Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Contact Us
Room: E-Building, E-512
Phone: (718) 482-6119
IE@lagcc.cuny.edu
Institutional Research and Effectiveness
The Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness (OIRE) exists to provide accurate, reliable, and timely information and analysis to enable data-informed decision-making for college leadership. This is the college’s decision-support mechanism, combining the two necessary elements of institutional research (IR) and institutional effectiveness (IE) to support data-informed decision-making. The office also chiefly supports the accreditation efforts for the college’s institutional accreditor, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE).
Institutional effectiveness (IE) is a strategic process of continuous improvement whereby an organization measures its performance in achieving its mission and stated goals. IE uses data and evidence from institutional research (IR) to support continuous improvement.
Institutional research (IR) involves the collection, evaluation, cleaning, and analysis of data/evidence on things like enrollment, employees, operations, human and fiscal resources, and other performance data to clearly describe a state-in-time of these attributes. These data are often used to report on these attributes for internal (departmental reports, grants, overall organizational state, etc.) or external purposes (IPEDS, MSCHE, CUNY, etc.).
Data-informed decision-making is the process of setting goals and taking action in response to information and evidence (such as data, documents, forms, survey responses, test results etc.).
The office supports survey design and delivery, organizational assessment, educational assessment through the periodic program review (PPR) process, strategic planning, and the development of institutional reports and dashboards.
Assessment at the College
OIRE employs two main forms of assessment:
- Organizational Assessment is a planned, systematic review of an organization’s processes, work environment, and organizational structure.
- Educational Assessment is a planned, systematic collection and use of information on student learning and related educational experiences to improve the effectiveness of teaching and learning.
These assessments are a reflective, iterative process aimed at improvement of the college. It is an integral part of the institutional effectiveness process. Quality assessment is systematic and strategic, data and information-informed, enhances decision-making, and is useful and used.
College teams use the organizational assessment process to self-reflect, evaluate, and improve in the spirit of continuous improvement and effectiveness.
The AES Council is n administrative council formed of individuals from across the college’s administrative divisions to advise and support organizational assessment.
The AES Liaisons are individuals from across the college’s administrative divisions who advise and support organizational assessment. More information on the liaisons can be found here.
This term refers to the systematic process from the assessment cycle, in which goals were defined, evidence was collected. Those results are later used to make concrete improvements or to inform the next assessment cycle.
Dashboards/Tableau
There are both publicly and privately available dashboards. The public dashboards do not require a credential to access them, while the private/internal dashboards require a CUNYfirst/LaGuardia login. The dashboards provide multi-year summary data on a variety of metrics for the college, including student and employee data and operational practices/processes in support of the strategic plan.
A limited number of logins are available to access the LaGuardia internal dashboards. Licenses are granted based on roles at the college.
Anyone can access the public dashboards, while those who wish to access the internal dashboards must request (and be granted) access.
The publicly available dashboards are accessible here.
Faculty and staff with a license can access the dashboards here using their CUNYFirst login.
Complete an OIRE Service Request form to request specific data. Our ability to fulfill requests is generally limited to LaGuardia Community College faculty and staff who have a legitimate need to access the data in their official capacities.
Use of Institutional Data
The office provides data on a variety of its internal operations and practices. The office must ensure compliance with all applicable legal requirements, including those under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Wherever possible, including employee data, no personally identifiable information (PII) is disclosed externally and only internally when there is a legitimate need by an institutional official. This means that summary/descriptive data cannot be provided when the disclosure of the data would not constitute potential disclosure of PII.
OIRE may be able to provide aggregate information, such as demographic data, headcounts, population percentages, or outcome/success data, that would not expose PII. This means that data may be masked to protect the identity of individuals within a population, including, but not limited to, aggregating smaller populations together.
When potential PII could be exposed, the office encourages utmost caution to avoid disclosing real or potential PII in any reports.
Using institutional data requires understanding the context behind the data, as well as understanding how it was compiled/what it means. Data is only as good as how it is interpreted and used. Therefore, please contact OIRE staff to discuss your needs/intended uses of the data at ie@lagcc.cuny.edu.
Possibly!
If you completed an OIRE Service Request Form, you must follow the parameters of your originally submitted form. If you wish to deviate from your original request, or if you are unsure of what you initially requested, please get in touch with OIRE staff at ie@lagcc.cuny.edu. Be sure to describe your intended uses for the data.
Complete an OIRE Service Request form. Be specific about the intended data that you need and how you plan to use it. Our ability to fulfill requests is generally limited to LaGuardia Community College faculty and staff who have a legitimate need to access the data in their official capacities.
In compliance with the Freedom of Information Law Requests (FOIL), please follow the instructions on this form for any FOIL requests.
The college provides a Data Dictionary to help understand the standard terms used throughout dashboards and reports. If you have questions about a term that might not be in the Dictionary, or if you would like to add/update a term, please email ie@lagcc.cuny.edu.
No! Please refer to the CUNY FERPA policy.
When you request/receive data from the OIRE, you agree to personally secure any data on a secure, password-protected device that prevents the data from being shared/made available to other individuals.
Failure to secure your account/safeguard access may subject you to disciplinary actions by CUNY or LaGuardia Community College and/or criminal prosecution.
After contacting IT to secure your account/data, you must inform OIRE.
FERPA is a federal law that provides protections to students on the release, access, and correction of their educational records. It ensures that privacy protections are in place to secure student records and allows students to inspect and correct the accuracy of their education records. More information can be found here.
OIRE Service Request Form
Complete an OIRE Service Request form. When completing this form, be as specific as possible. OIRE needs to capture as much information as possible about your project to fulfill the request and serve as a collaborative partner.
Our ability to fulfill requests is generally limited to LaGuardia Community College faculty and staff with a legitimate need to access the data in their official capacities.
Please complete a separate form for each request.
The OIRE generally provides de-identified or aggregated information to protect personally identifiable information (PII) for most data requests or reports.
Yes! Please explicitly indicate whether you need record-level information that may contain PII; staff from OIRE will discuss whether and how we can meet your request. Please also note that accessing record-level information that contains PII will also require you to complete a FERPA 101 training before your request can be fulfilled.
In compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), data sharing that includes or may include PII requires that institutional officials (“school officials”) have a legitimate interest related to a work function or task. Institutional officials who need specific information that contains PII must complete the FERPA 101 for colleges and Universities training modules from the US Department of Education, available at https://studentprivacy.ed.gov/content/online-training-modules.
When you submit your request, someone from OIRE will contact you once it is assigned. If needed, OIRE staff will follow up to clarify or refine your request before processing. Depending on the details of your request, OIRE staff may recommend alternative data elements that could be more helpful in fulfilling your request.
Please allow at least three working days after submitting your request for an initial follow-up from OIRE, and at least two weeks to fulfill your request.
No. This form is NOT intended to be used for Freedom of Information Law Requests (FOIL). Please follow the instructions on this form for any FOIL requests.
Institutional Accreditation
LaGuardia Community College is an accredited institution and a member of the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE). Information on the college’s accreditation can be found here.