Hall-OIRE- Interview with the Director

Yo!

Did you guys know that the Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness was once two separate offices? You had the office of Institutional Research, and also the Office of Institutional Effectiveness. When the office of Institutional Effectiveness was created, it was created on the assumption that an office was needed to be solely dedicated to assessment and reaffirmation for the university.

The Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness are now split between, one of the houses behind Rice Hall, and the 2^nd floor of Allen Hall rm 269. Today I had the opportunity to visit Allen Hall, and speak with some of the staff there. I sat down with one of the data analyst and they walked me through, some of the expectations of their department there.

In Allen Hall they work a lot with student evaluations of faculty using software known as Class Climate.  I never thought I would understand all the different software, but in the last couple of weeks, I have had the opportunity to work with several different data input software. I have had experience with TracDAT, SAS, as well as Class Climate software. While I am still unable to accurately interpret the data that comes out of this software, I am beginning to understand the chain of command. Whether its recognizing a need for assessment, determining the kind of assessment, what are you assessing, what you want to assess in your survey, selecting a survey, administering a survey, returning the survey, receiving the results, interpreting the results, and using the results to improve effectiveness, and then documenting the importance of these results and how they improved effectiveness.

I also had the opportunity to interview the director of the Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness today. This was a very exclusive interview, that I anticipated lasting 30 minutes, but instead lasted 3 hours.  The interview was very informative, but was not what I anticipated…..and I’m glad of that. Dr. Chamblee was very down to earth, and gave me a different perspective of what the OIRE’s purpose really is.  With other staff members we focused heavily on the two A’s, assessment and accreditation. However after speaking with Dr. Chamblee, I see how the bigger picture focuses more on the two R’s. Retention and Recruiting. Let me clarify for you guys as I did for Dr. Chamblee, retention and recruiting is not just for students. We recruit students. Yes, but we also recruit faculty and staff as well. The OIRE’s purpose is to improve effectiveness through research, by improving this effectiveness you ensure you are doing your best, to offer the best. By offering the best, we are able to recruit the best students, staff, and faculty. If we are the best, we can retain the best students, staff, and faculty. Recruiting and retention are major factors at any institution, and definitely within our field of Student Affairs.

Words can’t explain the amount of knowledge I gained from this 3 hour interview with Dr. Chamblee, but I will share with you a profound statement he made during our interview. I’m not sure if he intended it to hit home the way it did, but here it goes. ….Sitting across the desk from me, Dr. Chamblee slumped in his chair, crossed his legs, and casually put his hands behind his head, interlocking his fingers, he said, “I am a bulldog through and through, I love Mississippi State, this is my Alma Mater. So much emphasis and attention is given to Reaffirmation, and departments are quick to say, “I only have to do this for reaffirmation”, but what I say to them is this, Accreditation is secondary, it’s not the driving force. If we are doing what we should do, accreditation becomes easy. If we are making sure that we are doing all that we can do to improve all that we can, of course we will be accredited.  Doing what’s right SHOULD be the driving force, and in doing so, Accreditation becomes secondary.

Jeremy.