Derek Alderman

Department of Geography

PurposeO Discuss why I take data analysis seriously

O Departmental Health & Sustainability

O Reflect on Academic Program ReviewO Data Challenges and Opportunities

O Lessons the Department of Geography learned in collecting and analyzing dataO Proactive rather than reactive

3rd Year as Department HeadO Also new to University of Tennessee

O Need data to get handle on where Department is going

O A Counter-balance to the wide range of faculty perspectives

O Need Data for APR—of course!O Previous university home in North Carolina

O That university engaged in major data collection and program prioritization (“right sizing”)

O Data have consequences; Who controls the process?

Geography APR/Self-Study

O ChallengesO Institutional level

O Unable to compare our instructional and research data to other units (per capita)

O Difficult to obtain data on student diversity and how it has changed over time

O Few aggregate departmental research metrics beyond figures on sponsored projects and proposals

O We are moving toward documenting engaged scholarship, but not in place yet

Geography APR/Self-Study

O ChallengesO Departmental level

O Not strong culture of program data analysisO History of collecting much more data on

graduate students than undergrad majorsO Ex: We know how long it takes PhD students

to complete the degree but not the case for undergraduates (retention)

O Lack of data not consistent with “student-centered” mission of Dept.

Geography APR/Self-Study

O Opportunities—”Points of Intervention”O Academic Unit Statistics:

O Illustrated need to increase number of Geography majors

O Ongoing creation of new degree tracks and aggressive recruitment strategy

O Analysis of Citations to Faculty Research and Journal Impact Factors (done on our own)O Prompted group discussion, mentoring, and

comparison of H-index scores of UT Geography faculty to national benchmarks for the discipline

Geography APR/Self-Study

O Opportunities—”Points of Intervention”O Lack of sufficient student profile and

diversity dataO Led to development of entrance survey for

new majorsO Collection of employment growth data in

Geographic Information ScienceO Confirm demand for GIS curriculum

enhancement in program O Lack of data on student placement & success

dataO Plans to implement post-graduate assessment

device in next year or so (helps SACS too)

Lessons LearnedO Departments should “Ground Truth”

academic unit statisticsO Use other data to calibrate and enhance

interpretation of official stats O Ex: Deconstruct Budget Figures using IRIS

O Departments should actively collect own data and “Improvise” when data do not existO May require using unconventional data sourcesO Ex: Measuring student placement using

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Thank You