Reporting and Assessment

Decision Support and Institutional Research 

Decision Support and Institutional Research enhances institutional effectiveness by providing information which informs the decision-making and planning processes for furthering the university's core mission.

What is Institutional Effectiveness (IE)?

"Effective institutions demonstrate a commitment to the principles of continuous improvement. These principles are based on a systematic and documented process of assessing institutional performance with respect to mission in all aspects of the institution. An institutional planning and effectiveness process involves all programs, services and constituencies; is linked to the decision-making process at all levels; and provides a sound basis for budgetary decisions and resource allocations."

“Student learning and student success are at the core of the mission of all institutions of higher learning. Effective institutions focus on the design and improvement of educational experiences to enhance student learning and support student learning outcomes for its educational programs. To meet the goals of educational programs, an institution provides appropriate academic and student services to support student success. ….The institution identifies expected outcomes, assesses the extent to which it achieves these outcomes, and provides evidence of seeking improvement based on analysis of the results in the areas below:

• student learning outcomes for each of its educational programs,
• student learning outcomes for collegiate-level general education competencies of its undergraduate degree programs, and
• academic and student services that support student success.”

In addition, the “institution identifies expected outcomes of its administrative support services and demonstrates the extent to which the outcomes are achieved.”

The SACSCOC Principles of Accreditation: Foundations for Quality Enhancement, 2018 Edition