Data for Departments and Programs
The Office of Institutional Effectiveness (OIE) makes use of student and employee data from both internal and external data systems. Most of the data is derived from the college’s student and human resources management system, CUNYfirst, sometimes directly, but mostly indirectly through interfaces or extracts from CUNYfirst. Other data come from surveys and external data collections such as the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). OIE staff access institutional data from college and central office databases that arrange CUNYfirst data in ways that support the ongoing information and reporting requirements of the college. These include:
- IRDB (Institutional Research Database)
- QC Data Warehouse
- CUNYfirst Reporting Instance
The OIE can provide institutional data to QC departments and programs to inform student success initiatives, support program development and/or evaluation, and to guide strategic planning.
Institutional Data via Tableau
Queens College is now leveraging Tableau, a data visualization and analysis software, to create and share interactive dashboards with the campus community.
Displays of institutional data are available via several sources, including the Queens College Profile, the QC Tableau Server, and the CUNY Student Data Book. Note that access to the data dashboards on the QC Tableau Server requires a Tableau license.
Learn more here: Tableau Dashboards.
Institutional Data via QC Navigate
This comprehensive advising, communications and analytics platform was introduced at Queens College in late 2019 to better support students on the journey toward earning a college degree.
QC Navigate Staff provides faculty and advisors access to information about students’ academic performance and momentum (individual students and groups) via analytic and reporting tools, and facilitates collaboration and coordination among the faculty and staff to help keep students on track for graduation. Access depends upon one’s role at the college. To learn more, visit the QC Navigate Staff website, which lists helfpul resources, including how to download data using the Advanced Search Tool.
Note: Students have access to a companion app – QC Navigate Student – that makes it easy for students to access important information and resources, form study groups, schedule appointments with various support offices, and much more.
Request Data from the OIE
*** Please provide a 3-week lead ahead of time for data requests.***
If you require institutional data, the data you need may be available on (a) the QC College Profile, (b) the QC Tableau Server (consult your your department chair or unit director), (c) the CUNY Student Data Book, or (d) QC Navigate Staff reporting tools.
If the data you require cannot be obtained by these means, send an email to qc.oie@qc.cuny.edu with the following information:
- Which department/program is requesting the data?
- What questions are you are trying to answer?
- What specific data elements are you requesting?
- From what year(s) or term(s) do you need this data?
- How will this information be used and/or disseminated?
- What is the time frame of your project?
All data requests made to the OIE are thoroughly documented to (a) avoid duplication of efforts, and (b) to ensure FERPA compliance.
IMPORTANT NOTES
(1) The OIE adheres to a strict interpretation of FERPA in favor of student privacy. The OIE will disclose the minimum amount of information necessary to answer the main research question, as described in the data request. Student education records are made available to QC faculty and staff members who have a need to know (legitimate educational interest) when fulfilling their official responsibilities at Queens College.
(2) In some cases, the requestor may need to complete a Restricted Use Agreement. Whether or not a nondisclosure data agreement is submitted, all data shared by the OIE in its raw format should be considered sensitive information. All personnel working with this data (including research assistants and project staff) should understand and follow basic data security practices.
(3)The OIE receives a high volume of requests.Please give us at least a 3-week lead when requesting our assistance.
Compliance and Restrictions
In general, the OIE may only provide aggregated and de-identified information to fulfill reporting and analysis requests, and these data are made available only to QC faculty and staff members who have a need to know when fulfilling their official responsibilities at Queens College. The extent of data we can provide may also be governed by compliance constraints, such as:
- Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
- European Privacy Notice (GDPR)
- Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)
- Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
The OIE adheres to a strict interpretation of FERPA in favor of student privacy, and we follow the ethical principles of our professional organization as institutional researchers. As designated data stewards for the college, it is our responsibility to ensure the privacy, confidentiality, security, and appropriate use of institutional data, and we extend the same principles to employee (faculty and staff) data. For this reason, the OIE will always disclose the minimum amount of information necessary to address the main research question of a data request.
