Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Institutional Research
ANNUAL REPORT 2024
MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR
Sherry Marlow-Ormsby, PhD Executive Director for OPEIR
OPEIR continued to serve the UTC community through research, planning, and evaluation efforts to drive data -informed decision-making at the institution. In addition to all the standard duties and responsibilities of an institutional research office, the OPEIR team focused on conducting analysis and providing recommendations to improve student success.
A few of the projects I am especially proud of this year include developing the enrollment prediction models, Early Alert Impact Report, Tutoring Source Comparison Report, ChattBOT Transcript Analysis, Why I Chose UTC, and Admitted but Not Enrolled Report.
Each one of these reports help understand how various initiatives are impacting students. Throughout 2024, OPEIR additionally
• Completed hundreds of standing and ad-hoc data requests,
• Conducted feasibility studies for new academic programs,
• Facilitated the Student Success and Retention Committee,
• Maintained compliance with federal and state reporting,
• Updated Institution Factbook pages,
• Created new Institutional Dashboards,
• Supported university strategic initiatives and committee work, and
• Collaborated with internal and external stakeholders on projects.
A great deal was accomplished in 2024. Looking forward to 2025, OPEIR anticipates continuing to meet the institution’s data and analysis needs.
OPEIR OVERVIEW
Mandated Yearly Reporting
IPEDS
• 12-month Enrollment
• Admissions
• Completions
• Fall Enrollment
• Graduation Rates
• Human Resources
• Institutional Characteristics
• Outcome Measures
• Student Financial Aid
• Cost
• Higher Education Factbook
• Program Post Approval Monitoring
• Space Allocation Study
• Out-of-State, Low Income Student Enrollment
Official University Metrics
• Released each Fall and Spring term
• Provides official reporting data in static format for accreditation
• Used as a historical database of institutional metrics Factbook
• Census reporting (14th day and EOT )
• Enrollment & Tuition
Revenue Annual Audit
• UT Access Collaborative
• Capital Outlay Requests
• UT Student Profiles UT System
• Maintain metrics and templates for all Institutional Dashboards
• Develop, collect, organize, and present data for customizable research
• Continuously search for useful attributes to enhance data reporting Dashboards
Additional Data Requests
Internal
• Nearly 250 data requests from UTC community
• Enrollment, student success, faculty, and survey data analysis
• Data for program and university accreditation (ABET, AACSB, CACREP, NASPAA)
• Grant Program Application or Reporting
Other Services
External
• AAUP
• Common Data Set
• CGS/GRE
• CSRDE
• CUPA
• FISAP
• HEERF
• NCAA
• NC -SARA
• Veteran Affairs/DOD
Academic Programs
• Facilitate updates for Academic Program Inventory – 28 actions in 2024
• Implement THEC modality definitions
• Provide evidence of academic program alignment to labor market needs.
Rankings
• Best for Vets
• BigFuture
• Petersons
• US News & World Report
• Knoxville News
• NSF
• S&P Bond Rankings
• Student Success & Retention
• Community Engaged Carnegie Classification
• DASH SIS Campus Data
• Strategy 2030 - Operational Excellence Committee Participation
OPEIR is responsible for the timely and accurate data submissions for internal and external mandated yearly reporting which includes the maintenance of official university statistics and communication of potential data errors with other units. In addition to mandatory reporting, OPEIR is frequently requested to provide data and analysis used to inform institutional decision making and initiatives. In 2024, OPEIR completed a total of 309 data requests for both internal and external use.
Internal & External Data Reporting
Survey and Grant Proposal Analysis
OPEIR frequently assists the UTC community with various surveys and grant proposals. This past year, OPEIR provided valuable insight for the following surveys and grants:
• COACHE Survey Preparation and Analysis
• Know Your Campus Survey Administration and Analysis
• New Transfer Student Survey
• Trio Student Support Grant Application
• Title III Waiver Application
• National Postsecondary Student Aid Study
• AHEAD -RN HRSA Grant Report
OPEIR Insights from 2024
Motivated by requests from units across campus, OPEIR conducts in-depth research projects each year. The following examples were completed in the past year.
Student Retention Analysis
A significant decline in term GPA between Fall and Spring, regardless of cumulative GPA, is a primary influence on student retention.
Readmitted Student Analysis
Students who were readmitted between 2019 and 2023 have a lower overall retention rate than their peers, but a higher graduation rate.
Tennessee “Brain Drain” Data
The Chattanooga region had a 16% increase in population of college educated adults from 2020-2024 compared to Knoxville's 9% increase.
UTC Student Survey Analysis
Eighty - two percent of respondents agreed that campus offers the resources and/or support needed for success.
INSTITUTIONAL DASHBOARDS
In 2024, OPEIR expanded their inventory of interactive data dashboards to allow for further exploration of point-in-time data regarding admission and enrollment, student outcomes, and various institutional characteristics. Through the continued expansion of these interactive reports, users have direct access to institutional data that can help answer a variety of questions and support the strategic initiatives at UTC. Examples of the dashboards added in 2024 include:
Major Migration
This dashboard allows users to examine trends in the movement of students that change their major during their time at UTC.
Alumni Earnings & Employment
Based on responses to the First Destination Survey, users can identify common employment and continued education opportunities of UTC Alumni.
Funding Formula Outcomes
Users can compare the financial impact of the Outcomes Based Funding Formula for each public four-year institution in Tennessee.
utc.edu/opeir/institutional-dashboards
OPEIR Website and Dashboard Page Views
January 1, 2024 – December 31, 2024
UTC website pages belonging to OPEIR had a total of 17,957 views in 2024. These OPEIR webpages are categorized into five main categories including Institutional Dashboards, Factbook, Academic Program Information, OPEIR Insights, and Additional Resources. Users accessing the Institutional Dashboards accounted for 51% of the total page views during 2024. Furthermore, usage of the Institutional Dashboards increased by 68% from 4,385 page views in 2023 to 7,374 in 2024.
Among the 16 different dashboards, the Student Enrollment dashboard continues to be the most viewed page with 2,972 views in 2024 making up 40% of all dashboard page views; however, the Graduation and Retention dashboard had the highest increase in page views by 63% from 540 views in 2023 to 879 in 2024.
ACADEMIC PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT
OPEIR maintains the UTC Academic Program Inventory as reported yearly to the University of Tennessee System and Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC). OPEIR facilitated the proposal and notification processes for a total of 28 academic actions to be implemented for the 2025-2026 academic year. OPEIR continued to provide workshops in which faculty are guided through proposing new programs and using feasibility studies to better inform decision-making.
BAS Medical Laboratory Science
In October of 2024, UTC began the THEC proposal process for a Bachelor of Applied Science in Medical Laboratory Science. Compelling data provided by OPEIR supports the labor market need in Tennessee for this program which continues to seek approval for potential implementation in the 2025-2026 academic year.
In January of 2024, THEC approved a revised Academic Policy A1.0 – New Academic Programs: Approval Process which led to amended checklists dictating the required steps in the proposal process. With the uncertainty of new policy requirements, OPEIR postponed the New Degree Development Cohort and instead hosted informational workshops regarding the updated policy as well as the process for proposing degree concentrations, certificate programs, and minors. Participants from nine departments on campus attended at least one workshop. OPEIR continues to seek opportunities to proactively communicate and inform campus personnel on the processes for creating and implementing thoughtful academic programs.
Feasibility Studies
In 2024, OPEIR conducted feasibility studies exploring programs in disciplines such as Quantum Information Science, Creative Writing, Geographical Information Science, and Smart and Sustainable Transportation. OPEIR’s services were also used to identify potential areas of growth for the Center for Professional Education.
TEAM SPOTLIGHT
Sherry Marlow-Ormsby, PhD | Executive Director
As the Executive Director, Sherry leads OPEIR to support UTC's planning, assessment, evaluation, and institutional effectiveness. She earned her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology and Research with a concentration in Evaluation, Statistics, and Measurement from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville in 2017. Sherry also holds a Master of Public Administration from UTC and a Bachelor of Arts in Social Science from Washington State University.
Eugene Noble | Assistant Director
Eugene joined OPEIR as the Assistant Director in January 2024 after having served as the Director of Institutional Research at Springfield Technical Community College in Springfield, Massachusetts. He earned a Master’s degree in Psychology/Applied Research Methods with a concentration in Statistics from Columbia University and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Shawnee State University in Portsmouth, Ohio.
Kelli Baker | Program Coordinator
Kelli serves as the Program Coordinator for OPEIR, in which she facilitates the academic action policies and conducts analysis of labor market data to align academic programs to regional workforce needs. Prior to working at UTC, Kelli served ten years in collegiate athletics at Iowa State University, where she also earned her bachelor’s degree.
Sarah Olivelli | Research Data Analyst
Sarah began her roll as a Research Data Analyst for OPEIR in August 2023. After seven years of service as a music teacher, she decided to pursue a career in data analytics. Sarah received her undergraduate degree in music education from Tennessee Technological University and went on to earn her Master in Music from Middle Tennessee State University.
Oscar Vazquez | Research Data Analyst
As one of OPEIR’s data analysts, Oscar works to provide meaningful and comprehensive analyses for how UTC can best support our students and employees. Having worked in the Enrollment Management and Student Affairs department prior to joining the OPEIR team, Oscar provides a knowledge of the varied needs for each academic discipline at UTC.
Stephanie Virgo | Research Data Analyst
Stephanie served as a Research Data Analyst for OPEIR from 2016 to 2024 when she relocated to California. Stephanie was the respondent for various external reporting organizations such as IPEDS and US News along with her work on Institutional Dashboards and other OPEIR initiatives. Prior to working at UTC, Stephanie spent five years at the University of Alaska System office in Fairbanks, Alaska.
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