculty extension and outreach activities, or professional service). • The overall goal is to provide evidence regarding program productivity, as well as the means to encourage more effective management in higher education.

22. Faculty Activity StudyData Collection Template

23. 2002 Faculty Activity Study Total of 57 institutions 23 comprehensive institutions (40%) 20 baccalaureate institutions (35%) 7 doctoral universities (12%) 7 research universities (12%) 29 private institutions (51%) 28 public institutions (49%) 2003 Faculty Activity Study Total of 47 institutions 27 comprehensive institutions (57%) 7 baccalaureate institutions (15%) 7 doctoral universities (15%) 6 research universities (13%) 33 public institutions (70%) 14 private institutions (30%) Faculty Activity Study Participants

24. Faculty Activity Study - Results • Refinedmeans were not calculated for the variables owing to the relatively small number of participating institutions within each Carnegie institution type, and the large variance in data responses. • The large variance for the majority of the variables within each Carnegie classification makes the median a better statistic to describe the central tendency for the sample.

25. Activities Related to Teaching:

26. Activities Related to Scholarship:

27. Activities Related to Service:

28. Utilizing theFaculty Activity Study • Provides contextual information and supplies a backdrop for examining DE Study’s teaching loads and associated costs. • Institutions experiencing state mandates have combined state-mandated elements with the Faculty Activity Study variables to develop one instrument. • Institutions have integrated Faculty Activity Study variables into their annual review process. • Data facilitates informed decision-making processes. • Data helpful in answering requests from state agencies, as well as other external constituents.

29. Faculty Activity Study – Conclusion • The Faculty Activity Study provides evidence that faculty engage in activities such as curriculum redesign, academic advising, thesis and dissertation supervision, academic scholarship, and service to the institution, community, and profession. • While institutional mission is reflected by how faculty spend their time, regardless of Carnegie Classification, faculty engage in teaching, scholarship, and service. • The data collected has the potential to provide evidence about program productivity. • This information will facilitate informed decision making and encourage more effective management in higher education.

30. We invite you to visit the Faculty Activity Study website: http://www.udel.edu/IR/fipse

31. Using the “Tools” in Practice • Answer frequently asked questions from Academic units • Academic Program Review • Departmental request for Customized Peer Studies • Accreditation • Supports Resource Allocation Decisions

32. Academic Program Review • IR Provides… • Budget Support Notebook pages • Delaware Study comparison charts against National Norms • Other standard reports

33. Customized Peer Studies • How do we compare? • Academic units select their peer group from the list of Delaware Study participants

34. Accreditation Middles States Standard 7 • The institution has developed and implemented an assessment plan and process that evaluates its overall effectiveness in: achieving its mission and goals; implementing planning, resource allocation, and institutional renewal processes; enhancing institutional integrity; and assuring that institutional processes and resources support appropriate learning and other outcomes for its students and graduates.

35. Resource Allocation • Budget Support Notebook provides intra-university comparisons of quantitative data • Delaware Study provides national comparisons of quantitative data • Faculty Activity Study provides analysis of qualitative data

36. Questions and Comments

37. Thank you!http://www.udel.edu/IR Karen A. DeMonte, kdemonte@udel.edu Heather A. Kelly, hkelly@udel.edu Allison M. Walters, awalters@udel.edu