OIRA Mission Statement

The Centenary University Office of Institutional Research and Assessment (OIRA) is committed to providing accurate, timely, and relevant data and information that supports the University’s Strategic Planning, Institutional Effectiveness, and Accreditation activities. We strive to foster a culture of transparency and accountability through the collection, analysis, and dissemination of institutional data.

OIRA Guiding Principles

• Integrity: Ensuring the accuracy, completeness, and reliability of our data and information.
• Resilience: Continuously improving our processes, tools, and technologies to adapt to changing data needs.
• DEI: Incorporating equity and inclusion into our data collection and analysis.
• Commission, Federal, and State compliance: Ensuring compliance with institutional, regional, and federal data reporting and process integrity requirements.

OIRA Strategic Plan 2022-2025

1. Support and inform Strategic Planning: Collaborate with university stakeholders to provide data and information that supports the development and implementation of Centenary University’s strategic plan.
2. Continue improving Unit-level planning and assessment: Work with academic and administrative units to implement effective assessment and planning processes that align with institutional goals.
3. Ensure compliance with Regional Accreditor Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE): Collaborate with academic and business university operations to ensure compliance with MSCHE reporting requirements.
4. Continue improving annual Fact Book processes: Improve the efficiency of processes to collect and communicate data for the annual Fact Book; provide stakeholders with comprehensive historical and comparative institutional, peer institutions, and national data trends.
5. Support data culture: Promote a culture of data-driven decision-making throughout the university community through workshops, training, and communication.
6. Support innovation: Explore new tools and technologies to improve data collection, analysis, and reporting.
7. Provide an annual Institutional Effectiveness report: Support unit-level planning and assessment across all operations in evaluating and improving process efficiencies.
8. Collaborate with other Centenary University data stewards: Align data processes and methodologies across the university.
9. Support university onboarding process: Introduce new staff and faculty to Centenary University’s data sharing and reporting processes.
10. Assess OIRA processes integrity and efficiency: Regularly evaluate OIRA processes to identify areas for improvement and ensure the integrity and efficiency of our data collection and reporting.