The Office of Institutional Research and Assessment (OIRA) is charged with supporting the internal and external reporting needs of Westfield State University, the Massachusetts System of Public Higher Education and other interested parties. OIRA is dedicated to supporting and informing the strategic goals of our institution as well as enhancing institutional and academic excellence and, in this spirit, works to meet goals in the following major areas:
Compliance Reporting:
This work includes ensuring 100% compliance with mandatory reporting requirements as set through the MA Department of Higher Education and the National Center for Education Statistics. Additionally, OIRA participates in external, public reporting requirements by completing major, national surveys such as the Common Dataset and other surveys supported by organizations such as U.S. News and World Report and The Princeton Review.
Assessment and Accreditation:
The OIRA supports the regional accreditation process through New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE) as well department-level accreditation needs.
Continuous Improvement:
The office provides input and findings to support continuous improvement and efforts to enhance student learning outcomes, with an emphasis on demonstrating equity. In the same spirit, OIRA supports ongoing and as-needed data and analysis requests of Westfield State University faculty and staff, including grant administrators and department leads.
Data Governance:
OIRA is a key member of the university team managing data governance work, including efforts to enhance data integrity, create common data definitions and ensure that institutional data is available to the broad group of stakeholders who need it to support decision-making.