Office of Planning, Budget and Analysis web site.

Information available on the Institutional Analysis web site includes Student enrollment, number, preparation, graduation rates and GPAs Faculty salaries, counts, diversity and research expenditures Degrees awarded and approved degree programs Teaching activity, grades and induced course load matrices Admit rates, yield rates and financial aid The Faculty Course Questionnaire, a student rating of courses and instructors Surveys of students including the National Survey of Student Engagement Diversity in enrollment, degrees, faculty, staff and more Outcomes assessment for both undergraduates and graduates The Common Data Set containing answers to standard questions in college guidebooks Performance measures including CCHE Quality Indicators, campus measures and measures on U.S. states Comparisons of CU-Boulder with peer universities

"It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data," said the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. The Institutional Analysis (IA) area of the Office of Planning, Budget and Analysis precludes this grave error by collecting, analyzing, distributing and assisting in the use of a staggering breadth of information about CU-Boulder.

Information is compiled about students, alumni, staff, faculty, space, budgets and other assets. IA uses surveys, observation, experiments, policy analysis and extensive records analysis to obtain data. They distribute standard and custom information in both paper and electronic formats.

Of course statistics are vital to decision-making about the university. IA Director Lou McClelland explained, "Institutional research helps administrators and policy-makers understand how the university works and make decisions based on evidence."

Information is used for federal, state, and internal reporting, collected by college-guide publishers, exchanged with other AAU and Big 12 institutions and available for external surveys, the press and internal inquiries. Greg Swenson of News Services said, "Often we need a statistic ten minutes ago, and they come through for us. We couldn't live without them."

With so much at stake, it's a huge responsibility. According McClelland, "In all our activities we aim for consistency, efficiency, effective delivery and relevance." Is there anything her office doesn't know? "I don't recall who wanted to know the birth order of each student," she said, "but that's one of the few pieces of information we just don't have."

More information than you will ever have time to absorb is available on the Institutional Analysis web site.