This Week In IPEDS (TWII)

AIR Webinars Now Available

The Association for Institutional Research (AIR) has recently updated and posted new Webinars providing guidance and information related to completion of the three surveys available during the IPEDS Winter data collection: Human Resources, Fall Enrollment, and Finance. Multiple Webinars tailored to the various versions of the collection forms are available. These Webinars are free and can be viewed and/or downloaded at your convenience, from the AIR website at: http://airweb.org/ipeds. In addition to the Webinars, visitors can also access/download PowerPoint slides, text narratives, and .pdf versions of the presentations. AIR also provides links to resources related to Race/Ethnicity and changes resulting from the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) legislation.

Student-to-Faculty Ratio Section (Part F) on Fall Enrollment Survey

Please make special note of the new section in the Fall Enrollment (EF) survey (Part F) that is required due to the recently enacted Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) legislation. This section calculates a student-to-faculty ratio to be displayed on College Navigator. This section will require those filling out the HR survey and the EF survey at your institution to work together to ensure accuracy and consistency of instructional staff data between the two surveys. Because data from the EAP section of the HR survey will be carried forward to Part F of the EF survey, it is recommended, if at all possible, that the HR survey be completed and locked prior to locking the EF survey. For further guidance on completing the new Part F, please refer to the detailed survey instructions for this section as well as the FAQs that are available. For more information about this and other reporting changes due to HEAO, please see: http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/InsidePages/TrainingAnnouncements?date=2008-August-22&id=956.

Context Box Reminder

You may have noticed that, in the Winter Collection, what were once referred to as "caveat" boxes are now "context" boxes, to better reflect their intended use. In some cases (just as with "caveat" boxes), the text of "context" box will be posted on College Navigator along with the related data, giving your institution an opportunity to provide further information or "context" that may help users of College Navigator better interpret the data. The "context" boxes that will be posted on College Navigator are clearly identified in the data collection using the following language: "You may use the space below to provide context for the data you've reported above. These context notes will be posted on the College Navigator website."

NCES encourages you to take advantage of the opportunity to provide context for your data when appropriate. For example, some institutions may feel that the student-to-faculty ratio calculated for their institution in Part F is not as true a reflection of activity on their campus as it could be, and may use the "context" box to provide a clear explanation about why. For instance, an institution that provides a large amount of non-credit instructional activity might use the box to note that the student-to-faculty ratio includes instructional staff teaching non-credit courses while only accounting for students enrolled for credit. Another institution that uses full-time employees who are not primarily instructional staff to teach courses may consider adding a note that the student-to-faculty ratio does not reflect these instructors.

Enhanced Executive Peer Tool (ExPT)

The IPEDS Executive Peer tool http://nces.ed.gov/ipedspas/ExPT/) now has the following new or enhanced features:

• The addition of a U.S. Map to easily create Comparison groups by state and/or region.
• Enhanced selection of comparison group by criteria.
• Improved navigation for editing of comparison group.
• Comparison group can now be viewed and printed.
• Comparison group is now included in the statistical report download function.
• Enhanced help functions, including new "Frequently Asked Questions."

IPEDS Help Desk
Toll Free 1-877-225-2568
ipedshelp@rti.org