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Vision & Principles

VISION

"We will frame and inform the institutional strategic dialogue, building a culture of evidence in support of planning and management, as agents of change at DePaul, and in higher education generally"

Frame & inform institutional strategic dialogue:

  • Engage in active dialogue with university partners and leadership to understand strategic issues, opportunities and challenges.
  • Integrate information from across multiple projects to provide rich contextual framework around strategic questions.
  • Put information in context within university and higher education framework.
  • Develop and sustain multiple learning platforms and processes (Brown Bags, Market Shares, IRAs, Week in Review, etc).

    Building a culture of evidence in support of University planning and management:

  • Ground strategic discussions and frame answers to questions using relevant data and information.
  • Create new knowledge that challenges conventional wisdom.
  • Anticipate strategic opportunities and identify potential and serious issues for the University.
  • Analyze data and the institutional context to reduce uncertainty for key decisions.
  • Foster data access and fluency.
  • Collaborate with university colleagues to build a stronger, more vibrant university information culture.
  • As agents of change in higher education:

  • Proactively engage in institutional improvement by providing best practice research, analysis, training and data management that enables organizational learning.
  • Increase and effectively manage institutional knowledge by identifying relevant research and information and sharing it with university partners.
  • Advocate for best practices in research, analysis, and data management, in active partnership with higher education communities of practice and within institutions of higher learning.
  • OPERATING PRINCIPLE

    These operating principles will define us and reflect how we want our work and impact to be perceived by our stakeholders, university partners, and colleagues.

    1. Provide usable information: practical, timely and relevant.
    Our data and analyses are usable and accessible, and produce results that are relevant to our research partner's needs and sufficient to support decision making. We leverage technology to develop sustainable reporting solutions that can be regularly and automatically refreshed.

    2. Provide reliable, accurate information.
    The quality of our data and objectivity of our research methodologies is reliable, error-free, and above reproach. In instances where there is an issue with accuracy, we are proactive in communicating with appropriate parties and addressing the issue.

    3. Go beyond the obvious.
    The scope of our inquiry extends beyond the initial framework of the request, ensuring that we ask relevant questions, connect related information and are thorough in our line of inquiry. We seek creative avenues for how we develop, interpret, and present our research and analysis.

    4. Respond with energy and focus.
    We support our partners with a professional, solution-oriented mindset.

    5. Advocate for a culture of data transparency.
    We actively seek to make our reports and information available to the broad university community.

    6. Are inclusive and collaborative.
    Proactively reaching out to colleagues across the university strengthens our research and information support and helps us stay current and connected with important university issues.

    7. Are consulted as experts.
    We are sought out as experts at DePaul and the higher education community in research, data management, and analysis. We have a professional knowledge of higher education and student outcomes. We possess the skills to determine the best approach to meet a particular need, and think about the broader relevance and application.

    8. Anticipate needs and actively scan environment.
    We actively scan higher education and other relevant business environments, initiate research that anticipates institutional needs, and bring the important issues of higher education to DePaul.

    9. Demonstrate a strategic orientation.
    The value of our research is its unique perspective about the markets served by the University, our students and their success, as well as the college programs, curriculum and faculty.

    See also Association for Institutional Research Statement of Ethical Principles