Jamie Isaac and Janice Kelly
RTI International
Turning Knowledge into Practice
Report from the IPEDS Help Desk:
Calls We Take…. And Calls We Make…
SURVEY RESEARCH DIVISION
IPEDS Help Desk
- Operated by RTI International
- Specially hired and trained to serve IPEDS customers
- Open weekdays 8:30am to 5:00pm Eastern time
- Open evenings and weekends during the final week of each collection
SURVEY RESEARCH DIVISION
Meet the Help Desk Staff
SURVEY RESEARCH DIVISION
Meet the Help Desk Staff
Albeza
Preston
LaquitaByron Jef William
Mack
Lola
Charlene
RamelEmily
Lisa
LeslieLeslie
SURVEY RESEARCH DIVISION
Name That Survey!
It’s time to play…
SURVEY RESEARCH DIVISION
Name that survey…
- This is one of the more recent additions to the IPEDS collection
- It’s often considered to be the “easiest” of the surveys
- Patricia Brown is the survey director at NCES
- No, the Acronym does NOT stand for “Silly and Fictitious Answers”
SURVEY RESEARCH DIVISION
Name that survey…
Yes, it’s…
Student Financial Aid (SFA)
SURVEY RESEARCH DIVISION
Name that survey…
- This survey has the highest rate of non-compliance
- This is the only survey that allows negative values
- It’s considered to be one of the “hardest” surveys
- Cathy Statham is the survey director at NCES
- No, the Acronym does NOT stand for “Futility”!!
SURVEY RESEARCH DIVISION
Name that survey…
Yes, it’s…
Finance (F)
SURVEY RESEARCH DIVISION
What’s New at the Help Desk?• New web-based application which integrates
all call history, email history, and prompting history
• Allows Help Desk staff to easily see all previous contacts with institution, and to track unresolved questions/issues.
• Automatically routes undeliverable emails to Help Desk staff for follow-up and resolution.
• Provides complete and thorough documentation which can be supplied to Federal Student Aid for non-compliance follow-up.
SURVEY RESEARCH DIVISION
What’s New at the Help Desk?
• Many veteran staff
• At present, we have 19 staff with combined experience of 82 collection periods (avg. of 4.3 each).
• IPEDS users continue to keep us very busy.
SURVEY RESEARCH DIVISION
Help Desk Activity 2003-04 by Collection
Fall
Collection
Winter
Collection
Spring
Collection
Total
Number of Calls Received
8631 6468 9696* 24,795
Number of Calls Made
6296 5797 8222* 20,315
Number of Emails Received
2517 1295 1440* 5252
Total
17,444
13,560
19,358*
50,362
* Projected
SURVEY RESEARCH DIVISION
Inbound Call volume
15000
17000
19000
21000
23000
25000
'00-'01 '01-'02 '02-'03 '03-'04*Collection Year * Projected
SURVEY RESEARCH DIVISION
Outbound Call volume
8000
13000
18000
23000
'00-'01 '01-'02 '02-'03 '03-'04*Collection Year * Projected
SURVEY RESEARCH DIVISION
Inbound v. Outbound Projections
8000
13000
18000
23000
28000
'00-'01
'01-'02
'02-'03
'03-'04
'04-'05
'05-'06
'06-'07
Outbound
Inbound
Collection Year
SURVEY RESEARCH DIVISION
Undeliverable Emails – A Growing Problem
Number of “Bounced” or Undeliverable Emails, by Collection Year
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
'00-'01 '01-'02 '02-'03 '03-'04*
Projected
TotalBouncedEmails
Collection Year * Projected
SURVEY RESEARCH DIVISION
Undeliverable EmailsWhat are the reasons for this growing number?• More filters & virus protection software are increasingly
preventing the emails from being delivered.
• Frequent upgrades to software, and/or changes of ISPs, lead to outdated email addresses that are not being updated by keyholders.
• The increase in SPAM has made it more difficult to separate the good email from the “bad,” and has also clogged up the email boxes of keyholders.
We recently decided that we need to send a letter to all keyholders asking them to take steps to ensure timely receipt of IPEDS-related emails.
SURVEY RESEARCH DIVISION
Top Ten Reasons for Not Getting IPEDS Surveys Submitted on Time
1) I already submitted it last year.
2) I don’t have any students who received financial aid this year.
3) Our internet provider wasn’t working.
4) The person who usually does it has been on vacation.
5) I thought the reminder email said that it was due NEXT month.
SURVEY RESEARCH DIVISION
Top Ten Reasons for Not Getting IPEDS Surveys Submitted on Time
6) We had a hurricane and our records were destroyed.
7) I broke my wrist and I haven’t been able to use my computer keyboard.
8) The information you are requesting is confidential and I won’t give it to you.
9) The feds seized all of our records so I don’t have the information to give you.
SURVEY RESEARCH DIVISION
Top Ten Reasons for Not Getting IPEDS Surveys Submitted on Time
By the way… how many of those excuses do you think we fabricated?
NONE!
10) NCES delays the collection whenever it wants to…
…so I should be able to delay my submission when I want to!
SURVEY RESEARCH DIVISION
Some of our favorite lines...
- I've printed and locked my data. Where should I mail the hard copy?
- Wow, you are really nagging this year!
SURVEY RESEARCH DIVISION
Some of our favorite lines...
- My heart is not beating in the appropriate sequence and the sweat has dried on my hands. I’m glad I am done.
- Haaaaal - le-lu-jah
Haaaaal - le-lu-jah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Haaal - le - luuuuuuuuu- jah!
SURVEY RESEARCH DIVISION
In Closing…Thank you for your assistance in making IPEDS successful.
Remember… for your data needs….
Make Your Point with IPEDS!
SURVEY RESEARCH DIVISION
Jamie Isaac and Janice Kelly
RTI International
Turning Knowledge into Practice
Report from the IPEDS Help Desk:
Calls We Take…. And Calls We Make…