Department of Geography Purpose Discuss why I take data analysis seriously Departmental Health amp Sustainability Reflect on Academic Program Review Data Challenges and Opportunities Lessons the Department ID: 162565
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Slide1
Derek AldermanDepartment of GeographySlide2
Purpose
Discuss why I take data analysis seriously
Departmental Health & Sustainability
Reflect on Academic Program
Review
Data Challenges and Opportunities
Lessons the Department
of Geography learned in collecting and analyzing
data
Proactive rather than reactiveSlide3
3rd Year as Department Head
Also new to University of Tennessee
Need data to get handle on where Department
i
s
going
A Counter-balance to the wide range of faculty perspectives
Need Data for APR—of course!
Previous university home in North Carolina
That university engaged in major data collection and program prioritization (“right sizing”)
Data have consequences; Who controls the process?Slide4
Geography APR/Self-Study
Challenges
Institutional level
Unable to compare our instructional and research data to other units (per capita)
Difficult to obtain data on
student
diversity and how it has changed over time
Few aggregate departmental research metrics beyond figures on sponsored projects and proposals
We are moving toward documenting engaged scholarship, but not in place yetSlide5
Geography APR/Self-Study
Challenges
Departmental level
Not strong
culture
of program data analysis
History of collecting
much more data on graduate students than undergrad majors
Ex: We know how long it takes PhD students to complete
the degree
but not
the case for undergraduates
(retention
)
Lack of data not consistent with “student-centered” mission of Dept.Slide6
Geography APR/Self-Study
Opportunities—”Points of Intervention”
Academic Unit Statistics:
Illustrated need to increase number of Geography majors
Ongoing creation of new degree tracks and aggressive recruitment strategy
Analysis of
Citations to
F
aculty Research and Journal Impact Factors (done on our own)
Prompted group discussion, mentoring, and comparison of H-index scores of UT Geography faculty to national benchmarks for the disciplineSlide7
Geography APR/Self-Study
Opportunities—”Points of Intervention”
Lack of sufficient student profile and diversity
data
Led
to development of entrance survey for new majors
Collection of employment growth data in Geographic Information Science
Confirm demand for GIS curriculum enhancement in program
Lack of data on student placement & success data
Plans to implement post-graduate
assessment
device in next year or so
(helps SACS too)Slide8
Lessons LearnedDepartments should “Ground Truth”
academic
u
nit statistics
Use other data to calibrate and enhance interpretation of official stats
Ex: Deconstruct Budget Figures using IRIS
Departments should actively collect own data and
“Improvise”
when data do not exist
May require using unconventional data sources
Ex: Measuring student placement using Facebook Slide9
Thank You