What is Institutional Research data

WSU Historical Data Cycle

                       

Institutional Research utilizes Oracle PL/SQL scripts to extract data from Banner each semester. The extracts occur on the third Friday at 5:00 p.m. for fall and spring semesters and then again at the end of the semester for all three semesters. This data is then transmitted to the Utah System of Higher Education (USHE) and used for State wide reporting and for legislative purposes.

Once the data has been approved by the State, the data is uploaded into IR's interactive Tableau dashboards. These dashboards are utilized across campus and can be viewed on a myriad of devices. Whether you are a department secretary working at your desk pulling reports for a department chair meeting or a member of the executive staff in a regents meeting with nothing but an IPad, these dashboards will load quickly and provide answers to the questions at hand within seconds.

Institutional Research also uses the Data Cookbook to store definitions for all data elements and reports provided by the IR Office. For each dashboard data element, one can see the full definition, where the data is stored in the Data Warehouse as well as where it is extracted from in Banner. Each dashboard provides a link to the Data Cookbook in the top right hand corner of the dashboard which links to the write-up for that dashboard. This write-up encompasses a purpose and definition of the dashboard, links out to the data elements used within the dashboard, as well as additional notes as to how the dashboard is maintained. 

If there is ever a question regarding the data or the dashboards provided on this site, then please do not hesitate to contact any member of the IR staff.