The Creation of an integrated services division to advance university strategic initiatives

[...]in academic environments, we tend to value content development more than process implementation, and often very little attention is paid to-or resources provided for-project support. In any complicated endeavor, a department or division requires expertise in process facilitation and project management along with systems to track the necessary action steps and schedules in order to measure progress. RESEARCH, SPACE, AND STRATEGY At Boston College, the traditional Office of Institutional Research evolved from a data-only shop to a full-service organization that provides a complex suite of services to support campus decision makers in their strategic thinking as they work to effect changes in their organizations and across divisions. Over time, with the tools developed from program reviews, the department evolved to provide a wider suite of services to the campus community, including business process redesign, organizational development support, and project implementation. The new Office of Institutional Research, Planning and Assessment was elevated to vice-presidential level and began to offer integrated services across the three areas of data, space, and strategy for key new ventures on campus (figure 1): THE EVOLUTION OF INTEGRATED SERVICES The three entities that comprise Institutional Research, Planning and Assessment (IRPA) at Boston College did not originally function as a well-integrated group but instead as three separate units providing strong services from their individual areas within the department. JESSICA GREENE, PH.D., director of institutional research and assessment at Boston College, has responsibilities that include providing the university's senior leaders with studies and analytics that support and inform the...