Data and Reports
University Fact Book
The Oakland City University fact book is published annually and compiles tables and figures of current and historical data reflecting the areas of the University that are asked about most often. It is distributed to members of the Oakland City University community to serve as a reference guide and planning tool and to provide a single, comprehensive source of key institutional data.
Indiana Commission for Higher Education Enrollment Report (ICHE)
The Indiana Commission for Higher Education is a 14-member public body created in 1971 to define the missions of Indiana’s colleges and universities, plan and coordinate the state’s postsecondary education system, and ensure that Indiana’s higher education system is aligned to meet the needs of students and the state.
The ICHE facilitates the state’s progress by providing actionable and meaningful statistics on postsecondary education outcomes. The Office of Assessment and Institutional Effectiveness (OAIE) annually provides the ICHE with “unit-record” data files on student profiles, credits, degrees conferred.
The ICHE publishes annual and supplemental reports, which are available at https://www.in.gov/che/data-and-research/reports-and-analyses/.
Data Feedback Reports
The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) is a system of survey components that collects data from about 7,500 institutions that provide postsecondary education across the United States. IPEDS collects institution-level data on student enrollment, graduation rates, student charges, program completions, faculty, staff, and finances.
The Data Feedback Report (DFR) is intended to provide institutions a context for examining the data they submitted to IPEDS. This report aims to provide institutions with a useful resource and help improve the quality and comparability of IPEDS data.
Common Data Set
The Common Data Set (CDS) initiative is a collaborative effort among data providers in the higher education community and publishers as represented by the College Board, Peterson’s, and U.S. News & World Report. The combined goal of this collaboration is to improve the quality and accuracy of information provided to all involved in a student’s transition into higher education, as well as to reduce the reporting burden on data providers.
This goal is attained by the development of clear, standard data items and definitions in order to determine a specific cohort relevant to each item. Data items and definitions used by the U.S. Department of Education in its higher education surveys often serve as a guide in the continued development of the CDS. Common Data Set items undergo broad review by the CDS Advisory Board as well as by data providers representing secondary schools and two- and four-year colleges. Feedback from those who utilize the CDS also is considered throughout the annual review process.
The CDS is a set of standards and definitions of data items rather than a survey instrument or set of data represented in a database. Each of the higher education surveys conducted by the participating publishers incorporates items from the CDS as well as unique items proprietary to each publisher. Consequently, the publishers’ surveys differ in that they utilize varying numbers of items from the CDS.
Those who report data for their colleges are urged to abide by the definitions and the cohorts specified when answering CDS items. They are also urged to use the answers to CDS items when responding to the numerous survey requests they receive, by distributing photocopies of their answers, posting them on their web sites, or by other effective means.
Continuous Academic Improvement
The faculty of Oakland City University (OCU) are routinely involved in continuous academic improvement activities. We view continuous academic improvement is the act of integrating quality improvements into the instructional activities of our faculty or our academic programs. The continuous academic improvements are implemented across OCU and are typically driven by faculty and not administrators. While many continuous academic activities are initiated by individual members of the OCU community, quality teams are often formed within each school and spearhead program, department and school improvement efforts. Each year, the continuous academic improvement activities are documented and shared with the University community.merous survey requests they receive, by distributing photocopies of their answers, posting them on their web sites, or by other effective means.
Academic Graduation Report
Because the ultimate goal of the college experience is graduation, the NCAA has devoted attention to researching student-athlete graduation rates for more than two decades.
All colleges and universities are required by NCAA legislation and federal law (the Student Right-to-Know act from 1990) to report student graduation rates, and those institutions offering athletics aid are required to report for their student-athletes as well. The NCAA acquires student-athlete graduation rate data from the Department of Education’s Integrated Post-Secondary Data System Graduation Rate Survey (IPEDS-GRS).
The student-athlete graduation rate calculated directly based on IPEDS-GRS (which is the methodology the U.S. Department of Education requires) is the proportion of first-year, full-time student-athletes who entered a school on athletics aid and graduated from that institution within six years. This federal rate does not account for students who transfer from their original institution and graduate elsewhere; they are considered non-graduates at both the college they left and the one from which they eventually graduate.
Institutional Research Request
The Office of Assessment strives to provide the Oakland City University community with data needs. If you are unable to find the data you are looking for on our main website or the institution’s intranet site, please complete all sections of the institutional research request form and submit it along with any supporting documentation.
All information produced by the Office of Assessment are confidential and protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
The Institutional Research Request form is available HERE.