College forms institutional research team

Lake Erie College recently established a faculty-led Office of Institutional Research to improve data-driven performance metrics.

Under the direction of Steven Reynolds, the office will serve as a research space intended to enhance the consistency and transparency of data sets across campus.

According to the news release, Reynolds, who also serves as an associate professor of biology, will report directly to President Brian Posler and will present reports to the Lake Erie College cabinet regularly.

“Investing in high quality institutional research is greatly

needed,” Posler said. “This office will allow all of campus to better communicate with each other and will answer important questions that will help us increase student success. I am so pleased that Dr. Reynolds has agreed to serve Lake Erie College in this way.”

By serving as a data repository, the office will enable administrators to identify interconnections between data from various offices, ultimately supporting data-driven decision making in a variety of contexts.

“By effectively collecting, organizing and presenting data, I hope to generate information that provides those who have the responsibility to make decisions for the college with sufficient context to conduct the business of the college in an effective and efficient manner, ”Reynolds said.

The college’s academic accreditation process offers one example of the applicability of the data Reynolds will generate. Led by Bryan DePoy, who is vice president for academic affairs and chief academic officer, the accreditation process relies on data analysis regarding everything from enrollment

figures to course offerings, faculty profiles, tuition figures and more.

“By placing a renewed emphasis on our institutional research area, we will expand our ability to operationalize data and apply predictive analytics across the academic enterprise, thus aiding in Lake Erie College’s decision-making,” DePoy said. “The quality, dissection and analysis of data is a prelude to identifying future investments and priorities for the institution.”

For more information on the Office of Institutional Research at Lake Erie College, contact Reynolds at sreynolds@lec.edu.