The mission of Institutional Research is to collect, organize, analyze, interpret and disseminate institutional data and intelligence for the purpose of decision-making, policy formation, planning and assessment of programs and activities.
The field of institutional research has been around for several decades but IR offices frequently fulfill different functions depending on the communities they serve. The Kenyon Office of IR fulfills several of the "traditional" IR roles of reporting and data management but also offers support in assessment, strategic planning and missioning, survey design, analytics and data presentation, and statistics. Here's some more information about us.
IR Contact Information
IR Staff
IR Projects
IR Ethical Standards
There are two full-time members of the Office of Institutional Research at Kenyon: Director Erika Farfan and Associate Director Ann Palcisco. The Director reports to the V.P. for Library and Information Systems who in turn reports to the President of the College.
Student positions are posted annually in the Spring and are open to rising sophomores and above with success in at least one statistics or research methods course in a related field. Student positions are intended for two to three year terms once the probationary trial period is complete. Students typically work between 8 and 10 hours a week once they have passed their probationary training period. Student interns are given complete access to our work and are expected to conduct themselves as peer co-workers in all ways. Senior level interns are expected to participate in hiring and mentoring new hires. Graduating interns are expected to have the functional skill set of a mid-grade research analyst and professional standards to complement these skills.
All staff can be reached at ir@kenyon.edu.
IR staff offices are located in Bexley Hall on the second floor.
Erika M. Farfan
(she/her/hers)
Director of Institutional Research
Bexley Hall Rm. 211
farfane@kenyon.edu
740-427-5571
Ann Palcisco, '01
(she/her/hers)
Associate Director of Institutional Research
Bexley Hall Rm. 209
palciscoa@kenyon.edu
740-427-5163
Elisabeth Bradford, Class of 2021 in Neuroscience
(she/her/hers)
IR Student Analyst
Bexley Hall Rm. 207
Andrew Kotler, Class of 2021 in Political Science
(he/him/his)
IR Student Analyst
Bexley Hall Rm. 207
Ana Dunn, Class of 2022 in Psychology
(she/her/hers)
IR Student Analyst
Bexley Hall Rm. 207
Catherine Gonzalez, Class of 2022 in Economics and Mathematics
(she/her/hers)
IR Student Analyst
Bexley Hall Rm. 207
Ryan Schultz, Class of 2022 in Mathematics
(he/him/his)
IR Student Analyst
Bexley Hall Rm. 207
Shanti Silver, Class of 2022 in Psychology
(she/her/hers)
IR Student Analyst
Bexley Hall Rm. 207
Kaya Kariba-White, Class of 2023 in American Studies
(she/her/hers)
IR Student Analyst
Bexley Hall Rm. 207
Former Student Employees (name, class, major and honors, first pursuit after graduation)
Ben Jagolinzer, Class of 2019 in Economics with Honors, GEICO
Kara Braun, Class of 2018, cum laude, Mathematics, Eaton Corporation
Mary Liz Brady, Class of 2018 in Economics, The Office of Institutional Research
Matthew Cooper, Class of 2018, cum laude, Economics, JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Curt Williams, Class of 2018, cum laude, Sociology, distinction in Senior Capstone, Cuyahoga County Council
Robin Belton, Class of 2016, magna cum laude, Honors in Mathematics. PhD in Applied Mathematics at Montana State University.
Robin Dunn, Class of 2016, valedictorian, summa cum laude, Highest Honors in Mathematics. PhD in Statistics at Carnegie Mellon.
Rachel Black, Class of 2015 in Sociology. Illinois Association of Free and Charitable Clinics.
Katie Finnigan, Class of 2015, cum laude, Highest Honors in Psychology. PhD in Psychology at UC Davis.
Brendan McGoldrick, Class of 2014 in Economics. SIFMA Intern. Cambridge Associates, Arlington, VA.
2017-18 Academic Year
NSF and HHMI grant implementation support
KEEP assessment support
External review support (Biology, Chemistry, Psychology)
HHMI CIG grant support
HHMI data dashboard creation
Natural Science division climate survey
KEEP program evaluation surveys
Completion of 29 external data or survey requests including NCAA reporting, US News, Princeton Review
Senior survey of the Class of 2018
HEDS Alumni survey of the Classes of 2008 and 2013
Attendance at HEDS annual conference
Kenyon 2020 dashboard
KEEP scholar focus groups
Global learning survey support
2016-17 Academic Year
External review support (alumni survey and data analysis) for SASS, Physics, and Economics
Faculty and Staff Campus Climate and Title IX Survey
Student HEDS Sexual Assault and Campus Climate survey
Completion of 29 external data or survey requests including NCAA reporting, US News, Princeton Review
Senior survey of the Class of 2017
HEDS Alumni survey of the Classes of 2007 and 2012
Attendance at HEDS and AIR annual conferences
Kenyon 2020 dashboard
Lost inquiry admissions survey
NSF grant support
NSSE, BCSSE, and FSSE implementation
Student focus groups for advising
2015-16 Academic Year
External review support (alumni survey and data analysis) for English, Art History
Housing R&R survey
Senior survey of Class of 2016
HEDS Alumni survey of Classes of 2011 and 2006
One year out survey of the Class of 2015
Completion of 29 external data or survey requests including NCAA reporting, US News, Princeton Review
Library planning exploration (focus groups)
Housing and Residential Life: Quality of Life survey
Attendance at HEDS and AIR annual conferences
S-STEM grant renewal support
HHMI grant application support
Kenyon 2020 Dashboard
Conditional Enrollment survey
Support for external researchers of Liberal Arts and Sciences for the 21st Century project, Lumina Foundation
Mid-Career Faculty Survey Support
NSF Grant support
2014-15 Academic Year
External review support (alumni survey and data analysis) for Dance, Drama, and Film, Art, and Art History
CHAS survey of campus climate
Attendance at IUPUI Assessment Institute 2014
Senior survey of Class of 2015
HEDS Alumni survey of Classes of 2010 and 2005
One year out survey of the Class of 2014
COACHE faculty survey
Title IX Campus Climate survey (through HEDS working group)
Support for external researchers of Liberal Arts and Sciences for the 21st Century project, Lumina Foundation
NSSE and FSSE results presentations
Review of KEEP program
Completion of 29 external data or survey requests including NCAA reporting, US News, Princeton Review
Teagle Curricular Coherence grant support (focus groups and surveys)
Campus Communication (focus group and survey)
Housing and Residential Life: Quality of Life survey
Admissions analysis (clearinghouse and majors)
Mid-Career Faculty Survey Support
Attendance at HEDS and AIR annual conferences
S-STEM grant renewal support
2013-14 Academic Year
External review support (alumni survey and data analysis) for Classics, International Studies, Summer Science, and Dance, Drama, and Film depts./programs
Senior survey of Class of 2014 using HEDS First Destination instrument
HEDS Alumni survey of Classes of 2009 and 2004
Quality of Life housing survey
Pre- and post-project surveys of microbiology wiki project
Student athlete survey revisions
Kenyon Review readership survey
Consultation on Maintenance surveys of Kenyon community
Management of admissions and visit surveys
Survey of students completing an intro biology class
Completion of 29 external data or survey requests including NCAA reporting, US News, Princeton Review
Updating Factbook
Creating training materials for Qualtrics
HERI faculty survey
NSSE survey
FSSE survey
Athletic department missioning support
S-STEM grant renewal
2012-13 Academic Year
External review support (alumni survey and data analysis) for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Women's and Gender Studies programs
Senior survey of Class of 2013
One year out survey of Class of 2012
HEDS Alumni survey of Classes of 2008 and 2003
Conversion to new Kenyon website; IR and "After Kenyon" information
CIP strategic planning
Creation of online Factbook
Quantitative Literacy and Reading Assessment from Bowdoin College
NSSE Beta survey
Blended learning survey of faculty
FAC grant analysis
Alumni outcomes analysis for admissions
Survey coordination policy
MISO survey
2011-12 Academic Year - Office officially established October 2011
Senior survey of Class of 2012
HEDS Alumni survey of Classes of 2007 and 2002
NSSE diversity data analysis
COACHE faculty survey
Institutional Research professionals follow a code of ethics and professional practice established by our professional organization, the Association for Institutional Research. The Code can be viewed here: http://www.airweb.org/Membership/Pages/CodeOfEthics.aspx An important component of the Code is its attention to our obligations to research subjects, including the responsibility to keep data confidential. Here are answers to some frequently asked questions about research and confidentiality:
I received a survey that says it's "not anonymous but confidential." What does this mean?
This means that we give you a unique survey link. This is largely for convenience. By giving each person a unique link, we're able to 1) eliminate your name from further survey reminder emails once you've completed the survey and 2) eliminate the need to ask you for data that we already have stored elsewhere in Kenyon's data system. For example, we rarely ask your class, office, or department in a Kenyon survey because we can merge that data in from an existing database. This creates a shorter survey with less chance of a data error. Of course, this also means that, technically, your responses can be linked to your name. However, the link to individual data is never shared outside of the IR office and will never be published as part of our work. We will never report results that would divulge the identity of the respondent.
How can I be sure that my individual responses aren't being shared?
IR professionals are bound by both the code of our professional organization and those of human subjects research. Violations of the latter could lead to the elimination of all federal funding from the College. Further, as researchers, individual responses cannot give us the data that we need to draw generalizable conclusions, which is our primary goal. In fact we often don't release data when fewer than five people respond. Releasing individual data would be a violation of our responsibilities to our research subjects and it would create distrust that would make our jobs more difficult in the future. It's simply not something that we're interested in doing.
I'm okay with some of the questions in the survey but I don't really want to answer certain questions if the survey is not anonymous.
That's okay. IR makes it a point to never require question completion to move on in the survey. Answer whatever questions you're comfortable with. We'll use the data that you choose to share with us in our analysis. As a survey respondent you always have the right to stop participating in research whenever you want without penalty. For more information about your rights as a respondent, you can read about the role of Institutional Review Boards (IRB) and the Regulations for Human Subjects research on the Kenyon IRB site.
I have more questions.
Great, feel free to contact Erika or Ann. If you're not comfortable with us, you can also reach out to Kenyon's IRB administrator, Jami Peelle, who works to ensure the rights of human subjects are upheld. Ms. Peelle is also familiar with IR's specific practices.