Introduction

The Office of Institutional Research and Planning (OIRP) of the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez (UPRM), is under the direct supervision of the Chancellor. OIRP has the responsability to integrate the findings of the institutional research with the strategic, physical and fiscal planning. In coordination with the Administrative Board, it provides advise to the Chancellor in every action related to the planning and development of the campus, providing the necessary documentation.

With the objective of evaluating the effectiveness of the academic programs and services offered at UPRM, the OIRP develops strategies and metrics to evaluate the progress made in the established goals. Through assessment and institutional research, and in close collaboration with the units of the Campus, breaches for development are identified and corrective actions are taken. In these assessments efforts, our Office of Continuous Improvement and Assessment (OMCA).

Institutional Research

• Develop an information system for the planning and assessment of the results through a centralized database and the necessary software programs to obtain reliable and up to date data.

• Develop metrics for academic and administrative aspects necessary for the optimun development of the university.

• Design, develop and disseminate the results of institutional studies that can be used as the necessary support mechanism in the strategic decision making in order to meet the criteria of the different accreditation agencies, and state and federal governments.

• Generate statistics and reports related to academic and administrative issues to be used in the decision making process by our administrators, faculties, the Academic Senate and the Administrative Board.

• Design and develop statistical studies requested by the different units of the university.

• Integrate the flow of information in UPRM providing the exchange of statistics and projections with other academic units, departments and the Office of the President of the University, in order to facilitate decision making.

• Promote other academic units do their own statistical studies using the data available in our office.

• Provide supports and assessment to the academic community in the design of valid and reliable questionnaires as instruments to be used in the assessment processes of administrative and academic services.

• Provide the active participation of the university community in the implementation of stategies to reach the goals of the Stategic Plan.

• Publish the institutional statistics and findings of the research studies in reports, publications, our web page and aour bulleting: ...PERFILES.

Stategic Planning

• Provide methodology and support in the development of the strategic plans of the units of UPRM in order that they are aligned with the institutional goals, articulating the development of the physical and fiscal resources to satisfy our mission as a university: teaching, research, creative and artistic endeavors, and service.

• Collaborate with the preparation, revision and implementation of the Strategic Plan of the UPRM using as input the developed plans of the units and the institutional guides provided by the President's Office.

• Prepare and publish the Annual Report of UPRM using the reports submitted by the units and the statistics generated by our Office.

• Collaborate with the development and implementation of an assessment and evaluation system of the faculty.

• Collaborate in the development of support mechanism for the departments, faculties, Academic Senate and Administrative Board, to facilitate the development of new academic programs and the revision of existing programs.

• Stimulate the Units of UPRM to do their own evaluations, prepare their annual reports and accomplish their goals.