SRSU is in the process of migrating the website to a new platform, and IR is an early adopter. So, check out the new site! There are two new features in the fresh IR website: The Institutional Review Board page and the TSUS Enrollment Explorer. The Institutional Review Board page provides some basic information for faculty and students that plan to engage in research that involves human subjects. Here you'll find who to contact and forms you may need. This page is in the early stage of development so expect to see more useful information here as the year progresses. The TSUS Enrollment Explorer is an interactive self-service dashboard that allows the user to query historic enrollment data (lags by a year) through a user-friendly interface. Enrollment data can be…

The wait is over! SRSU's fall 2018 enrollment data has now been certified with the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. So, we can take a closer look.  This information supersedes the preliminary information published on the Census Day Fall 2018 Enrollment Profile on September 19, 2018. Fall 2018 SRSU Student Profile Total Headcount: 1,885 Students in the Alpine campus are mostly undergraduate  (71%), a slight majority female (52%), and about half are of Hispanic origin (51%). Over a quarter of the student population are new students (27%). The majority of undergraduates are enrolled full-time (80%), while the majority of graduate and post-baccalaureate students are enrolled part-time, 82% and 96% respectively. Overall, compared to Fall 2017 enrollment in the Alpine campus has decreased 5.6% from 1,996 to 1,885 students. Undergraduate student…

Yes, the comic is just a joke...admit it, you laughed! A new academic year has begun. It is exciting to see the campus bustling with activity and events again! Last Wednesday (9/12) was Census Day, which is the 12th class day for fall and spring semesters. This is a day when institutions perform a preliminary headcount of enrolled students. This count is typically slightly higher than the official census date. The official census date is  the last day the Registrar's office allows students to drop courses. And so, this is a great time to take a tiny pause and look at the enrollment profile of the SRSU students. Fall 2018 SRSU Student Profile Total Headcount: 1,933 Students in the Alpine campus are mostly undergraduate  (71%), relatively evenly divided with respect…

In January 2017 Qualtrics became available to all faculty, staff and students at Sul Ross. But wait…what’s Qualtrics? Qualtrics is a user-friendly web-based survey tool to conduct research, evaluations and to other qualitative data collection activities. Features Faculty, staff, students can use it at no cost No need to install software Point-and-click interface Over 85 question types Ability to upload graphics and multimedia content in your surveys Built-in dynamic reporting tools Ability to export data directly to SPSS, CSV, PDF, MS Word, MS Excel and MS Power Point Free online training webinars from Qualtrics Live support from Qualtrics staff There are many traditional and innovative ways to use Qualtrics, here are some examples of how faculty, staff and students may use Qualtrics. Faculty Academic Research Class Quizzes Classroom Learning Course…

The Student Achievement Measure (SAM) is an organization funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and by the Carnegie Corporation. The organization collects voluntary reporting from the majority of U.S. colleges and universities in an effort to provide a wider understanding of student progress towards degree completion. Typically graduation rates are calculated for first-time in college, full-time students. This leaves transfer and part-time student outcomes unaccounted for. When comparing completion outcomes among institutions, this narrow definition can distort understanding if the student populations served are significantly different. An institution serving non-traditional students is disadvantaged because the outcomes of most of its students are not counted. A study by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center found that more than one in five graduates complete their degree at an institution different…

Why do enrollment figures seem inconsistent sometimes? As with many subjects or fields, there is much more to reporting than meets the eye. The database used to track student information is very large and complex. Banner is a production/transactional database. Theoretically and practically, this means you can extract a set of data using the exact same parameters and from the exact same source within minutes and obtain two non-identical sets of data. Adding to this complexity is the fact that the same or similar information may be stored in more than one data tables. Consequently, it is possible, for what appears to be the same information, to be extracted from different sources. That too, can result in seeming discrepancies. Differences between Operational Data and Official Data Operational data are sets…

Whether you need data for reporting, Program Reviews or planning, IR is here to help. If you already know what you need, you can use the IR Data Request Form or send an email to IR@sulross.edu. When submitting a data request is important to be specific. Here are some tips for sending a complete data request: What is the data time period? Think about whether you need the data presented by year (Calendar, Academic, Fiscal?) or by term; do you need a single time period or you need information over time? Who/what is included in the subset? If you need data regarding students, think about what subset you care about; all students, only undergraduates, only graduates, only of certain classification (e.g. freshman, seniors, etc.); only if enrolled on a given…

There's much to know about SRSU! Whether you're interested in numbers, how to understand the data you see, or just want to keep up with the latest news from IR, you're in the right place. The IR Blog will be a way to share data updates, insights and other news. If you would like to see a particular topic discussed or would like to share ideas for this blog, please feel free to contact IR@sulross.edu or leave a comment. Let's make sense of SRSU data together! Alejandra Villalobos Meléndez | SRSU IR Director